Maryland District Will Share Students' Gender Identity With Parents After Federal Pressure; Critics Say Policy Risks Forced Outing

A Maryland school district has announced it will revise its "Safe and Inclusive Environments for LGBTQ+ Students" regulation to provide parents and legal guardians access to any school records that reference a student’s gender identity, transgender status, sexual orientation, preferred name, or preferred pronouns — even if the student has not told their family and objects to disclosure.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools Superintendent Mark Bedell informed staff in a written letter that the change is intended to ensure compliance with federal law after the U.S. Department of Education warned the district it could face loss of federal funding and urged the Justice Department to consider enforcement action.

What the Amendment Says

The amended regulation clarifies that "no policy, guideline, or practice may limit or otherwise interfere with parental rights under FERPA," and explicitly lists gender identity, transgender status, sexual orientation, preferred name, and preferred pronouns as information covered by parents' access to education records, according to Bedell's letter.

"As made clear by these amendments, no policy, guideline, or practice may limit or otherwise interfere with parental rights under FERPA, and this includes any information maintained in education records that relates to gender identity, transgender status, sexual orientation, preferred name, or preferred pronouns," Superintendent Mark Bedell wrote.

Federal Inquiry And Political Context

The announcement followed a federal inquiry and complaints from parents who said schools were using a different gender identity or pronouns for their children without informing them. The U.S. Department of Education investigated the Anne Arundel district and urged possible Justice Department action, citing concerns about withholding records from parents.

Note: Earlier reports misidentified the Trump administration official who publicly criticized school privacy practices. The U.S. Secretary of Education at the time was Betsy DeVos; the article corrects that attribution while preserving the factual account that the Education Department pressured local districts over access to student records.

Impact On Transgender And Gender-Expansive Students

Advocates and researchers warn that policies requiring disclosure of a student’s gender identity to parents can have serious safety and mental-health consequences for LGBTQ+ youth. A joint report by Glisten and The Trevor Project — cited in coverage of the policy change — found that 56% of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive students surveyed attended schools with at least one discriminatory policy. Nearly one-third of those students reported recently missing school because they feared for their safety, while students in more supportive environments reported stronger belonging and higher estimated GPAs.

Civil-rights litigation has followed the controversy: two families sued Anne Arundel County Public Schools alleging staff assisted students with gender transitions at school while withholding information from parents, according to CBS News. Federal officials described one district action in strong terms during their investigation.

Where Things Stand

The district says the policy change is a legal compliance measure to avoid federal penalties. Advocates argue it effectively forces the outing of LGBTQ+ students to unsupportive households and undermines school efforts to protect vulnerable youth. The debate highlights a broader national conflict over student privacy, parental rights, and protections for transgender and gender-expansive students in schools.

Source notes: Reporting on the policy change cites statements from Anne Arundel County school leadership, federal Education Department actions, a Glisten/The Trevor Project report on school policies and student outcomes, and litigation reported by CBS News.