The U.S. Department of Education is demanding updated information from California and Washington education officials about policies governing parents’ access to student records, particularly those concerning a child’s gender identity.
The department’s Student Privacy Policy Office sent requests Thursday to the California Department of Education and Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. The office asked both agencies to explain how they plan to revise their policies following recent federal court rulings concerning parental rights.
Federal officials are investigating whether state policies directing schools to withhold information about a student’s gender identity or transition from parents violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, commonly known as FERPA.
The department said California and Washington have maintained policies or guidance that pressure educators to conceal certain student information from parents. California has also pursued litigation against school districts over parental-notification policies.
The investigations began last year and were the department’s first statewide FERPA investigations, according to the announcement. The department said its Student Privacy Policy Office determined earlier this year that California had violated FERPA, while the Washington investigation remains underway.
The federal requests follow two court decisions cited by the department.
In March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Mirabelli v. Olson that parents generally possess primary authority over their children’s upbringing and education. According to the department, the court concluded that California policies requiring educators to conceal a student’s gender transition from parents were likely unconstitutional.
In June, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit relied on that decision in City of Huntington Beach v. Newsom. The appeals court found that California laws likely violated parents’ constitutional rights by restricting schools from notifying them about a child’s gender dysphoria and withholding gender-identity records unless the student consented to disclosure.
“Schools must end the practice of concealing vitally important information about students from parents who love them,” Student Privacy Policy Office Director Frank Miller said.
Miller said the requests give California and Washington an opportunity to explain how they intend to comply with federal law. The states’ responses will help determine the Education Department’s next steps.
FERPA gives parents the right to inspect their children’s education records, request corrections and generally control the disclosure of personally identifiable information. When students turn 18 or attend a postsecondary institution, those rights transfer to them.
In March 2025, the department sent state education officials a letter identifying the concealment of student gender-identity records from parents as an enforcement priority.
The department announced the requests as part of a broader series of parental-rights enforcement actions involving schools in several states. Violations of FERPA can ultimately result in the loss of federal education funding.
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