U.S. Education Department Finds Kansas School Districts' Gender Identity Policies Violate Federal Law

The U.S. Department of Education has informed four Kansas public school districts, including Olathe and Shawnee Mission, that their policies regarding gender identity violate federal law. An investigation by the Student Privacy Policy Office and Office for Civil Rights concluded that the districts' policies on transgender students' bathroom use, sports participation, and parental notification of name/pronoun changes broke Title IX and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The districts risk losing federal funding if policies are not changed.