The U.S. Department of Justice sued Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools on Tuesday, alleging the district violated federal parental‑rights laws by keeping gender‑transition plans secret from parents. The complaint claims the district created written transition plans and allowed students to request exclusion of their parents from related meetings.
DOJ Alleges Parental‑Rights Violations in Kansas School District
The DOJ said the district retained those plans, which it treated as education records under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), thereby blocking parents from accessing or challenging the information.
Because parents cannot inspect or correct those records, the department argues the practice breaches FERPA and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), which require prior written parental consent before schools collect sensitive student data.
The district’s policy, in place since 2017 and updated in 2024, permits students to request that administrators consider their age, grade level, welfare and other factors before deciding whether to inform parents about a gender transition.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said, “Parental rights are paramount in the operation of America’s public schools, and Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools does not know children better than their own parents. The Department will not tolerate school districts playing fast and loose with federal law in the service of radical gender ideology.”
The school district issued a statement Tuesday denying the allegations, saying it complies fully with FERPA and PPRA and expressing disappointment at the DOJ’s decision to file the lawsuit.
It added that the district will respond through the appropriate legal process and will not comment further while the case is pending.
Under the policy, a planning meeting may address a student’s preferred name, gender and pronouns, school records, restrooms, locker rooms, field trips, sports and staff training, and the resulting written plan is maintained by the district.
A copy of the plan is provided to the parent unless the district has agreed to exclude the parent, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to halt the policy and alleges the district fails to give parents a chance to challenge inaccurate or misleading information in the transition plan.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said decades of lax enforcement allowed some districts to sideline parents, but the Trump administration is now enforcing parental‑rights laws at an unprecedented scale.
