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After receiving a threat from the federal government about violating parental rights, Anne Arundel County public schools informed the school community Wednesday that its gender policy for students has been amended to grant parents more access.
Superintendent Mark T. Bedell wrote in聽聽to the school community that the confidentiality section of the school district鈥檚 鈥淪afe and Inclusive Environments for LGBTQ+ Students鈥� was revised. In addition, the district is in compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Bedell wrote the policy clarifies that parents will have the right to inspect and review all parts of their child鈥檚 education record.
The amended policy comes after America First Legal of Washington, D.C., filed a聽聽July 8 in U.S. District Court of Maryland against the county schools on behalf of two parents, labeled John and Jane Doe with a daughter in high school, who alleged that the district secretly facilitated their minor child鈥檚 social 鈥済ender transition鈥� at school without their notice or consent.
According to the complaint, the school district began in 2019 to adopt policies that include a guidance document for staff 鈥渢o conceal gender identity information from parents of high school students.鈥�
The complaint states the parents 鈥渨ant to educate [their daughter] according to their religious beliefs that God creates each person as male or female, that sex is based on biology rather than internal self-perception, and that sex cannot be altered. Moreover, the Does want to control how decisions are made for [their daughter] concerning these fundamentally important issues. Multiple AACPS personnel have referred to [their daughter] using a male name at school and in school documents without informing the Does or securing their consent.鈥�
Less than three weeks later on July 27, the U.S.聽聽Student Privacy Policy Office and the U.S. Department of Justice鈥檚 Civil Rights Division announced they were taking enforcement action against Anne Arundel County after the district classified a student鈥檚 gender identity as 鈥渃onfidential medical information鈥� that couldn鈥檛 be shared with parents.
鈥淪chool districts that hide information from parents are violating federal law,鈥� Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement at the time.聽鈥淔ERPA is not optional, and any districts that attempt to bypass or distort its requirements should expect immediate federal action.
According to various聽, local school officials didn鈥檛 receive any formal notice or correspondence and 鈥渃arefully review it and respond through the appropriate process.鈥�
On Wednesday, the Anne Arundel superintendent wrote that the聽聽was amended to now read:
鈥淭he Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the privacy of parents/guardians and students by generally prohibiting schools that receive federal education funding from disclosing personally identifiable information from a student鈥檚 education records without the parent鈥檚/guardian鈥檚 consent, except in limited circumstances.鈥�
It continues: 鈥淣othing in this regulation shall be construed to limit or otherwise interfere with parents鈥�/guardians鈥� rights under FERPA, including the right to inspect and review their student鈥檚 complete education record. Under FERPA, education records generally include all records, files, documents, and other materials maintained by AACPS that contain information directly related to a student. Board of Education of Anne Arundel County Policy JH and Administrative Regulation JH-RA 鈥� Student Records 鈥� govern student records at AACPS.鈥�
鈥淎s made clear by these amendments, no policy, guideline, or practice may limit or otherwise interfere with parental rights under FERPA, and this includes any information maintained in education records that relates to gender identity, transgender status, sexual orientation, preferred name, or preferred pronouns,鈥� Bedell wrote.
The first day of school in Anne Arundel County is Monday.
