Education Department opens parental rights case against Ann Arbor schools over transgender policy

The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it is taking action against Ann Arbor Public Schools for what it believes to be likely violations of FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, in the district’s policies regarding transgender students. 

In a press release from the department, it announced that the Education Department’s Student Privacy Policy Office, or SPPO, determined that the district’s policy “requiring school employees to hide a child’s ‘transgender status’ from his or her parents likely violates FERPA.”

The department said that they have given the district until Aug. 10 to respond to these concerns and to demonstrate why the department, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, should not move forward with enforcement — noting that FERPA violations can result in the termination of an educational institution’s federal funding. 

The department is also demanding that the district “justify its policy that directs school officials to maintain records related to a student’s so-called ‘gender identity’ in a separate filing system or be subjected to imminent enforcement action.”

FERPA is a federal law that gives parents rights surrounding their child’s education records, including the right to access those records, to seek to have those records amended, and to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records.

“School districts that hide information from parents are violating federal law,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon in the press release. “FERPA is not optional, and any districts that attempt to bypass or distort its requirements should expect immediate federal action. In partnership with the Department of Education, the Department of Justice will initiate enforcement proceedings with districts that fail to comply.”

Whether or not FERPA covers these types of records is up for debate — the department’s stance is clearly that it does, but according to Chalkbeat, a FERPA expert said that “the law requires that school districts share written records, such as gender support plans, if parents request them. But FERPA doesn’t appear to create a duty to proactively disclose that students are expressing a different gender at school.”

Ann Arbor Public Schools’ policy currently has a section dedicated to transgender and gender non-conforming students, which includes a statement that the district “shall accept the gender identity that each student asserts. There is no medical or mental health diagnosis or treatment threshold that students must meet in order to have their gender identity recognized and respected.”

Regarding the disclosure of information, the policy states that students have the right to determine when and with whom they share their gender identity and expression, and directs staff to use the student’s legal name and the pronoun corresponding to the student’s gender assigned at birth unless the student, parent or guardian has specified otherwise. 

Those opposed to requiring these types of disclosures under FERPA say they could endanger students with unsupportive parents, both physically and emotionally.

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“The Superintendent shall ensure that all personally identifiable and medical information relating to transgender and gender nonconforming students shall be kept confidential in accordance with applicable state, local, and federal privacy laws,” Ann Arbor’s policy says. “School staff shall not disclose any information that may reveal a student’s transgender status to others, including the student’s parents or guardians and other school staff, unless legally required to do so or unless the student has authorized such disclosure.”

A spokesperson for Ann Arbor Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment. If a response is received, this story will be updated.

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the press release that these policies are “an affront to basic moral principles,” continuing on to say, “Today, ED and DOJ are putting districts on notice that we will use every tool available to hold them to account for this egregious behavior. Under the Trump Administration, ED and DOJ are working together to vigorously uphold parents’ federal protections, and we will work to ensure that no parent is ever kept in the dark about important matters relating to their children.”

The Department of Education and Department of Justice entered into a partnership in June specifically focused on privacy policies, including parental rights. 

In March 2025, McMahon sent a letter to state superintendents directing them that, under the Trump administration, the department would “insist that schools apply FERPA correctly to uphold, not thwart, parents’ rights.” It specifically notes that FERPA compliance means that “schools must allow parents to review all education records of their student, including any document related to a student’s ‘gender identity’.”

Ann Arbor schools were already the target of a Title IX investigation by the education department for allowing students to compete on athletic teams and use locker rooms based on their gender identities.