Anne Arundel schools amended gender policy, DOJ still files a lawsuit

Slightly more than two months after Anne Arundel County public schools amended a gender policy due to a threat from the federal government, the school district got sued anyway.

In a 31-page complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Maryland, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division charges the county’s Board of Education with “facilitating the secret ‘transitioning’ of children’s ‘gender identity’ at school without their parents’ knowledge or consent.”

The suit seeks a court injunction to not only prevent Anne Arundel schools from enforcing its “Safe and Inclusive Environments for LGBTQ+ Students” policy, but also to allow parents to review and challenge any errors in their child’s educational records. The policy, the suit says, violates the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

The suit represents two parents, identified as John and Jane Doe, who are practicing Christians with a daughter, identified as Mary, who was a senior in an Anne Arundel County high school. It said the parents learned by accident that school district staff has been calling the daughter a male name, at her request, and concealed the fact from them.

The parents believe “using pronouns inconsistent with that person’s sex is false and harmful,” the suit says.

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“Schools should not discuss preferred pronouns or ‘gender identity’ with a student without parental notification and consent,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement on the lawsuit. “Parents should not be lied to, stonewalled, or branded as ‘safety concerns’ when they ask to see the education records that reveal what schools are secretly doing to their children. This Department will end illegal school policies that keep parents in the dark.”

The school district said it was notified of the lawsuit Tuesday afternoon and “is reviewing it closely.”

“AACPS disagrees with the allegations and stands by its compliance with FERPA and PPRA (Protection of Pupils Rights Amendment). Moreover, the school system has been in regular contact with the Department of Justice in a good faith effort to resolve their concerns while adhering to our obligations to all students, parents and staff,” school district spokesperson Bob Mosier said in an email.

“It’s regrettable that the Department chose to pursue litigation rather than continuing constructive dialogue,” his email said. “Because the case is now before a federal court, AACPS will address the claims in its court filings and will have no further comment at this time.”

The suit comes after America First Legal of Washington, D.C., filed a suit against the county schools on July 8 in U.S. District Court of Maryland, also on behalf of John and Jane Doe parents with a daughter in high school. They alleged the district secretly facilitated their minor child’s social “gender transition” at school without their notice or consent.

According to the complaint, the school district began in 2019 to adopt policies that include a guidance document for staff “to conceal gender identity information from parents of high school students.”

The U.S. Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced July 27 they were taking enforcement action against Anne Arundel County after the district classified a student’s gender identity as “confidential medical information” that couldn’t be shared with parents.

More than three weeks later, on Aug. 19, and several days before the first day of school, Anne Arundel County Superintendent Mark Bedell wrote a letter to the school community that the policy had been amended.

It reads, in part, “Nothing in this regulation shall be construed to limit or otherwise interfere with parents’/guardians’ rights under FERPA, including the right to inspect and review their student’s complete education record. Under FERPA, education records generally include all records, files, documents, and other materials maintained by AACPS that contain information directly related to a student.”

As for the latest suit, it also wants the school district to receive written parental consent before a minor student responds to any surveys or evaluations that includes any political affiliations, sex behavior and attitudes or religious practices.