Annapolis, Maryland: Justice Department Sues Anne Arundel County Schools Over Gender Identity Policy

The U.S. Justice Department sued Anne Arundel County Public Schools on Tuesday, accusing the Maryland district of keeping information about students' gender identity from their parents in violation of federal law.

The complaint, filed by the Civil Rights Division in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, says district policies violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA, and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, known as PPRA. The government seeks an injunction to stop the board enforcing its gender identity policy and to give parents a chance to challenge and correct errors in their children's records.

What the complaint alleges

The Justice Department says the district directs staff to solicit, document and act on a student's self-identified name, pronouns and gender identity without notifying parents. It says the district designates that information as confidential and tells staff to withhold it from parents on the assertion that informing them would pose a safety concern. The complaint also says the district reports gender identity information to the Maryland State Department of Education without parental notice or a chance to challenge its accuracy.

"Schools should not discuss preferred pronouns or 'gender identity' with a student without parental notification and consent," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division. "Parents should not be lied to, stonewalled, or branded as 'safety concerns' when they ask to see the education records," she said.

One family described in the filing

The complaint includes allegations about one anonymous family. During the 2025-2026 school year, the department says, staff questioned students one on one about preferred names and pronouns. The parents, identified as Jane and John Doe, twice received emails from teachers referring to their daughter by a male name and pronouns, according to the filing. The Justice Department says the district eventually admitted it had misled the parents, then declined to give details and refused to turn over the child's relevant records.

The district answers

Anne Arundel County Public Schools said on Tuesday evening that it learned of the lawsuit that day and was reviewing it closely. "AACPS disagrees with the allegations and stands by its compliance with FERPA and PPRA," the district said. It said it has stayed in regular contact with the Justice Department in a good faith effort to resolve its concerns, and called the decision to sue regrettable. The district said it will address the claims in court and will have no further comment for now.

The school system covers 128 schools serving more than 84,000 students, according to its website.

A policy already revised

The district revised its policy at the start of the school year after the Trump administration, conservative legal activists and some parents challenged its approach over the summer. The revised policy makes clear that gender identity will not be treated as confidential medical information, and staff were told they can no longer use a transgender student's preferred name if parents oppose it. "No policy, guideline, or practice may limit or otherwise interfere with parental rights under FERPA," Superintendent Mark Bedell wrote in an August letter to the community.

The U.S. Education Department had previously accused the district of violating federal law by classifying a student's gender identity as confidential medical information that cannot be shared with parents. The Trump administration has opened federal probes of other educational institutions over transgender policies and threatened to freeze their funding, Reuters reported, and the president has directed the government to recognize only two sexes, male and female. The lawsuit was filed one week before the November 3 midterm elections.