(Updated to include comment from the Shawnee Mission and KCK Districts)
Republican Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach is asking the federal government to investigate whether four Kansas school districts are violating federal law with policies that allow them to conceal from parents the “social transitioning” of their children.
Kobach said Tuesday he had sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education asking it to review a complaint brought by the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies alleging that the four districts’ gender identity policies for transgender children are violating federal law.
Kobach cited the Shawnee Mission, Olathe, Topeka, and Kansas City, Kansas, school districts for violating federal law.
Kobach accused the school districts of “concealing critical information from parents about their children’s psychological and emotional health, and by requiring students to share sex-separated intimate spaces with individuals of the opposite sex.”
Kobach said that three of the districts – Kansas City, Shawnee Mission, and Topeka – allow students to access sex-separated spaces based on “self-declared gender identity.”
He said the districts “flout” their obligations under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which allows parents to inspect and control access to the records of their children.
The issue is centered on whether the districts have policies that allow teachers not to disclose their gender identity policies to the parents.
He said his office would be committed to assisting the Department of Education to ensure that the school districts named in the complaint withdraw policies that “cut parents out of decisions about their minor children’s education and upbringing…”
The Olathe, Shawnee Mission and Kansas City districts responded to emails asking about Kobach’s letter. Officials from the Topeka district could not be reached for comment.
Olathe schools released a lengthy response, saying they are obligated to follow all state and federal laws to support students, staff and families.
“As a district, it is always our practice to work directly and partner with families and students as situations arise to ensure we are providing the appropriate and necessary support,” the district said in a statement.
“To be absolutely clear, it is our expectation that staff work directly with families regarding student-related matters involving their own child(ren),” the district said. “The Olathe Public Schools does not and has never socially transitioned our students.”
The Shawnee Mission district, meanwhile, said all transgender students are welcome in all schools in the district.
“Attorney General Kris Kobach is attempting, as a publicity tactic, to start public discord between his office and public school districts in the very state that he represents and that he was elected to strengthen,” the district said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
“The Shawnee Mission School District is declining to engage in this stunt; Mr. Kobach is raising boxing gloves over hypothetical scenarios and the SMSD will not step into the ring.
“In neither AG Kobach’s recent press release nor the letter he sent the district 18 months ago is there any statement or information that any parent of a transgender student has sought help from the AG’s office related to access to information regarding their student.
“There is no complaint of withholding of student information from any SMSD parent for the U.S. Department of Education to investigate.”
Kansas City, Kansas school officials said they’re committed to complying fully with all state and federal laws, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
“We remain committed to ensuring that all students feel safe at school and are able to focus on learning,” the district said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Parents and guardians with concerns related to their child’s gender identity are encouraged to contact KCKPS administration at any time for support,” the district said.
The attorney general noted in his letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon that in December 2023, he sent letters to six Kansas school districts challenging their policies requiring or allowing school district staff to conceal from parents a student’s “transgender” or “gender non-conforming” status.
He told the department that two of the school districts – Belle Plaine and Maize – revised or rescinded their policies.
The other four districts — Kansas City, Kansas; Olathe; Shawnee Mission; and Topeka Public Schools — refused to change their policies, Kobach wrote.
He previously called out the four districts, accusing them of hiding the gender identity of students from their parents.
Kobach said the districts weren’t telling parents that students may be using a different name or pronouns at school.
In its response Tuesday, Olathe school officials said they met with two attorneys from the attorney general’s office in March 2024.
“In that meeting, the district repeatedly sought clarity from the attorney general’s office regarding specific changes that they believed should be made by the district,” they said.
“The district also asked the attorney general’s office to identify specific situations involving Olathe Public Schools students, staff or families that they were aware of in which the district was not following state or federal laws.”
District officials said the attorney general’s office would not provide specific input or information regarding any alleged violations of state and federal laws by the district.
Last year, Shawnee Mission officials said something similar, criticizing the attorney general for not providing any specific evidence of a district parent having their rights violated.
The Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies characterizes itself as a national nonprofit organization “dedicated to defending and advancing freedom and opportunity for every American family, student, entrepreneur, and worker….”
The group, based in Alexandria, Virginia, with revenues of $1.7 million in 2023, says its goal is “to protect the civil and constitutional rights of Americans at school and in the workplace.”
In its complaint, the group said the Olathe district directs its staff that “best practice” is to obtain parental consent when a student requests a change in name or pronouns.
But DFI said the district “lists vague, subjective criteria for keeping parents in the dark, including concerns that communication might ’cause trauma.’”
The DFI complaint also alleges that the Kansas City and Topeka unified districts have similar policies instructing staff not to disclose a student’s process of “gender transitioning” to parents unless the student gives permission — “directly violating FERPA’s requirement that parents have access to their minor child’s records.”
DFI also cites a lawsuit brought by a Shawnee Mission teacher who said she was punished for using biologically accurate pronouns.
The group says the district’s internal guidance prohibits school staff from informing parents when a student requests a change in name or pronouns.
