The U. S. Department of Education has opened an investigation of four Kansas school districts, including Shawnee Mission and Olathe, over allegations that their policies on transgender pronouns, sports participation and parental notification violate the civil rights regulations of Title IX.
In a letter sent to Shawnee Mission Superintendent Michael Schumacher, federal education officials outlined enforcement options if the districts are found to be in violation.
According to the letter, the federal education department can withhold further federal payments, issue a cease and desist order or recover funds. It also said the department could sue to enforce its preferred policies. However, the letter said federal officials hope to get voluntary compliance.
The investigation will be headed by the department’s Kansas City Office for Civil Rights. According to the letter, the investigators will be neutral in their analysis.
The four districts under investigation are the Shawnee Mission, Olathe, Kansas City, Kansas, and Topeka school districts.
Read the letter sent to the Shawnee Mission School District:
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Open in new tab Complaint letter cites SM North teacher
The investigation stems from a complaint by a right-leaning Washington, D.C.-based group called the Defense of Freedom Institute. The group proposes a law that requires bathrooms and locker rooms to be separate based on binary sex rather than gender identity.
The institute filed a complaint against the districts with the department in June.
The section of the letter on Shawnee Mission prominently features mention of a lawsuit filed by Shawnee Mission North High School English teacher Jennifer Caedran Sullivan, who last October alleged she was illegally disciplined because she refused to abide by district guidance on use of pronouns and a students’ choice of names at school.
The institute contends that allowing students to use different bathrooms than the gender they were assigned at birth violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and that the federal education department should step in.
They also assert that schools’ policies and guidance allowing students to go by a different name without notifying parents is a violation of a parent’s right to know.
JoCo districts respond
District officials in Shawnee Mission and Olathe said they will cooperate with the investigation.
Shawnee Mission spokesperson David Smith said the district will “be responsive to whatever questions they raise. We are waiting to see what happens next. We believe everything we’re doing complies with federal and state law.”
In a release, Shawnee Mission also said, “SMSD is not aware of any parent or student filing a [sic] complaint alleging that the district’s practices for working with transgender students and their families violates Title IX.”
It added, “We of course stand ready to address any concerns from an SMSD family that come forward.”
Olathe officials said in a release Thursday that the district will fully cooperate, adding that there have been no specific situations identified in the district related to the investigation.
“In Olathe Public Schools, we stand ready and are proud to serve all students who attend our schools. That is the foundation and responsibility of all public school systems — to serve every child that walks through our doors,” the release said.
“To be absolutely clear, it is our expectation that staff work directly with families regarding student-related matters involving their own children,” the Olathe district said.
AG Kobach put districts on notice two years ago
The department’s action this week is a culmination of a dispute that has been brewing since Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sent letters to six Kansas districts and the Kansas Association of School Boards in 2023 alleging their guidelines on notifying parents about the “social transitioning” of their children at school violated the parents’ rights.
Another letter from the department went out in March, reminding the districts of the privacy act.
Two of the six districts rewrote or rescinded their policies, but Shawnee Mission and Olathe officials pushed back.
Kobach went on to urge U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon to pursue the policies that represent “gender ideology run amok,” according to a release Kobach sent Thursday afternoon.
