DOJ sues KCK Schools Over ‘Secret Transitions’

The Justice Department is suing Kansas City Kansas Public Schools over evidence the district is helping children socially gender transition at school while keeping their parents in the dark.

The lawsuit alleges violations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, or PPRA, laws protecting parental access and consent. The government seeks an injunction. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon told Fox News Digital the case would be the “first of many.”

The school board accepted the transgender plan as an informational item but never formally adopted it as policy during a Sept. 17, 2017 meeting.

The accompanying 58-page training presentation was blunt about parents. School personnel “will not disclose” information revealing a student’s transgender status, including to parents, unless legally required, one slide stated. Employees contacting an unaware family were directed to use the child’s legal name and pronouns corresponding to the sex assigned at birth.

The training cited the Human Rights Campaign’s “Schools in Transition” guide and other HRC materials. It also used GLSEN resources and the “Genderbread Person” and “Gender Unicorn.”

A proposed “Gender Transition & Gender Support Plan” included a parent only “if possible.” Another slide asked how employees could avoid “outing” a student or contacting an unaware family.

DOJ attorneys say KCKPS implemented substantially similar internal guidance and has used two versions since 2017.

Current guidance allows students to ask that parents be excluded from gender-planning meetings or not be told of their transgender status. Administrators and an attorney decide requests case by case.

The district denies violating federal law, asserting the 2017 material was only informational. Officials say parental exclusion is reserved for exceptional circumstances, including emancipated minors or active child-abuse investigations. The complaint alleges an assistant superintendent described the transgender guideline as unavailable to the public and that it was protected by designated “gatekeepers” employed by the district.

Federal lawyers counter that parents cannot inspect or correct records they do not know exist.

–Lee Hartman