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Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon demanded in a letter sent July 29 that a school district in Maryland stop hiding information about student gender transitions from parents or face litigation from the Justice Department.
“By categorically withholding ‘(i)nformation about a student’s gender identity’ from parents except where ‘legally required,’ AACPS appears to have adopted a blanket, district-wide practice of nondisclosure untethered to FERPA’s enumerated exceptions … parents were denied access to their child’s full record, information was disclosed without parental consent, and the parents were denied a hearing to correct the record,” she wrote, aimed at the Anne Arundel County school system.
“Comply with the law or face us in court,” Dhillon later added on X.
The demand marks the Trump administration’s latest effort to challenge school policies that allow students to socially transition without their parents’ knowledge, testing whether federal education privacy law requires districts to disclose gender-identity records. Anne Arundel County now faces possible litigation — and potentially the loss of federal funding — unless it reverses the policy within seven days, escalating a national dispute over parental rights, a significant plank in the president’s policy agenda.
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The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is designed to give parents the legal right to access their children’s educational records, which the Trump administration argues includes information related to changes in their gender identity. The law has previously been used by the DOJ in attempts to overturn similar policies in Maine and California.
LGBT advocates argue that nondisclosure for information linked to a child’s gender identity is important to preserving the safety of children growing up in non-affirming or abusive households. Social conservatives, meanwhile, take the position that schools don’t have the right to conceal information about their children from them.
Before Dhillon sent her letter Wednesday, the DOJ and the Department of Education announced that they had entered a partnership to crack down on transgender nondisclosure policies in both Anne Arundel County and Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan, potentially withholding federal funds from the district until it changes course.
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In a press release announcing the joint effort, the agencies claimed that the Education Department had received complaints from parents in Anne Arundel County who alleged the district “was secretly helping their daughter pretend to be male at school” and declined to provide information about it when confronted.
An Education Department official told Fox News Digital that the agency does not comment on ongoing investigations and a DOJ spokesperson referred Fox News Digital to Dhillon’s remarks when reached for comment.
Students enrolled in Anne Arundel Public Schools are, per district policy, allowed to use any name or pronoun they prefer, even if it doesn’t align with their sex, without requiring parental approval. Staff are, however, instructed to involve the student’s family in developing a support plan for the student unless “there is a genuine safety concern for the student’s physical, emotional, or mental health safety.”
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Additionally, the policy designates records about student gender identity as confidential medical information and advises that it should be revealed when legally necessary.
The Anne Arundel, Maryland, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, school districts did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
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“School districts that hide information from parents are violating federal law,” Dhillon said. “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.”
Dhillon’s letter gives Anne Arundel Public Schools seven days to rescind its policy, provide parents impacted with the relevant records and inform staff that they cannot withhold information from parents. If the deadline is not met, the letter claims the district could face legal action.
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