The U. S. Department of Education recently launched investigations into Maine and California over concerns that people institutions in those states violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, by withholding details from kids regarding their children’s sex moves.
The national Student Privacy Policy Office argued the goal is to get action “against schools misusing FERPA”.
” Parents and guardians have the right to get their child’s learning information to guide and guard their child’s intellectual, emotional, and natural well-being. Any plan to the contrary is both illegal and immoral”, said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a March 28 information transfer.
The research into the Maine Department of Education was prompted by reports that many school districts were adopting procedures that concealed information about students ‘ gender transitions from relatives.
Amber Lavigne, a Maine family, in April 2023 filed a federal lawsuit after discovering a Great Salt Bay Community School consultant provided her 13-year-old girl with a chest cement and encouraged her never to tell her parents.
” My child was abused, and the feelings of injustice were overwhelming”, Lavigne said in a telephone interview last week with The College Fix. ” She lost many decades of her childhood thinking about becoming a teenager. Those black nights were difficult for her and me as a family”.
Her complaint is currently under consideration by the First U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Looking up, Lavigne said executives made it difficult for her to speak up.
” The class tried to silence me. There were even bomb threats ( to the school ), and they released letters to the public blaming me for the situation”, she said.
Lavigne, represented by the Goldwater Institute, alleges that the school’s activities violated her lawfully protected parental rights.
Her situation highlights the growing nationwide debate over whether public universities have the power to guide children through gender transitions without parental role.
” Amber Lavigne’s event demonstrates that school authorities are making choices for individuals without consulting or even notifying kids”, Adam Shelton, staff attorney at the Goldwater Institute, told The College Fix.
” Universities are cutting kids out of the conversation, usurping their right, and acting like the class knows better for a child than that boy’s kids”, he said via email. ” If parents lack exposure to this information of a school’s choice, they cannot effectively decide whether that school is still the best one to match their family’s needs”.
Lavigne told The Fix the combat is about protecting coming years.
” I have a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old, and they will never be in public school. Public colleges are a disaster”, she said.
Despite the difficulties, Lavigne said she has found unity and power in connecting with other people going through related activities.
” I have found thus much help through other people going through this. It was a lonesome place to sit, but when I connected with individuals at family resorts, I suddenly felt surrounded by people who understood me”, she said.
Lavigne has also used her speech to advocate for change:” I spoke in favor of a families ‘ right act in the position because I knew I needed to make sound”.
” Helping kids understand natural truth is no abuse”, she said.
She even expressed concern for instructors caught in the middle of these procedures.
” Teachers have it bad right now. They are spending so much time on female identity and word stuff”, she said. ” We need to tell everyone how significant the nuclear family unit is”.
According to Shelton, the steps taken by the Great Salt Bay Community School directly relate to the alleged FERPA transgressions now under investigation by the Education Department.
” It is our position that the school violated Amber’s parental rights by depriving her of info about its people ‘ actions and choices, including the giving of torso binder to and the social switching of her child”, he told The Fix.
” No one from the school ever informed Amber of these actions, and when Amber requested the records from the social worker who gave her child the chest binders, the school refused to turn them over under FERPA, claiming they were not educational records”, he said. ” This situation relates broadly to the DOE investigation because both involve schools withholding information from parents”.
In California, the U. S. Department of Education is probing a state law that prohibits school personnel from disclosing a child’s gender identity to their parents without a child’s consent.
California’s law allows school districts nationwide to implement “gender support plans” that allow students to social transition at school without notifying their families.
Proponents of these policies claim they protect transgender students from potential harm at home. But opponents, such as Republican state Rep. Kevin Kiley, argue they strip parents of their rightful oversight role in their children’s lives.
” When Newsom signed AB 1955, requiring schools to lie to their parents about their child’s ‘ gender identity,'” Kiley wrote in an X post. ” I warned he was violating the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act and putting federal funding at risk. Sure enough, California is now under investigation”.
When Newsom signed AB 1955, requiring schools to lie to parents about their child’s “gender identity”, I warned he was violating the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act and putting federal funding at risk. Sure enough, California is now under investigation. pic. twitter.com/44R3owIPF4
— Kevin Kiley ( @KevinKileyCA ) March 28, 2025
But this is not the first time a Trump cabinet official has warned California about their gendered educational policies.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a February letter addressed to California Interscholastic Federation Executive Director Ron Nocetti, cautioned the state’s governing authority for high school athletics to adhere to the federal directive and the administration’s interpretation of Title IX, warning that failure to comply could lead to potential legal action from the Justice Department.
MORE: Mothers in shock as daughters come home from college with mustaches, breasts removed
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Amber Lavigne is pictured in a campaign for the Goldwater Institute, which provided the courtesy photo.
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