DOJ sues Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools to block secret ‘gender transitions’ after 2025 recordings revealed it

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools Tuesday aimed at stopping the district from facilitating secret “gender transitions” for children at school without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division filed the “first-of-its-kind suit,” alleging violations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division posted on X. 

“Parental rights are paramount in the operation of America’s public schools, and Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools does not know children better than their own parents,” she said in a release. “The Department will not tolerate school districts playing fast and loose with federal law in the service of radical gender ideology.”

The legal complaint references “undated recordings” in which a staff member said the district’s “transgender guideline” wasn’t available to the public but was safeguarded by certain “gatekeepers.” In another recording, Lauren Hernandez, the district’s organizational development specialist, discussed how to “support students whose culture is against the LGBTQIA relationships,” including asking a student about his willingness to share information with his father, who is a preacher.

In March 2025, Heartlander News reported on a video call in which Hernandez and other staff discussed how to continue promoting LGBTQ lifestyles and gender transitions, including hiding them from parents who disagree. Reporting on that video call has led to calls from state and federal officials to investigate the district and hold it accountable.

In July 2026, the DOJ gave KCKPS 14 days to correct its transgender policies or face legal action and a possible loss of federal funds.

“This lawsuit should not come as a surprise,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser for the District of Kansas in Tuesday’s release. “Public education functions effectively only when schools and parents engage in a genuine partnership. When schools withhold information from parents, they undermine trust and disrupt the essential balance between families and public educators.”

Federal privacy law prohibits a school district from maintaining any policy that denies or effectively prevents a parent from exercising the right to inspect and review his or her child’s education records. PPRA separately requires prior written parental consent before a school may require children to submit to any survey, analysis or evaluation that reveals sensitive information about the student or the student’s family.

“Because KCKPS’s policies and practices violate core parental rights secured by FERPA and PPRA, the lawsuit seeks an injunction to halt the Transgender Guideline’s enforcement, among other relief,” the release states.

The lawsuit seeks declarations that the district, which is the state’s fifth largest, violated both federal statutes, as well as an injunction that it stop enforcing its transgender guidelines and obtain written parental consent before surveying children about political affiliations, mental or psychological problems, or sex behavior or attitudes.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.