The U.S. Department of Education announced today that it is investigating the Kansas City, Kan. school district for violations of federal laws designed to protect students from sex discrimination (Title IX) and protect the rights of parents to have key information about their children (FERPA).
The department’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) will conduct the investigation. A complaint to those bodies by the Defense of Freedom Institute (DFI), a conservative nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., spurred the look into district policies.
School districts in Topeka, Olathe, and Shawnee Mission are under investigation for similar issues.
The FERPA investigation is looking into policies that, according to a press release from the Department of Education, “prevent school officials from disclosing a student’s ‘transgender status’ to their parents without the student’s consent.” Such a policy could violate legal provisions that ensure parental access to student records.
The DFI complaint quotes USD 500 training material as saying, “It is important to remember that the student’s family may not be aware or accepting and may need help with this. Don’t try to handle it on your own,” and asks, “Why is it so important not to contact a family who may not be aware?”
The Title IX investigation is based on district policies that allegedly allow students to “participate in sports and access intimate facilities based on ‘gender identity’ rather than biological sex,” per the press release.
“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,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
“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.”
USD 500 school board candidate Josh Young, who has campaigned for the district following Title IX and FERPA, said, “I fully support the Kansas Attorney General’s efforts in making sure our school district is in compliance with all executive orders and all federal policies [and] guidelines.” Attorney General Kris Kobach had reported potential violations by school districts in a letter to McMahon earlier this year.
School board president Randy Lopez and the district’s media office did not respond to email requests for comment before publication. This article will be updated with responses as available.