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Washington, D.C. — May 11, 2026
America First Legal (AFL) has filed a federal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) against Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), alleging that BCPS’s “gender identity” policies violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and urging the Trump Administration to investigate.
AFL’s complaint targets BCPS Board Policy JBB, which directs staff to facilitate students’ social “gender transitions” — including changes to chosen names, pronouns, athletic participation, access to restrooms and locker rooms, and student records — while gating parental notification on a staff assessment of whether the family is sufficiently “supportive.” The policy also declares that where Title IX and FERPA conflict, “the requirements of Title IX override any conflicting student privacy laws,” meaning that BCPS will withhold records from parents whenever it views FERPA compliance as inconsistent with its own Title IX interpretation.
Specifically, AFL’s complaint alleges that BCPS:
- Violates FERPA by directing staff to withhold “gender transition” information from parents deemed insufficiently “supportive,” maintaining a parallel non-official records system to evade parental access, and purporting to subordinate FERPA to Title IX.
- Violates the Free Exercise Clause by cutting parents out of critical decisions about their children’s identity and well-being and burdening the religious exercise of objecting families.
- Violates the Free Speech and Equal Protection Clause by conditioning parental access to accurate information on whether the parent holds the government’s preferred view on gender ideology.
- Violates the Due Process Clause by depriving parents of their fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children, without notice or opportunity to be heard.
As the Supreme Court recognized in Mirabelli v. Bonta, policies that “cut out the primary protectors of children’s best interests: their parents” cannot survive constitutional scrutiny.
America First Legal is calling on the Trump Administration to investigate BCPS, require it to rescind policies that conceal student information from parents, and comply with all applicable federal law.
“Baltimore City Public Schools has forced parents to the outside, while replacing them with school staff,” said Ian Prior, Senior Counsel at America First Legal. “The Supreme Court’s decision in Mirabelli blatantly rejects this usurpation of parental rights. These woke school district must know their unlawful usurpation of parental rights will no longer go unquestioned.”
Read the full complaint here.
Find all of AFL’s resources for parents here.
Learn more about AFL’s efforts to challenge “gender identity” policies in schools here.
This is not the first investigation of the Baltimore City Public Schools. In August of 2025, the Department of Education initiated an investigation of antisemitism in the city schools.
The City schools have not issued a public statement on this action as of today.
