Federal lawsuit challenges Anne Arundel schools over names and pronouns

Eight-count case centers on one student and three broader policies

Justice Department lawyers allege Anne Arundel County Public Schools disclosed Mary Doe’s preferred name without her parents’ consent in a field-trip roster emailed to other parents in May 2026. The department also alleges that a staff member individually asked each student, including Mary Doe, for preferred names and held one-on-one discussions about preferred pronouns without parental involvement.

The allegations are contained in an eight-count complaint filed Tuesday against the district in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Justice Department lawyers say the district violated federal laws governing parental rights by enforcing policies permitting staff to use students’ preferred pronouns and names without their parents’ knowledge. The complaint invokes the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment.

Most of the case concerns Mary Doe, who asked school staff to refer to them by a male name the document does not disclose. The complaint acknowledges that Mary Doe’s official school records continued to reflect their legal name and birth gender. The claims at issue focus instead on staff communications, record access and disclosures involving preferred names and pronouns.

Justice Department lawyers also allege the district violated FERPA when it denied Mary Doe’s parents access to internal staff communications and other documents concerning their child’s preferred name and pronouns. The department says the district also denied the parents an opportunity to challenge those records.

Under the PPRA allegations, a staff member individually asked each student, including Mary Doe, for their preferred names and held one-on-one discussions about preferred pronouns without parental involvement. Justice Department lawyers argue that those questions involved legally protected sensitive information. They contend the questioning required prior written parental consent or, at a minimum, advance parental notification and an opportunity to opt out. The complaint says the district did not provide Mary Doe’s parents with those safeguards.

The remaining three counts concern broader district policies. Justice Department lawyers allege the district disclosed personally identifiable student gender information to Maryland education authorities without parental consent, failed to provide parents with opportunities to challenge gender-related education records, and restricted parental access to education records.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement, “Schools should not discuss preferred pronouns or ‘gender identity’ with a student without parental notification and consent.” He also said, “Parents should not be lied to, stonewalled or branded as ‘safety concerns’ when they ask to see the education records that reveal what schools are secretly doing to their children.”

UPI said it had contacted Anne Arundel County Public Schools for comment.

Federal enforcement and administration policy context

The Department of Education announced enforcement actions against Anne Arundel County Public Schools in late July. The department said the action followed complaints from parents who had “discovered that the school was secretly helping their daughter pretend to be a male at school.”

The federal government has opened more than 10 investigations into state education agencies and county school districts concerning transgender-student policies, citing federal laws including FERPA or PPRA.

The Anne Arundel County lawsuit is the second such case filed by the Justice Department, following its first lawsuit against Kansas City and Kansas Public Schools on Sept. 1.

The lawsuit comes amid the Trump administration’s broader effort to restrict transgender rights, UPI reported. President Donald Trump campaigned on restricting the rights of transgender Americans. Since returning to the White House, his administration has taken numerous actions that UPI described as targeting a minority group. Those actions included ordering federal agencies to recognize only two biological sexes while replacing the term ‘gender’ with ‘sex,’ and restricting access to gender-affirming care, especially for minors.