PRESS RELEASE: Kansas Attorney General Calls on Department of Education to Investigate DFI’s Title IX Complaint Against Several School Districts in the State

WASHINGTON—Today, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education urging its Office for Civil Rights to investigate the Title IX complaint the Defense of Freedom Institute (DFI) filed against several Kansas school districts. The complaint also notified the Department of potential violations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

DFI’s complaint targets Shawnee Mission, Kansas City, Olathe, and Topeka public school districts and clearly outlines how each district’s “gender identity” policies require school personnel to withhold critical information from parents about their children while allowing students to access single sex bathrooms, locker rooms, and other private spaces based on gender identity, not sex. Because these Title IX violations also implicate FERPA obligations owed by the school districts to parents and students, DFI has also notified the Department’s Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO), which is responsible for ensuring that schools comply with FERPA.

“Title IX exists to ensure equal opportunity for women and girls, and FERPA guarantees parents access to their children’s educational records,” said DFI President and Co-Founder Bob Eitel. “These districts are flouting both laws in pursuit of a radical gender ideology.”

Among the findings:

According to the allegations of a lawsuit filed last year, Shawnee Mission Unified School District 512 punished a teacher for using biologically accurate pronouns and maintains internal guidance prohibiting school staff from informing parents when a student requests a change in name or pronouns.

Olathe Unified School District 233 tells staff that “best practice” is to obtain parental consent—but then lists vague, subjective criteria for keeping parents in the dark, including concerns that communication might “cause trauma.”

Kansas City Unified School District 500 and Topeka Unified School District 501 maintain nearly identical policies instructing staff not to disclose a student’s process of “gender transitioning” to parents unless the student gives permission—directly violating FERPA’s requirement that parents have access to their minor child’s records.

Three of the districts allow students to access sex-separated spaces based on self-declared “gender identity,” disregarding the privacy and safety rights of other students.

The complaint comes on the heels of a series of federal court rulings vacating the Biden administration’s 2024 Title IX rule, which unlawfully redefined “sex” to include “gender identity.” President Trump has since issued executive orders restoring Title IX’s original meaning and reaffirming that federal law recognizes two binary, biological sexes—male or female.

“Title IX was written to ensure that federally funded schools don’t deprive anyone of equal educational opportunities on the basis of sex,” said DFI Senior Counsel Paul Zimmerman. “When schools allow boys in girls’ bathrooms or pressure teachers to hide minor students’ desire to use different names and pronouns from their parents, they aren’t just breaking trust—they’re breaking the law.”

DFI is calling on the Department of Education to investigate each district, take appropriate enforcement action, and strip federal funding should the districts choose not to come into compliance with Title IX and FERPA.

To read the full complaint, click here.