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Authored by Aaron Gifford via The Epoch Times,

A California policy that prevents schools from requiring staff to disclose a child’s gender identity or sexual orientation to his or her parents may be in violation of a federal law, the U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday.

The federal agency’s Student Privacy Policy Office, which oversees the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA), is investigating instances in California where school personnel in various districts allegedly hid information from parents and assisted students with their gender “transition,” a March 27 news release notes.

The Department of Education alleged that AB 1955, which took effect on Jan. 1, conflicts with FERPA, which gives parents the right to review students’ records. The department’s news release said federal law supersedes any state law in this case.

In an email response to The Epoch Times, the California Department of Education said the federal law only requires schools to provide student records on request, not verbal disclosures.

Upon returning to the White House, President Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting schools from promoting the idea that there are more than two genders. School districts and states also face federal funding cuts for allowing males identifying as transgender to compete in girls’ or women’s sports.

Parents Defending Education, whose leaders in recent months have testified before legislative committees regarding educational issues, reports on its website that 1,214 districts across the country serving more than 12 million students in grades K-12 have policies openly stating that “district personnel can or should keep a student’s transgender status hidden from parents.”