Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) initiated investigations into Topeka Public Schools, Shawnee Public Schools, Olathe Public Schools, and Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (the Districts).
The investigations come after a complaint filed with the Department by the Defense of Freedom Institute (DFI) alleged that the Districts’ policies and practices permit students to participate in sports and access intimate facilities based on “gender identity” rather than biological sex. These policies also prevent school officials from disclosing a student’s “transgender status” to their parents without the student’s consent. These policies and practices potentially violate Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach also sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon highlighting and expressing concern about the Districts’ potential Title IX and FERPA violations.
“The Kansas districts’ alleged behavior of allowing gender ideology to run amok in their schools is an affront not only to the law, but to the sound judgment we expect from our educational leaders. School personnel should not confuse and unsettle young girls by forcing them to share sex-separated sports and intimate facilities with boys; nor should school personnel abuse their position of authority by hiding sensitive information pertaining to a child’s health and wellbeing from that child’s parents,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “From day one, the Trump Administration promised to protect students and parents by restoring Title IX and parental rights laws to the fullest extent of the law. My offices will vigorously investigate these matters to ensure these practices come to an end.”
"Title IX was enacted to protect the rights of girls to equal educational opportunity and safety. Kansas had to sue and defeat the Biden Administration in federal court to stop them from dismantling Title IX," said Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. "I am grateful that we now have a federal government that takes Title IX seriously and will ensure that school districts follow the law."
Background
FERPA is a federal privacy law enforced by the Department’s SPPO. FERPA gives parents the right to access their children’s education records, the right to request record corrections or amendments, and the right to control (with important exceptions) the disclosure of personally identifiable information in education records. Policies that instruct teachers, counselors, and other employees to hide a child’s “gender transition” records from parents infringe on parents’ rights under FERPA.
In March, SPPO sent a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) to state superintendents reminding them of their compliance obligations under FERPA, designating the practice of hiding a child’s “gender identity” from that child’s parents as a “priority concern” for SPPO. Secretary McMahon attached a cover letter to the DCL, stating that “by natural right and moral authority, parents are the primary protectors of their children.”
Title IX is enforced by the Department’s OCR and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.
Violation of Title IX and/or FERPA can result in termination of an educational entity’s federal funding.