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The Trump administration’s Justice Department has ordered the Anne Arundel County school system in Maryland to abandon its policy of withholding student gender-identity information from parents or face legal consequences. Acting Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon issued the directive on July 29, giving the district one week to reverse course and supply affected families with their children’s complete educational records.
Dhillon’s letter argues the district has violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) by systematically concealing information about students’ gender transitions from parents absent legal justification. The administration contends that federal education privacy law requires disclosure of gender-identity records and that blanket nondisclosure policies exceed FERPA’s permitted exceptions, potentially exposing the district to litigation and loss of federal education funding.
The action represents an escalation in the Trump administration’s broader campaign against school policies permitting students to socially transition without parental knowledge. The Justice Department and Department of Education announced a coordinated enforcement effort targeting both the Anne Arundel district and Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan, claiming they received complaints from parents alleging schools secretly accommodated their children’s gender preferences at school.
Anne Arundel’s policy allows students to use names and pronouns of their choosing without parental approval, though staff must involve families in developing support plans unless genuine safety concerns exist. The district classifies gender-identity records as confidential medical information disclosed only when legally mandated. Neither school system responded to requests for comment.
LGBT advocates contend that nondisclosure protections safeguard vulnerable youth in non-affirming environments, while social conservatives maintain schools cannot lawfully conceal such information from parents. The FERPA dispute has previously prompted DOJ enforcement actions against similar policies in Maine and California.
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