DOJ sues Kansas school district over gender policy

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Tuesday against public schools in Kansas City, Kan., accusing them of helping kids transition their gender at school without their parents’ knowledge or consent. The hidden policy violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, the DOJ said in a news release. The department called the lawsuit the first of its kind. The DOJ won’t tolerate school districts disregarding federal law to further gender ideology, said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.

How has the school district responded? The district maintained that it fully complied with federal law, a spokesman said in a statement to local news outlet KSHB-TV. The district was disappointed with the DOJ’s decision to sue, and said it would respond further to the allegations in court.

What did Kansas City schools supposedly do? The public school district has used a policy governing students who identify as transgender or “gender non-conforming” since 2017, according to the lawsuit. Under the policy, students can ask that their parents be excluded from meetings to discuss what names, pronouns, and bathrooms they want to use as part of their transition, according to the DOJ’s lawsuit. Students can also ask staff not to disclose these details to their parents, the department said.

The written transition plans constitute education records that should be available for parents to view under federal law, the DOJ said. Additionally, parents should have provided written consent before students met with staff to discuss this sensitive information, the department argued.

How long has the Department of Justice looked into the school district? The department has threatened to sue the public school over its gender transition policy since July. The DOJ said the district needed to stop enforcing the policy to avoid litigation. The school’s superintendent previously told KSHB 41 in a July interview that she couldn’t recall any instance where the school withheld information from parents.

Dig deeper: Read my and Steve West’s report for Roundups on the elusive recognition of parental rights from courts.