Federal education officials find Topeka Public Schools violated FERPA and Title IX
The U.S. Department of Education announced April 17 that Topeka Public Schools violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and Title IX, placing the district in a proposed federal resolution process that could require changes to student-record access, facilities and athletics policies.
Topeka Public Schools, USD 501, was one of four Kansas districts named in the department’s announcement. The findings came from the department’s Student Privacy Policy Office and Office for Civil Rights, known as OCR.
Findings involve records, facilities and athletics
The Student Privacy Policy Office found that district policies violated FERPA, the federal student-record privacy law, according to the department. OCR separately concluded that Topeka violated Title IX in connection with policies allowing male students to use female restrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms based on gender identity.
OCR also cited participation in single-sex athletics based on gender identity. The department said the district admitted that male students had been allowed to use female restrooms and locker rooms on that basis.
The federal announcement describes the department’s findings and proposed terms; it does not establish that every school in the district used identical practices. The reviewed materials also do not include a separate district response to the findings.
Terms remain proposed, not a final agreement
The department said its proposed resolution terms would require access to facilities and overnight accommodations to be based on sex rather than gender identity. The terms also call for policy changes involving single-sex athletics and parent access to records related to a student’s gender transition.
Those terms are proposed requirements in a resolution process, rather than a reported final agreement. The federal announcement did not state whether Topeka Public Schools had signed a final resolution agreement by Aug. 3.
The next known step is for the district and department to reach an agreement on compliance terms. No specific deadline or school-board meeting date was provided in the reviewed announcement.
Potential federal enforcement consequence
The department said that failing to reach an agreement could lead to enforcement action. It said the possible process could include proceedings to terminate federal funding through administrative or judicial channels.
No funding cut was announced. The potential consequence remains contingent on the resolution process and any subsequent enforcement action.
The matter affects policy governing students’ access to certain facilities and athletic participation, as well as parents’ access to specified student records. As the 2026-27 school year approaches, the outcome of the proposed resolution process will determine what policy changes the district must make under an agreement, if one is reached.
Topeka Public Schools is headquartered at 624 S.W. 24th Street in Topeka.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education Finds Four Kansas School Districts Violated Federal Law, U.S. Department of Education
- Online Registration, Topeka Public Schools
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