The Department of Education on Wednesday launched investigations into four Kansas school districts over allegations that they allow males into female spaces and hide students’ transgender status from parents.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) opened investigations into Topeka Public Schools, Shawnee Public Schools, Olathe Public Schools, and Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools after the Defense of Freedom Institute (DFI) filed a complaint about the districts’ policies, the Department of Education said in a press release.
The complaint alleges that the districts have policies that potentially violate Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) by allowing students to access sports teams and spaces based on “gender identity” rather than biological sex and preventing school officials from disclosing a student’s “transgender status” to their parents without student consent.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement:
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.
“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,” she added.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach also sent a letter to McMahon in June expressing concerns about the districts’ policies.
“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,” Kobach said in a statement. “I am grateful that we now have a federal government that takes Title IX seriously and will ensure that school districts follow the law.”