The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced a lawsuit against Anne Arundel County Public Schools, alleging the district’s policies allowed staff to keep a student’s gender identity from their parent without the parent’s knowledge or consent.
In July, the Trump administration said that AACPS improperly classifies information about a student’s gender identity as “confidential medical information” that cannot be shared with parents, which the DOE said infringes on parents’ rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
The suit, filed Tuesday against the Board of Education of Anne Arundel County, alleges that during the 2025-2026 school year, staff questioned students about their preferred names and pronouns.
In one instance, the federal government alleges that staff applied the policy to a student, “calling her by a name that didn’t match her legal name or sex.” The parents received emails from teachers using a male name for their daughter. They confronted the school, but school officials declined to provide the parents with student records.
“Schools should not discuss preferred pronouns or ‘gender identity’ with a student without parental notification and consent,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This Department will end illegal school policies that keep parents in the dark.”
Earlier this summer, Anne Arundel County Public Schools superintendent Dr. Mark Bedell said the district was updating its gender policy following pressure from the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice.
The policy adjusts the language of the policy, making it clear that “no policy, guideline, or practice may limit or otherwise interfere with parental rights under FERPA, and this includes any information maintained in education records that relates to gender identity, transgender status, sexual orientation, preferred name, or preferred pronouns,” as explained by Dr. Bedell in a letter.
WBAL-TV 11 News has reached out to AACPS for a comment about the lawsuit.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
