Department of Education Finds California in Violation of Parental Access Law

What is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act?

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), signed into law in 1974, prevents schools from releasing sensitive information regarding students to third parties and guarantees the rights of parents to “inspect and review the educational records of their children.” It states that if any educational agency, either a state Department of Education or a local school district, has a policy of denying or effectively prevents parents from reviewing the educational records of their children, then “no [federal] funding shall be made available” to that entity. Activist organizations have promoted the false policy position that FERPA protects students’ privacy rights against their parents. For example, the National Center for Transgender Equality and the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network have claimed that disclosing information regarding transgender identification “to parents … may violate privacy laws, such as the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.” Conversely, FERPA was written to be a “sword to provide rights to parents to access their children’s information,” and covers all education records.

On what grounds did the Education Department find that the California Department of Education violated FERPA?

After a nearly year-long investigation, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) found that the California Department of Education (CDE) has exerted “powerful state-directed pressure for schools to adopt policies that have led to FERPA noncompliance.” ED claims that California state laws, guidance, and legal actions, such as AB 1955, “have effectively coerced districts to withhold information from parents in violation of FERPA.” AB 1955 was the first act of state legislation that prohibited school districts from implementing policies requiring parental notification when a child expresses gender dysphoria.

How has California responded to ED’s investigation and findings?

The California Department of Education has denied any conflict between AB 1955 and FERPA. It claims that AB 1955 “does not mandate non-disclosure” of gender dysphoria to parents. Rather, it prohibits school districts from affirmatively mandating disclosure of gender dysphoria to parents. It further claims that there is no conflict between AB 1955 and FERPA because AB 1955 stipulates that the prohibition of mandatory disclosure to parents applies “unless otherwise required by state or federal law.” Because the legislation carves out an exception for federal laws such as FERPA, the CDE claims there is no contradiction between these laws.

Is there public evidence beyond AB 1955 that California has encouraged districts to violate FERPA?

The California Department of Education has issued guidance strongly suggesting that state and federal law prohibit the disclosure of information regarding a student’s transgender identification to his or her parents. As late as December 2024, the California Department of Education provided guidance to school districts advising that,

“A transgender or gender nonconforming student may not express their gender identity openly in all contexts, including at home. Revealing a student’s gender identity or expression to others may compromise the student’s safety.”

The CDE then declared,

“Pursuant to the above protections, schools must consult with a transgender student to determine who can or will be informed of the student’s transgender status, if anyone, including the student’s family. With rare exceptions, schools are required to respect the limitations that a student places on the disclosure of their transgender status, including not sharing that information with the student’s parents.”

It spuriously claimed that a student has a federal legal right to privacy regarding their asserted gender identity. The CDE declared that Article I, Section I of the California Constitution protects a student’s right to non-disclosure and the dissemination of information regarding their gender identity, noting that this right is enforceable against government officials. It characterized FERPA as a law protecting student privacy, making no mention of the right of parents to access their children’s records, and noted an exception to non-disclosure only in cases of emergency or when there is an articulable threat to a student’s health or safety. By suggesting that state and federal law require students to have control over information regarding their gender identity, and characterizing FERPA only in a way consistent with this assertion, the CDE has discouraged school districts from respecting the parental right of information access. A review of Internet Archive records shows that this guidance was removed in January 2025.

Are California School Districts violating FERPA?

An examination of California school district policies on privacy for students who present with gender dysphoria suggests that some are either downplaying or actively evading FERPA disclosure requirements. For example, the Santa Barbara school district explains,

“All individuals, including students, have a right to privacy: the right to decide when, with whom, and how much highly personal information to share about oneself to others. This includes the right to control dissemination of highly personal and private information such as transgender status or sexual orientation.”

It mentions FERPA only insofar as it warns staff that classifying such information in a particular manner would make it “subject to disclosure under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.” Many school districts have policies to distinguish “official” or “legal” records from “non-official” or “non-legal records.” The Mt. Diablo Unified School District has a “gender support plan” that permits students to choose whether to file it in the student’s cumulative record that is “viewable by parents” or a locked cabinet at school. The Sacramento Unified School District, whose policy is held up as a model by the California Department of Education, acknowledges that school districts may be “legally required” to disclose a student’s transgender identification to parents, then continues that on “legal documents” the student’s given name and sex must be recorded, but that students have a right to identify by another sex on “non-legal” records..

Does FERPA prevent school districts from keeping a student’s transgender identification secret from parents?

FERPA deals exclusively with written records regarding students. Upon parental request, a school district may not refuse to disclose documentation regarding a “gender support plan” or other documentation reflecting that the student prefers to go by a different name or gender, nor may a school withhold records reflecting that a student is going by a different name or gender on the grounds that they are “non-legal” documents. However, federal law does not prohibit school districts from instructing their staff that they should verbally mislead parents regarding the gender identification preference of their children.

What does this enforcement action mean for California and school districts outside of it?

On February 11, 2025, California’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against ED seeking declaratory and injunctive relief and claiming that ED found no evidence that the CDE promoted non-compliance with FERPA. This matter seems likely to be the subject of further litigation for months to come. However this matter turns out, school districts across America will be put on notice that evidence of their having concealed such records puts them at risk of losing federal funding.