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US Justice Department sues Maryland school district over transgender policies · GNN Daily Breaking News

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  Speaker 1: The Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit against Anne
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  Speaker 1: Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland on Tuesday, alleging that
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  Speaker 1: the school district's transgender inclusion policies violate federal law by
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  Speaker 1: concealing students' gender identities from their parents. Filed in federal court,
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  Speaker 1: the civil complaint marks the administration's latest executive challenge against
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  Speaker 1: local educational authorities over gender identity protocols in public schools.
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  Speaker 1: Federal prosecutors assert that district guidance directing staff to implement
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  Speaker 1: social gender transition plans without parental notification directly breaches the
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  Speaker 1: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, FERPA, and the Protection
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  Speaker 1: of Pupil Rights Amendment, PPRA. According to the government's filing,
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  Speaker 1: District policies allow school staff to utilize preferred names and
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  Speaker 1: pronouns for students at school while withholding that information from
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  Speaker 1: parents unless the student explicitly consents. Justice Department litigators argue
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  Speaker 1: that concealing changes to official educational records infringes upon parents'
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  Speaker 1: fundamental rights to direct the upbringing and education of their children.
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  Speaker 1: The federal suit asks the court to compel and Arundel
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  Speaker 1: County Public Schools to immediately halt nondisclosure protocols and provide
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  Speaker 1: parents full access to review, correct, or delete information contained
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  Speaker 1: within student files. And Arundel County School Board President Gloria
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  Speaker 1: Dent defended the district's operational framework, stating that local policies
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  Speaker 1: fully comply with federal privacy laws while prioritizing student safety
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  Speaker 1: and well-being. Educational advocates and LGBTQ plus civil rights groups
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  Speaker 1: countered the lawsuit, maintaining that confidential support systems in schools
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  Speaker 1: protect vulnerable youth from potential distress or rejection at home.
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  Speaker 1: Local administration officials expressed regret over the federal enforcement action,
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  Speaker 1: confirming that the school board will convene an emergency session
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  Speaker 1: to evaluate legal defense strategies. The federal lawsuit against Maryland's
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  Speaker 1: fourth-largest school district arrives just six days before the November
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  Speaker 1: 3rd midterm elections, amplifying national political debates over parental rights,
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  Speaker 1: administrative oversight, and local school governance. Republican campaign strategists have
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  Speaker 1: increasingly highlighted school gender policies to energize conservative voters in
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  Speaker 1: competitive suburban districts. As early voting proceeds across the Mid-Atlantic region,
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  Speaker 1: The legal battle in Maryland underscores how federal civil rights
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  Speaker 1: enforcement continues to intersect with local public education policy in
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  Speaker 1: the closing sprint to Election Day.