Justice Department sues Maryland school district over policies

The U.S. Justice Department filed an eight-count lawsuit against Anne Arundel County Public Schools on October 27, alleging that the Maryland district violated federal student-record and parental-consent laws through its handling of transgender students’ names, pronouns and gender identity. The allegations have not been resolved in court. The complaint, filed in federal court in Maryland, accuses the district of violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). The department alleges that school policies permitted staff to ask students about preferred names and pronouns, document gender-related information and act on it without informing parents or obtaining consent. The case centers largely on a student identified in the complaint as Mary Doe. Federal lawyers allege that a field-trip roster emailed to parents in May 2026 used the student’s preferred name, disclosing it without her parents’ consent. The complaint also says the district denied the parents access to internal communications and other records about the student’s name and pronouns. It acknowledges that the student’s official school records continued...