Local school districts receive letter from AG to change gender notification policies

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has told six Kansas school districts they must notify parents if a student is “socially” transitioning their gender while at school. Two schools in the local area got that letter: Maize and Belle Plaine.

Kansas is not one of the five states that explicitly requires parents to be notified by law that the child is using a different gender or name at school.

However, Maize Schools changed their policies. They said a 2022 Kansas law that requires districts to notify parents of questionnaires about personal beliefs and values was the reason behind their modifications.

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A Kansas LGBTQ+ rights group is speaking out against the attorney general’s letter. They said students who are transitioning are already struggling with high anxiety. A coordinator said taking away their safe space at school can add to problems they may already be facing once they leave campus.

“What if my mom, my dad, might hate me, might kick me out of the house, because they’ve never expressed any kind of sympathy, empathy,” said Parasol Patrol, Kansas Chapter Coordinator, Jordan Smith.

“It is a huge problem for these students, who are already struggling with high amounts of anxiety, to find out that there’s a possibility that the schools they have felt have been safe spaces so far may no longer be those safe spaces because the attorney general in Kansas seems to not understand,” said Smith.

Belle Plaine’s Superintendent, Peter Bastian, said they changed their policies last April. He said the district strives to have open communication with parents.

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“In my 27 years in education, it is that it’s a partnership, so we work with parents, and we want to work with parents, and we don’t want to be seen as an entity that is not sharing, not just that, but everything with parents, because we need parents to give good education to kids,” said Bastian.

Four districts in the Kansas City and Topeka areas are standing behind their current policies and have yet to change them.

KSN reached out to Kobach to see what potential consequences might be handed down to these districts. He has yet to respond.

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