A Harsh Transition: The Shawnee Mission School District is under federal investigation

Shawnee Mission School District is under federal investigation for its transgender policies. Without notifying parents or guardians, SMSD students can alter their names and pronouns used by staff to align with their “gender identity” rather than their biological sex.

The U.S. Department of Education officials launched their investigation in August, saying that current SMSD policies violate federal law. The policies authorize staff to conceal information from parents regarding requests by their minor children. 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act allows parents to access their children's records and control (with important exceptions) the disclosure of personally identifiable information according to the department’s website. 

Transgender students at SM East declined to comment due to the possibility of blowback.

“Policies that instruct teachers, counselors and other employees to hide a child’s 'gender transition' records from parents infringe on parents’ rights under FERPA,.” The USDOE website states. 

Two SM South seniors, Rebecca Moranz and AJ Cooper, started a petition following the announcement of the investigation to oppose the department’s federal investigation into SMSD.

“I think the federal government going into our schools for an investigation over trans people is really not a far cry from ICE trucks coming and people getting taken from school,” Morantz said. “I think something needs to be done about it now.”

Morantz and Cooper knew they couldn’t stop the investigations alone; they recognized the need for an abundance of support, which is why they started a petition. They plan to present it to SMSD once they reach their signature goal of 100, signifying the community backs them up. 

As of Sept. 3, the petition has 83 signatures. 

“It's helping out a bigger picture, it's also connecting us, keeping us together, like a solidified group,” Cooper said. “Our school could get sued; this could affect the school district entirely, not just the trans people.”

In a press release, SMSD Chief Communications Officer David A. Smith stated the district takes the responsibility of protecting students' civil rights very seriously. Parents and guardians with concerns about their child can contact the district at any time. 

In an email, SMSD declined to comment further. 

The investigation stemmed from a lawsuit filed by SM North teacher Caedran Sullivan in January 2023. Sullivan violated SMSD policy by “deadnaming” a transgender student and calling them their unpreferred pronouns, according to the lawsuit. SMSD then required her to attend a conference and left a note in her personnel file. 

“All students have the right to be addressed by the name and pronouns that correspond to the gender identity they assert at school," current SMSD policy states. "School staff and peers are expected to respect a student’s name and pronouns once they have been made aware."

Three months after the incident, SMSD officials introduced their new policy regarding transgender students, Sullivan states in her complaint. The policy prohibited teachers from disclosing to parents when a student requests to use pronouns or a name that diverges from the student's sex at birth.

Sullivan then filed a lawsuit claiming SMSD “had unlawfully disciplined her for exercising her First Amendment right to oppose its diversity, equity and inclusion training sessions.” 

According to the lawsuit, Sullivan doesn’t want to lie to parents, but she feels threatened by SMSD if she doesn’t follow district policy to keep student information private from parents.

A complaint by the Defense of Freedom Institute stating SMSD, along with four Kansas districts, had violated federal law was issued on June 24. The complaint mentions Sullivan’s case and SMSD’s failure to follow federal law.  

That same day, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sent a letter to the Secretary of the USDOE, Linda E. McMahon, urging the department to investigate the four Kansas School districts: SMSD, Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools School District, Olathe Public Schools District and Topeka Public Schools School District. 

“Teachers always say that you can come to them, talk to them about your problems, that's how a lot of teachers help at a school,” Cooper said. “When a school has that ability to take it back to your parents, it's taking away that level of security in a school.”