USD 259 pushes back against Kansas AG’s allegations of violating LGBTQ policies

The Wichita school district is denying the Kansas attorney general’s claims that it did not follow state and federal laws regarding policies for LGBTQ students.

Attorney General Kris Kobach’s office sent letters to Wichita Public Schools and others in November warning of possible legal action.

The letter targeted Wichita East High School, saying it engaged in “gender transitioning” without parental knowledge or consent. Without going into specifics, the letter also alleged the district “may have additional transgender policies” that don’t align with state and federal law. It demanded the district make changes to policies, but didn’t specifically state which ones needed to be changed.

“We are necessarily somewhat hampered in our ability to respond without more details about what, precisely, the District is being accused of,” the school district said in a letter to the attorney general’s office.

“And although multiple staff have spent many hours since November 10th investigating the allegations you have reportedly received, we have found nothing,” the school district’s letter read about the allegations at East High.

The district’s letter to the AG’s office said it was in compliance with all state and federal laws for policies and recordkeeping regarding its students’ gender identities – including the recently passed “Women’s Bill of Rights.”

That state law requires agencies that collect vital statistics to identify someone based on their gender assigned at birth.

“In short, there is no ‘second set of books’ and there are no secret records of student pronouns, names, genders, or ‘gender transition[s],’” the letter reads.

The district’s letter also argues against the attorney general office’s interpretation of a recent Supreme Court ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which required religious opt-outs in public schools.

It argues that the AG’s office was trying to require an “opt-in” rather than an “opt-out” policy for learning materials at its schools.

“Any parent who is concerned that their child may be exposed to religiously objectionable materials may conduct their own examination, make a determination, and then ask that their student be excluded from instruction with those materials (or not),” it said.

In responding to the AG’s November letter about the district’s opt-out policy, the school district’s attorney highlighted the diversity of its students.

“I expect that news will not surprise anyone who knows something about our community: our students hail from one hundred and seven countries and speak one hundred and seventeen languages; they include Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and other religions too numerous to recite here; some are piously observant in their devotions and others are distinctly casual.”

The attorney general’s office had not responded to a request for comment by late Wednesday afternoon.

The attorney general’s office has sent a number of letters to Kansas school districts alleging violations against its LGBTQ policies.

Some northeast Kansas school districts are now under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education as a result, including Topeka Public Schools, Shawnee Public Schools, Olathe Public Schools, and Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools.