The U.S Department of Education has told four Kansas public school districts, including Olathe and Shawnee Mission, that their policies regarding gender identity violate federal law.
On Friday, the department announced that a months-long investigation involving both its Student Privacy Policy Office, or SPPO, and Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, concluded that the districts’ policies broke Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, barring sex-based discrimination in education, and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA.
The investigation, launched in August 2025 following a complaint by a conservative Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, centered on the districts’ policies regarding transgender students’ bathroom use and sports participation, as well as parental notification of students’ use of different names and pronouns at school.
If the districts do not change their policies, the department warned in its Friday announcement, they risk losing federal funding.
In addition to Olathe and Shawnee Mission, the Department of Education also named Kansas City, Kansas, and Topeka schools in its investigation.
“These Kansas school districts have allowed ‘gender ideology’ to run amok in their schools,” said Kimberly Richey, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Education, in a press release on Friday.
“These policies not only violate federal law, but are contrary to the sound judgment we expect from our educational leaders, and thoroughly disrespectful to parents who entrust school personnel to keep their children safe,” Richey added.
Olathe says allegations are “completely unfounded”
In a statement Friday evening, Olathe Public Schools pushed back forcefully against the federal findings, saying the district’s policies “have not and do not violate state and federal law.”
The district said it “complied with the investigation process, acted in good faith, and has worked to seek a resolution agreement.”
“Unfortunately, this topic has become highly political and Olathe Public Schools and others have been thrust into the midst of political theatre and forced to respond to allegations that are completely unfounded or being grossly misrepresented, all on taxpayer time and money,” the district’s statement said.
A spokesperson for the Shawnee Mission district said in an email on Sunday that the district was still reviewing the Department of Education’s findings and would respond with a statement soon.
Soon after the investigation was announced in August, both the Olathe and Shawnee Mission districts said they had not received any complaints from parents or students about their policies for working with and accommodating transgender students.
A complaint from the right-leaning Defense of Freedom Institute last year sparked the investigation.
Nearly two years earlier, the office of Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach also sent letters to the districts, warning them their policies on “social transitioning” violated federal law.
How DOE says the districts violated federal law
The Department of Education said its investigation found that the four districts are violating FERPA by having “policies that were likely to prevent schools from notifying parents of their child’s so-called ‘gender transition,’ even if the parent requested their child’s records.”
The department said the districts’ policies allow schools to conceal from parents whether their children are using different pronouns or names at school, or whether a student is getting a different name printed on their high school diploma.
In addition, OCR found that Olathe and Shawnee Mission “violated Title IX with policies that allow students to use restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms based on ‘gender identity.'” (Olathe said in its statement Friday that that particular allegation was false and that it had no such policy.)
The department’s announcement went on, saying, Olathe, Shawnee and Topeka “all admitted to [the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights] that male students have been allowed to use female restrooms and locker rooms based on ‘gender identity.'”
“Shawnee Mission School District also has policies regarding participation in sports that raise significant compliance concerns,” the department said.
To get in compliance and avoid possible penalties, including the loss of federal funding, the department said the districts must:
- no longer allow students to participate in sports based on gender identity,
- ensure that students’ use of bathrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms and overnight accommodations is “based on sex and not ‘gender identity,'”
- and tell staff that “gender support plans” and other documents related to “students’ so-called ‘gender transition” be made accessible to parents.
Olathe pushes back, says it is in compliance with federal law
In a letter to SPPO and OCR officials dated Friday, April 17, Kala Shah, a lawyer representing Olathe Public Schools, said the district was already in compliance with both Title IX and FERPA regulations as they pertain to policies impacting transgender students.
Shah said Olathe teachers “have not, currently do not, and would not maintain more than one education record for a student,” and the district has “not ever maintained a separate education record regarding a student’s gender identity.”
Still, at SPPO’s request, Shah said, Olathe updated its guidance to staff to add language at its annual staff orientation to include “FERPA requirements regarding parent access” to student education records.
Shah also said the district’s current policies regarding bathroom use and sports participation comply with Title IX, barring sex-based discrimination.
In its statement, the district suggested the federal investigation had been a drain on its resources.
“Our priority is, and has always been, to focus on academics. This investigation has pulled substantial time and resources away from our ability to focus on academic excellence and the well-being of our students and staff. We remain committed to placing student learning and educational excellence as our top priority,” the district said.
This story was originally published by the Johnson County Post.
