Last week, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling in a California case that has implications for Kansas about withholding gender identity information from parents.
In Mirabelli v. Bonta, the court granted, in part, an application to overturn the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ reversal of the District Court, which had placed a stay on California public schools’ practice of withholding “gender identity” information from parents.
According to a release from Atkinson, Andelson, Loya Rudd and Romo — the law firm representing the plaintiffs in the case — California schools “cannot permit or require any employee to withhold certain information from parents/guardians, as parents have a federal constitutional right to be informed if their public school child expresses gender incongruence.'”
While this case currently pertains only to California — and has yet to be decided on the merits — the Supreme Court concluded that “parents who seek religious exemptions from California’s laws were likely to succeed on the merits of their claims.”
The court relied on the recent Mahmood v. Taylor decision, which requires school districts to notify parents ahead of time if educational material that might be objectionable is to be taught and permit them to opt out.
The court said California’s policies “substantially interfere with the ‘right of parents to guide the religious development of their children.’”
The court also found, “[u]nder long-established precedent, parents—not the State—have primary authority with respect to ‘the upbringing and education of children,’” including the “right not to be shut out” of decisions involving their children’s mental health. The Court found “[g]ender dysphoria is a condition that has an important bearing on a child’s mental health,” and California’s policies prohibit a parent from being informed of a child’s symptoms of gender dysphoria, in violation of the parents’ recognized rights.
The Sentinel contacted Commissioner of Education Dr. Randy Watson and Kansas State Board of Education President Cathy Hopkins, asking if KSDE will require state districts to certify that they have no policies that conflict with this ruling.
As of publication, neither has responded.
United States Department of Education investigating four Kansas school districts over gender notification
This ruling is important because federal law, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), requires the districts to notify parents of “social gender transitioning.”
In June of last year, Kobach wrote a letter to the Department of Education urging the department to open an investigation of four districts, a formal complaint against the Shawnee Mission, Olathe, Kansas City, Kansas, and Topeka public schools by the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies filed on June 24, 2025.
In August of 2025, USDE said in a release that the four districts were, in fact, under Title IX and FERPA violations.
DFI’s complaint alleges that the Districts’ policies and practices permit students to participate in sports and access intimate facilities based on “gender identity” rather than biological sex. These policies also prevent school officials from disclosing a student’s “transgender status” to their parents without the student’s consent. These policies and practices potentially violate Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). “
“The Kansas districts’ alleged behavior of allowing gender ideology to run amok in their schools is an affront not only to the law, but to the sound judgment we expect from our educational leaders. School personnel should not confuse and unsettle young girls by forcing them to share sex-separated sports and intimate facilities with boys; nor should school personnel abuse their position of authority by hiding sensitive information pertaining to a child’s health and wellbeing from that child’s parents,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a release. “From day one, the Trump Administration promised to protect students and parents by restoring Title IX and parental rights laws to the fullest extent of the law. My offices will vigorously investigate these matters to ensure these practices come to an end.”
