Texas Border Business
WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Education’s (the Department’s) Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) launched an investigation into The Public Schools of Northborough and Southborough in Massachusetts to determine whether the school district violated the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) after reports that school officials allegedly facilitated the “gender transition” of a minor student without parents’ knowledge or consent.
According to the student’s parents, school personnel at Algonquin Regional High School helped facilitate their daughter’s so-called “social transition” to a boy without informing them. The parents claim that their daughter participated in counseling sessions after school to support the transition while they were under the impression she was receiving academic assistance for her math class.
The parents further allege that school personnel began referring to their daughter by a male name and pronouns without their knowledge and that a school counselor later reported the family to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF), allegedly for counteracting the school’s efforts to “transition” their child. DCF subsequently removed the child from the family’s home in December 2024. The family is currently engaged in litigation concerning custody of their daughter.
These allegations raise serious questions regarding whether the school district complied with federal laws protecting parents’ rights. FERPA requires schools to allow parents to access their children’s education records, make changes to those records, and provide a hearing if the school rejects the changes. PPRA requires schools to receive written consent from parents if they plan to conduct any evaluation, survey, or analysis on students regarding their or their family’s mental health, sex behaviors and attitudes, religious beliefs or any other invasive sensitive subjects outlined in the statute. It is currently unclear whether the school and the district complied with these federal statutes, and SPPO will investigate to determine whether there has been a violation under FERPA and/or PPRA.
“Parents have a right to know what is happening with their children at school, particularly when it concerns deeply personal matters involving their health and well-being,” said Frank Miller, Director of the Student Privacy Policy Office. “These egregious allegations are not an isolated problem. Families deserve answers and SPPO will thoroughly investigate reports like this and hold any educational institution that violates federal law accountable.”
Background
FERPA is a federal law enforced by SPPO that protects the privacy of student education records and provides parents with the right to inspect and review their children’s education records. These rights transfer to the student when the student turns 18 years old or attends a postsecondary institution.
PPRA is a federal law enforced by SPPO that provides parents with certain rights concerning surveys, analyses, evaluations, and certain physical examinations or screenings involving their children. PPRA also provides parents with rights to inspect certain instructional materials used as part of their child’s educational curriculum.
These statutory obligations were emphasized and clarified in the SPPO’s recent Dear Colleague Letters issued in March 2025 and August 2026.
The Department has taken several recent actions to enforce federal parental rights laws. In July, SPPO announced findings that Burlington Public Schools in Massachusetts violated PPRA after the district required students to participate in a survey containing sensitive questions despite parents’ requests to opt their children out. SPPO has also taken action
regarding state and local policies that may prevent parents from accessing education records concerning their children.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice recently filed its first-of-its-kind lawsuit against Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools to stop the district from secretly “gender transitioning” students without parental consent or knowledge.
SPPO will thoroughly investigate the allegations involving the Public Schools of Northborough and Southborough and determine whether the district complied with its obligations under federal law.
Information source: US Department of Education
