KC-area districts defend policies for trans students as Kansas seeks federal probe
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach called on the country’s education secretary to launch a federal investigation into four school districts — including three in the Kansas City metro — and their policies related to the rights and treatment of transgender and non-binary students.
He alleges the districts are violating parents’ rights by not informing them if their child asks to be addressed by a different name or pronouns at school than at home.
Kobach named Olathe, Shawnee Mission, Kansas City, Kansas, and Topeka public schools in a Tuesday letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon saying the districts violated a 2023 order that requested they get rid of policies that allow students to use names, pronouns and facilities that correspond to their gender identity when at school.
Broadly, officials from the four districts defended their policies as well as the rights and privacy of their transgender students. The districts insisted they’re not breaking any laws — with at least two claiming that no evidence exists of parents raising any concerns.
While the districts’ policies vary, representatives from each told The Star that staff work with families on an individual basis to ensure their needs are met and that students feel safe at school.
“Transgender students are welcome in all schools in the Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD),” the Shawnee Mission School District — one of the Johnson County school districts named in the letter — said in a written statement. “We categorically denounce any attempt by any outside individual or entity to make even one student feel something less than welcome in an SMSD school.”
Kobach’s claims
In December 2023, Kobach sent letters to six Kansas school districts and the Kansas Association of School Boards, “confronting them over policies requiring or allowing school staff to hide from parents information about their minor children’s process of ‘social transitioning’ at school,” Kobach said in Tuesday’s letter to McHanon. The term ‘social transitioning’ describes non-medical ways that trans or non-binary individuals express their gender identity, such as by wearing certain clothes or hairstyles, or going by a new name.
Two districts revised or rescinded their policies in response to Kobach’s 2023 letter.
Now, the Republican attorney general wants the four remaining school districts to tell parents whether their children are using different pronouns at school and to identify whether school staff are using different pronouns to refer to a student in the classroom than when speaking with that student’s parent or guardian.
He also wants districts to restrict which restrooms and campus spaces students can use based only on their assigned sex at birth.
The school districts named in the complaint have varying policies that protect the privacy of students who use different pronouns than what their parents or guardians registered them with in the school system – whether that be getting student permission before informing parents, refraining from informing them, or going by whatever practices school professionals decide would limit trauma to that student.
Kobach said that the policies violate parents’ rights under the U.S. Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act, which protects student records from public distribution and gives parents the right to amend, inspect or review those records.
Earlier in the same day that Kobach sent his letter to McMahon, the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies — a right-leaning nonprofit organization — also filed a Title IX complaint against all four districts for their policies.
Kobach requested the education department take his letter and the DFI’s complaint under consideration and launch an investigation into the districts for “concealing critical information from parents about their children’s psychological and emotional health, and by requiring students to share sex-separated intimate spaces with individuals of the opposite sex.”
The attorney general’s action is the latest in a multi-year effort among elected officials on the right to further regulate the lives of transgender Kansans.
Recently, Kansas Republicans overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto to enact laws banning trans athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports and barring trans people from single-sex spaces — a law that stemmed from a lawsuit Kobach filed against the Department of Revenue.
McMahon, a Trump administration appointee, launched similar investigations this spring against public schools in Maine and California for having policies that kept schools from outing students to their families.
KCKPS: We follow the law
Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools, in eastern Wyandotte County maintained in a Wednesday afternoon statement that it is committed to following FERPA and other written laws and is available to discuss parent and guardian concerns with families if they come up.
“We remain committed to ensuring that all students feel safe at school and are able to focus on learning,” the district’s statement read. “We will continue to partner with parents and guardians to maintain open, respectful communication between families, their children and the district.”
Olathe Public Schools: No specific input from Kobach
Olathe Public Schools — the second largest district in the state serving nearly 30,000 students in southeast Johnson County — said in a statement that its practice is “to work directly and partner with families and students as situations arise to ensure we are providing the appropriate necessary support.”
“To be absolutely clear, it is our expectation that staff work directly with families regarding student-related matters involving their own child(ren),” Olathe Public Schools said in its statement.
When Kobach sent the letter in 2023, followed by a press release regarding the same issues in 2024, district leaders say they attempted to schedule a meeting with the attorney general’s office and asked the state office for any specific examples of the district breaking the law or instances of any infringement on the rights of Olathe students, staff or families.
“However, the Attorney General’s office would not provide specific input regarding any alleged violations of state and federal laws by the district,” the statement said.
With what district officials described as a lack of guidance and information from the attorney general, Olathe Public Schools left its policies in place and attributed Kobach’s letter and press release to “part of a larger political agenda.”
“As the second largest district in the state supporting tens of thousands of students, Olathe Public Schools does not have the time to engage in political agendas,” the statement said. “Our focus is and always will be educating our students for their future.”
Shawnee Mission won’t engage in ‘publicity stunt’
Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD) leaders expressed similar sentiments to their Johnson County counterpart.
“Attorney General Kris Kobach is attempting, as a publicity tactic, to start discord between his office and public school districts in the very state he represents and that he was elected to strengthen,” the district said in a statement. “The Shawnee Mission School District is declining to engage in this stunt; Mr. Kobach is raising gloves over hypothetical scenarios and the SMSD will not step into the ring.”
Shawnee Mission is the third largest school district in Kansas and serves more than 27,000 students in the northeast portion of Johnson County.
Similarly to Olathe, Shawnee Mission’s statement said that Kobach failed to provide information regarding any instance in which a parent of a transgender student has come forward with concerns. The district said there is no complaint of withholding student information from any SMSD parent for the department of education to investigate.
“Again, transgender students are welcome in our schools. We will continue to work to ensure that all students feel safe at school and can focus on learning,” the statement said.
Topeka: We’re working with parents
Topeka Unified School District told Topeka-area media this week that it is committed to working with parents and is dedicated to supporting families throughout students’ time in the district.
“We are committed to working in partnership with parents, keeping them informed and engaged in all decisions that impact their student’s educational experience,” the district told the Topeka Capital-Journal. “Our district remains dedicated to ensuring that families are fully supported, valued, and involved every step of the way.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
