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The U.S. Department of Education recently launched investigations into Maine and California over concerns that public schools in those states violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, by withholding information from parents regarding their children’s gender transitions.

The federal Student Privacy Policy Office argued the goal is to take action “against schools misusing FERPA.”

“Parents and guardians have the right to access their child’s education records to guide and safeguard their child’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Any policy to the contrary is both illegal and immoral,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a March 28 news release.

The investigation into the Maine Department of Education was prompted by reports that several school districts were adopting policies that concealed information about students’ gender transitions from parents.

Amber Lavigne, a Maine mother, in April 2023 filed a federal lawsuit after discovering a Great Salt Bay Community School counselor provided her 13-year-old daughter with a chest binder and encouraged her not to tell her parents.

“My child was abused, and the feelings of injustice were overwhelming,” Lavigne said in a telephone interview last week with The College Fix. “She lost several years of her childhood obsessing about becoming a boy. Those dark days were tough for her and me as a mother.”

Her lawsuit is currently under consideration by the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Looking back, Lavigne said administrators made it difficult for her to speak out.

“The school tried to silence me. There were even bomb threats (to the school), and they released letters to the public blaming me for the situation,” she said.

Lavigne, represented by the Goldwater Institute, alleges that the school’s actions violated her constitutionally protected parental rights.

Her case highlights the growing national debate over whether public schools have the authority to guide children through gender transitions without parental involvement.

“Amber Lavigne’s case demonstrates that school officials are making decisions for students without consulting or even notifying parents,” Adam Shelton, staff attorney at the Goldwater Institute, told The College Fix.

“Schools are cutting parents out of the conversation, usurping their rights, and acting like the school knows better for a child than that child’s parents,” he said via email. “If parents lack access to this knowledge of a school’s decision, they cannot meaningfully decide whether that school is still the best one to meet their family’s needs.”

Lavigne told The Fix the fight is about protecting future generations.

“I have a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old, and they will never be in public school. Public schools are a mess,” she said.

Despite the difficulties, Lavigne said she has found solidarity and strength in connecting with other families going through similar experiences.

“I have found so much support through other families going through this. It was a lonely place to sit, but when I connected with others at parent retreats, I finally felt surrounded by people who understood me,” she said.

Lavigne has also used her voice to advocate for change: “I spoke in favor of a parents’ rights bill in the state because I knew I needed to make noise.”

“Helping children understand biological reality is not abuse,” she said.

She also expressed concern for teachers caught in the middle of these policies.

“Teachers have it bad right now. They are spending so much time on gender identity and pronoun stuff,” she said. “We need to remind everyone how important the nuclear family unit is.”

According to Shelton, the actions taken by the Great Salt Bay Community School directly relate to the alleged FERPA violations now under investigation by the Education Department.

“It is our position that the school violated Amber’s parental rights by depriving her of information about its employees’ actions and decisions, including the giving of chest binders to and the social transitioning of her child,” he told The Fix.

“No one from the school ever informed Amber of these actions, and when Amber requested the records from the social worker who gave her child the chest binders, the school refused to turn them over under FERPA, claiming they were not educational records,” he said. “This situation relates broadly to the DOE investigation because both involve schools withholding information from parents.”

In California, the U.S. Department of Education is probing a state law that prohibits school personnel from disclosing a child’s gender identity to their parents without a child’s consent.

California’s law allows school districts nationwide to implement “gender support plans” that allow students to social transition at school without notifying their families.

Proponents of these policies claim they protect transgender students from potential harm at home. But opponents, such as Republican state Rep. Kevin Kiley, argue they strip parents of their rightful oversight role in their children’s lives.

“When Newsom signed AB 1955, requiring schools to lie to their parents about their child’s ‘gender identity,’” Kiley wrote in an X post. “I warned he was violating the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act and putting federal funding at risk. Sure enough, California is now under investigation.”

When Newsom signed AB 1955, requiring schools to lie to parents about their child’s “gender identity,” I warned he was violating the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act and putting federal funding at risk. Sure enough, California is now under investigation. pic.twitter.com/44R3owIPF4

— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) March 28, 2025

But this is not the first time a Trump cabinet official has warned California about their gendered educational policies.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a February letter addressed to California Interscholastic Federation Executive Director Ron Nocetti, cautioned the state’s governing authority for high school athletics to adhere to the federal directive and the administration’s interpretation of Title IX, warning that failure to comply could lead to potential legal action from the Justice Department.

MORE: Mothers in shock as daughters come home from college with mustaches, breasts removed

IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Amber Lavigne is pictured in a campaign for the Goldwater Institute, which provided the courtesy photo.

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