The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a federal lawsuit against a school district in Kansas over its policies regarding transgender students. The lawsuit comes more than a year after the department began investigating four Kansas districts following a complaint from the Defense of Freedom Institute. The conservative group alleged that the schools had policies preventing the disclosure of a student’s “transgender status” to parents without the student’s consent.
According to the Justice Department, Kansas City, Kansas, schools have a policy of using students’ preferred names and pronouns. The district also says requests from students who do not wish to involve their parents are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
READ: DOJ seizes $560,000 in cryptocurrency tied to alleged Hamas fundraising scheme (September 1, 2026)
In April, the Education Department said it found the four Kansas districts in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The department said the districts violated federal privacy law by maintaining a policy of not disclosing a student’s gender transition to parents upon request, though it did not cite a specific instance in which this occurred.
“The department will not tolerate school districts playing fast and loose with federal law in the service of radical gender ideology,” Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.
Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools has previously said it disagreed with accusations by the Trump administration that it violated federal law. The district said Tuesday that it was in full compliance with the law.
The school district, which is the fifth-largest in the country, said it was disappointed by the DOJ’s decision to sue and would respond through the legal process. KCKPS Superintendent Anna Stubblefield told an NBC News affiliate in July that the district’s guidance does not ask for information to be withheld from parents and that it was guidance rather than a formal policy.
READ: Indian American taxi driver loses US citizenship after rape conviction (September 1, 2026)
The Trump administration has long threatened public school districts with the loss of federal funding over policies related to transgender students. However, this is the first lawsuit by the Justice Department accusing a school district of aiding students in gender transitions without parental consent.
The administration has previously taken steps to restrict gender-affirming treatment, such as hormone therapy, for minors and eliminate federal funding for such care. President Donald Trump has also issued a series of executive orders targeting transgender people and stated in a directive that the U.S. government will recognize male and female as the only two sexes.
The Justice Department is also currently seeking to require health care providers to turn over records involving transgender youth who received gender-affirming medical care. Several judges have blocked those efforts.