The Trump administration is investigating whether a Massachusetts school district violated federal parental-rights and student-records laws after a family alleged school officials supported their teenage daughter’s gender transition without their knowledge.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.

The U.S. Department of Education has opened a federal investigation into a Massachusetts school district after parents alleged that school officials secretly counseled their teenage daughter about gender identity and withheld information from them before she entered state custody.

The department’s Student Privacy Policy Office announced Sept. 17 that it is investigating the Public Schools of Northborough and Southborough for possible violations of the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, or PPRA, and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA. The federal inquiry follows allegations by Joseph and Arlene Kutzko that staff at Algonquin Regional High School helped their daughter socially transition without parental knowledge or consent.

The family’s case, which has been reported by LifeSite News, has developed into overlapping disputes involving school privacy rules, parental authority, state child-welfare intervention and proposed medical treatment.

According to the Education Department, the parents allege that their daughter attended counseling sessions after school while they believed she was receiving academic assistance with mathematics. They further allege that school employees began using a male name and pronouns for the teenager without telling them and that a school counselor later contacted the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.

Joseph Kutzko described the conflict in religious terms.

The school system “exposed our daughter to teachings on LGBTQ and topics that conflict with our Catholic beliefs about human dignity, creation as male and female, and Catholic teaching,” he said.

“We didn’t find out until after she was removed,” Kutzko said of the counseling. “It came on like a tornado.”

The school district has denied the family’s allegations and said it will cooperate with the federal investigation.

“The District has already unequivocally denied the referenced allegations and stands by the statement and the actions of educators and administrators,” Superintendent Gregory Martineau said after the Education Department announced its inquiry. The district has said privacy laws prevent it from publicly discussing details concerning an individual student’s health or educational records.

The Kutzkos say they have been unable to see their daughter for nearly two years and allege that, while in state custody, she has been housed according to a male gender identity and has received birth-control and psychiatric medications.

Those assertions concern a minor’s confidential medical and child-welfare circumstances and have not all been independently established through publicly accessible records. Massachusetts officials are constrained in what they can disclose because the underlying juvenile proceedings are largely confidential.

The dispute became more urgent for the family when they learned that DCF was seeking authorization for testosterone treatment, according to earlier reporting on their legal challenge.

The parents opposed the treatment and sought court intervention.

Their attorney, Vernadette Broyles, has said a juvenile court subsequently issued a temporary stay preventing DCF from administering testosterone while the dispute remains before the court. CBS Boston independently reported Broyles’ account of that order.

The family’s next scheduled court date is Oct. 29.

The federal investigation focuses on the school district rather than deciding the separate custody dispute.

Under FERPA, parents generally have rights to inspect and review their minor children’s education records and seek corrections when they believe records are inaccurate.

PPRA provides protections involving certain surveys, analyses and evaluations addressing sensitive subjects, including mental or psychological issues, sexual behavior and attitudes, and religious beliefs. The Education Department said its investigation will determine whether the district complied with those federal requirements.

“Parents have a right to know what is happening with their children at school, particularly when it concerns deeply personal matters involving their health and well-being,” SPPO Director Frank Miller said.

“These egregious allegations are not an isolated problem. Families deserve answers and SPPO will thoroughly investigate reports like this and hold any educational institution that violates federal law accountable.”

The announcement does not itself establish that the district violated either statute.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has also disputed the parents’ characterization of why DCF became involved.

Healey said the teenager was not removed because of a gender-affirming care dispute.

“DCF did not remove the child because of a health issue or a gender affirming care issue,” Healey said. “DCF removed the child after there were criminal charges filed against the parents.”

Public reporting on the sequence is complicated.

Court records reviewed by WBUR show Joseph Kutzko faced misdemeanor allegations involving assault, assault and battery and threatening to commit a crime after his daughter reported alleged physical and verbal abuse. He pleaded not guilty. Arlene Kutzko later faced a witness-intimidation allegation involving messages to the teenager. Neither parent was convicted.

Joseph Kutzko ultimately entered pretrial probation without a guilty plea, finding or admission, according to CBS Boston, with the charges scheduled to be dismissed if he satisfies the conditions imposed by the court.

Broyles has called Healey’s description “very dishonest,” arguing that the criminal matters do not explain the teenager’s continued placement in state custody or the medical dispute now before juvenile court.

The public record also leaves questions about chronology because many of the DCF and juvenile-court records are sealed. The Education Department’s announcement recounts the parents’ allegation that DCF removed the teenager in December 2024, while publicly reported criminal charges involving Joseph Kutzko arose afterward. The federal agency presented those assertions as allegations it is investigating rather than findings of fact.

The controversy arrives amid a much broader national debate over what schools may disclose to parents when students use a different name or gender identity at school.

Disputes have emerged over LGBTQ-themed books and classroom materials, library drag-themed events, state requirements governing LGBT-related curriculum and school policies and cases in which parents alleged schools facilitated a child’s social transition without their knowledge.

There have also been employment disputes involving educators who object to school gender-identity policies, including cases involving teachers who say they faced professional consequences after challenging such policies.

Supporters of parental-notification requirements argue that parents should be informed about significant changes involving their children’s identity, counseling and health. Opponents of mandatory disclosure policies argue that schools sometimes need discretion when students fear rejection, abuse or other harm at home.

The Trump administration has taken several actions favoring broader parental control and restricting federal support for educational policies it considers discriminatory or ideologically driven.

Among those efforts have been attempts to condition federal funding on changes to diversity, equity and inclusion programs, although federal courts have blocked or limited portions of the administration’s education policies.

The administration has also pursued disputes involving school gender-identity policies through the Education and Justice departments. The Education Department said its Massachusetts investigation follows other recent enforcement actions under FERPA and PPRA, including a July finding involving another Massachusetts district and a Justice Department lawsuit challenging a Kansas school district’s parental-notification policies.

For the Kutzko family, however, the immediate questions are narrower and more personal.

The Education Department must determine whether their daughter’s school complied with federal privacy and parental-rights laws, while a Massachusetts juvenile court continues handling the separate custody and medical-treatment dispute.

The federal investigation has not yet reached findings against the Northborough-Southborough district, and the full factual record surrounding the teenager’s removal remains incomplete because significant portions of the child-welfare case are confidential.

The Oct. 29 court hearing is expected to bring renewed attention to whether DCF can pursue the disputed medical treatment and to the parents’ continuing effort to regain involvement in their daughter’s care.

Original article