DOJ, Education Department threatened enforcement action against two Kansas school districts over gender-identity privacy policies

On August 25, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education's Student Privacy Policy Office announced it would work with the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division to pursue enforcement measures against Olathe Public Schools and Shawnee Mission Public Schools — which could include judicial proceedings and loss of federal funding — after both districts declined to sign voluntary resolution agreements addressing findings that their gender-identity privacy policies violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said schools "that continue to hide information from parents will find that ED and DOJ stand ready to resolve violations of parental rights efficiently and effectively."

The enforcement threat follows an April 2026 finding by the Student Privacy Policy Office that four Kansas districts — Topeka, Olathe, Shawnee Mission, and Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools — maintained policies instructing schools to withhold from parents a student's use of a different name or pronouns, including in some cases printing a different name on a diploma without parental knowledge or consent. Announced the same day as the enforcement action, Topeka Public Schools entered a resolution agreement requiring it to stop creating new "gender support plans," let parents review any already on file, and add FERPA training for staff. Olathe had separately signed its own resolution agreement in May 2026 committing to give students access to facilities strictly on the basis of sex, but the Education Department rejected that agreement as insufficient; Shawnee Mission never agreed to any resolution, and its legal counsel has disputed that its policies violate FERPA. Both districts have said throughout the investigation that their policies do not violate federal law and have continued to defend their practices publicly.