Suit follows April federal finding that four Kansas districts violated FERPA
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Kansas City, Kansas, school system, challenging its policies on transgender students and alleging the district prevents parents from learning of their child’s “transgender status” without the student’s consent.
The suit was brought more than a year after the Education Department first said it was investigating four Kansas districts in response to a complaint from the Defense of Freedom Institute, a conservative group. The institute alleged the schools had policies that prevented disclosure of a student’s transgender status to parents without student consent.
In April, the Education Department said it found the four Kansas districts in violation of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA. The districts violated the privacy law by maintaining a policy of not disclosing a student’s gender transition at the parents’ request, the department said, though it did not cite a specific instance in which such non-disclosure occurred.
According to the Justice Department lawsuit, schools in Kansas City, Kansas, have a policy of using students’ preferred names and pronouns. The district also says requests from students who do not wish to involve their parents will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, according to the complaint.