August 14th, 2025
TOPEKA – Four Kansas school districts are under investigation for alleged Title IX and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act violations. The U.S. Department of Education today announced it is launching investigations into the Kansas City, Kansas School District, USD 500; Olathe Public Schools, USD 233; the Shawnee Mission School District, USD 512; and Topeka Public Schools, USD 501.
"Title IX was enacted to protect the rights of girls to equal educational opportunity and safety. Kansas had to sue and defeat the Biden Administration in federal court to stop them from dismantling Title IX," Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach said. "I am grateful that we now have a federal government that takes Title IX seriously and will ensure that school districts follow the law."
The Defense of Freedom Institute filed an initial complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights and Student Privacy Policy Office alleging that the four school districts have policies that allow students to participate in sports and to access locker rooms and other intimate facilities based on their "gender identity" rather than their biological sex. Additionally, the complaint alleged that the districts' policies require or allow school officials to conceal from parents the "social transitioning" of their children.
In a June 24 letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Kobach urged the department to review the schools' harmful and illegal policies that actively undermine parental rights.
"The most important duty of K–12 schools is to keep the students in their care safe from harm during the school day. Yet, schools across the country, including in the state of Kansas, are ignoring that fundamental obligation in the interest of promoting a virulent ideology that pushes children into a pipeline of “social transitioning” without notifying parents who might object to this process and its potentially lifelong consequences," Kobach wrote.
“The Kansas districts’ alleged behavior of allowing gender ideology to run amok in their schools is an affront not only to the law, but to the sound judgment we expect from our educational leaders. School personnel should not confuse and unsettle young girls by forcing them to share sex-separated sports and intimate facilities with boys; nor should school personnel abuse their position of authority by hiding sensitive information pertaining to a child’s health and well-being from that child’s parents,” McMahon said in a release issued by the U.S. Department of Education. “From day one, the Trump Administration promised to protect students and parents by restoring Title IX and parental rights laws to the fullest extent of the law. My offices will vigorously investigate these matters to ensure these practices come to an end.” back...
"Title IX was enacted to protect the rights of girls to equal educational opportunity and safety. Kansas had to sue and defeat the Biden Administration in federal court to stop them from dismantling Title IX," Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach said. "I am grateful that we now have a federal government that takes Title IX seriously and will ensure that school districts follow the law."
The Defense of Freedom Institute filed an initial complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights and Student Privacy Policy Office alleging that the four school districts have policies that allow students to participate in sports and to access locker rooms and other intimate facilities based on their "gender identity" rather than their biological sex. Additionally, the complaint alleged that the districts' policies require or allow school officials to conceal from parents the "social transitioning" of their children.
In a June 24 letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Kobach urged the department to review the schools' harmful and illegal policies that actively undermine parental rights.
"The most important duty of K–12 schools is to keep the students in their care safe from harm during the school day. Yet, schools across the country, including in the state of Kansas, are ignoring that fundamental obligation in the interest of promoting a virulent ideology that pushes children into a pipeline of “social transitioning” without notifying parents who might object to this process and its potentially lifelong consequences," Kobach wrote.
“The Kansas districts’ alleged behavior of allowing gender ideology to run amok in their schools is an affront not only to the law, but to the sound judgment we expect from our educational leaders. School personnel should not confuse and unsettle young girls by forcing them to share sex-separated sports and intimate facilities with boys; nor should school personnel abuse their position of authority by hiding sensitive information pertaining to a child’s health and well-being from that child’s parents,” McMahon said in a release issued by the U.S. Department of Education. “From day one, the Trump Administration promised to protect students and parents by restoring Title IX and parental rights laws to the fullest extent of the law. My offices will vigorously investigate these matters to ensure these practices come to an end.” back...
