DOJ Partnership Signals Aggressive FERPA Enforcement of Gender Disclosures
On June 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced the Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) was working alongside the Department of Justice (DOJ) on enforcement measures related to a Kansas school district’s policy prohibiting school personnel from disclosing “information that may reveal a student’s transgender status or gender nonconforming presentation to others, including parents.” ED determined that the district’s policy violated FERPA.
The complaint leading to SPPO’s investigation was filed by an advocacy organization, which alleged in part that the district’s policies prevented school officials from disclosing a student’s transgender status to their parents without the student’s consent. In addition to the complaint, Kansas’s attorney general sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon expressing similar concerns. The enforcement action followed SPPO’s April 2026 determination that the district’s policy did not comply with FERPA, and the district’s decision to not enter into a resolution agreement with ED.
ED based its FERPA violation finding on “a lack of substantive documentation submitted by the [district],” and “found that the [district] had policies that were likely to prevent schools from notifying parents of their child’s so-called ‘gender transition,’ even if the parent requested their child’s records, thereby violating parents’ rights under FERPA to access school records pertaining to their children. The [district’s] policies allow schools to conceal from parents whether their children are using different pronouns, going by different names, or even having different names printed on their diplomas.”
What this means: The two takeaways from this announcement are that (1) the previously announced DOJ partnerships with ED offices are beginning to take shape, and (2) ED and DOJ are taking the position, signaled in SPPO’s March 28, 2025 Dear Colleague Letter, that FERPA education records include documents related to a student’s gender identity. The March 28 Dear Colleague Letter identifies concealment of a student’s gender identity from a parent as a SPPO priority concern, and this enforcement activity is consistent with that declaration.
What can districts do: This announcement serves as a reminder to review any district policies that address sharing education records with parents or guardians. While this particular situation stems from a unique confluence of factors—a complaint from an advocacy organization supported by the state’s attorney general—published district policies that are similar can create a target for copycat FERPA complaints filed from complainants located anywhere.
Click here to view the full ED press release.
We will continue to monitor ED actions, including new agency priorities and enforcement methods, and share updates as the landscape continues to evolve. If you have questions about these updates or their implications for school district practices, please contact the Education team at Miller Johnson.