Justice Department sues Anne Arundel County schools over gender identity policy; district says it complies with federal law

As of 9:27 a.m. ET, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026

The U.S. Justice Department sued Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland on Tuesday, saying the district's gender identity policies keep information from parents in violation of federal student privacy law. The district said it disagrees with the allegations.

In announcing the suit, the department's Civil Rights Division said it aims to stop the district from what it called secretly "gender transitioning" children without their parents' knowledge or consent, and from blocking parents' access to information they are entitled to under federal law. The suit cites the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA).

What the Justice Department alleges

According to the department, district policy directs staff to ask for, record and act on a student's self-identified name, pronouns and gender identity without telling parents. The department says the district labels gender identity information "confidential" and tells staff to withhold it from parents based on what it called an "unfounded" claim that telling parents would pose a "safety concern." It also says the district reports gender identity information to the Maryland State Department of Education without notice to parents.

The complaint describes one anonymous family, identified as Jane and John Doe. The department says the parents twice got emails from teachers referring to their daughter by a male name and pronouns, and that the district declined to give them details or the related records.

"Schools should not discuss preferred pronouns or 'gender identity' with a student without parental notification and consent," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division. "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," she said in the department's release.

WBAL-TV reported that the suit was filed against the Board of Education of Anne Arundel County.

The district's response

"AACPS disagrees with the allegations and stands by its compliance with FERPA and PPRA," a district spokesperson said in a statement reported by WBAL-TV, CBS Baltimore and WMAR-2 News. The statement said the school system had been in regular contact with the Justice Department "in a good faith effort to resolve their concerns" and called it "regrettable" that the department chose to sue. "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 statement said.

Background

In August, the district amended its gender identity policy after the Trump administration threatened legal action and the loss of federal funding, CBS Baltimore reported. In a letter, Superintendent Mark Bedell said the revised policy makes clear that "no policy, guideline, or practice may limit or otherwise interfere with parental rights under FERPA," including records on gender identity, preferred names and pronouns, WBAL-TV reported.

The claims in the complaint have not been tested in court.