DOJ Sues Kansas City Schools For Secret Policies To Transition Students Without Parental Knowledge or Consent

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has brought a lawsuit against Kansas City Public Schools for violations of parental rights by allegedly facilitating secret gender transitions for children at their schools without parental consent or knowledge. The DOJ said the school district is violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), which are laws that allow parents to access information collected about their children at public schools.

“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,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department will not tolerate school districts playing fast and loose with federal law in the service of radical gender ideology.”

The lawsuit details several elements of a “Transgender Guideline” that calls for creating a plan and gathering information about the student. The information includes the student’s preferred name, preferred gender, preferred pronouns, restroom and locker use, and plans for gendered activities like sports. Those who may be present at the meeting include the student, the parents, a student services representative, a principal or assistant principal, a social worker or counselor, a school psychologist, a school nurse, an athletic director, an IEP case manager, and any other individual who may have relevant information about the student.

While the guideline states the parent may be present at the meeting, it also states that it will evaluate student requests not to invite the parent to the meeting or disclose transgender status to the parent on a case-by-case basis. The school will consider “the student’s age, the student’s grade level, the student’s welfare based on the information available to the district at that time, and any other relevant information” in determining whether to comply with the student’s request to not disclose the student’s gender non-conforming status to the parent or legal guardian.

On August 14, 2025, the US Department of Education opened a FERPA investigation into this “Transgender Guideline,” which interferes with a parent’s right to inspect and review their minor children’s education records. The district responded on September 19, 2025, that it never “adopted, approved, or utilized” the guideline in question.

The DOJ lawsuit referenced two undated recordings from school officials that contradict the claim that no such gender policy was utilized. Canise Salinas, Assistant Superintendent of Organizational Development, referred to a “transgender guideline,” and said it is not made available to the Kansas Public Schools community, but is safeguarded by certain “gatekeepers.”

In another undated recording, Lauren Hernandez, Organizational Development Specialist, discussed how to “support students whose culture is against the LGBTQIA relationships,” including asking a student about his willingness to share information with his father who is a preacher.

The DOJ alleges that “a record concealed from a parent – created in meetings the parent was deliberately excluded from and retained in administrative files without parental awareness – is de facto inaccessible.” Furthermore, a parent shall retain “full rights” under FERPA “unless the school district has been provided evidence of a court order, State statute, or other legally binding document relating to such matters as divorce, separation, or custody specifically revoking those rights.”

The school district has denied the claims being made in the lawsuit filed by the DOJ. “Contrary to the allegations in the Complaint, the district maintains that it is in full compliance with FERPA and PPRA and is disappointed by the DOJ’s decision to file the lawsuit,” the district said on Tuesday. “Because this matter is now pending in federal court, the district will respond to the Complaint through the appropriate legal process and will not make any further comment at this time.”

Assistant AG Dhillon told Fox News that it is clear by the details in the lawsuit that the district had secret gender transition plans preventing parents from being involved. Dhillon also said this lawsuit is the first of many and that many lawsuits are under consideration and investigations are underway.

The DOE sent a Dear Colleague letter on August 26, 2026, to school officers and superintendents reminding them of parental rights under FERPA and PPRA. The letter states that parents must consent before students are required to submit a survey, evaluation, or analysis around one of eight protected topics. Those topics include political affiliations, mental or psychological problems, sex behavior or attitudes, religious practices, critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships, and legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, and ministers

In March 2026, the Supreme Court granted an emergency stay in Mirabelli v. Bonta, reinstating a lower court’s injunction for parent plaintiffs and temporarily reversing California policies that do not alert parents to social transition in schools when the student doesn’t consent. The court found the parents were likely to succeed on their claims, but the Ninth Circuit still needs to resolve the underlying constitutional questions.

Parents objected to not being informed about their children’s gender identity until after a serious mental health episode occurred, and teachers objected to compelled use of the student’s preferred names and pronouns that contradicted the parents’ wishes and their own beliefs.

The policies of not informing parents about social transition at school are described as a way to protect children from abusive parents. The ACLU of Southern California says these laws protect children from “forced outing” and says California schools “can and must continue to affirm trans and nonbinary students to the best of their ability.”

The Mirabelli v Bonta litigation continues at the Ninth Circuit to evaluate parental due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment, the free exercise of religion, and whether policies like this violate the First Amendment rights of parents, and whether the state has a compelling interest to protect children that justifies overriding parental rights. In addition, the court also needs to determine whether teachers have a First Amendment case against similar policies for violating their right to religious beliefs and free speech.