Exclusive | Students quizzed on gender, sexual orientation and finances without parent’s consent: feds

Three California school districts are under federal investigation over allegations that students were asked invasive questions about their sexuality, gender identity and family immigration status without their parents’ knowledge or consent, The California Post can exclusively reveal.

The US Department of Education‘s Student Privacy Policy Office announced investigations Friday into the North Monterey County, Palo Alto and San Francisco unified school districts.

The alleged questionnaire given to students asked them to disclose personal information without their parents’ knowledge or consent, including their sexual orientation, gender identity, race, family finances and immigration status, according to complaints received by the department.

“Parents have a right to opt their children out of these kinds of surveys. It’s not just a question of notifying the parents; they have the right to opt them out. That’s what we want to see,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon told the California Post Friday.

“We did have specific reasons to come in to investigate in California. That’s why we announced these investigations,” she added.

The department said it will determine whether the districts violated the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, the federal law requires schools to notify parents and get their written consent before surveying students on certain protected topics.

Protected topics include political and religious beliefs, mental health, sexual behavior, illegal or self-incriminating conduct, family relationships and income under the law.

The districts allegedly required students to take part in “Wheel of Power/Privilege” or “Mapping My Identities” activities as part of their ethnic studies curricula.

The Post has reached out to all three districts under investigation for comment.

The department also said parents accused the districts of ignoring requests to review the ethnic studies curriculum or granting only partial access.

“Students should not be pressured into identifying intimate details about themselves and their families without parental awareness and consent — and certainly not to rank them on an ideological ‘privilege scale,’” Frank Miller, director of the Student Privacy Policy Office, said in a statement.

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“Education leaders in California must stop undermining parental rights and we will work with these Districts to bring them into full compliance with federal laws,” he added.

North Monterey County Unified is the smallest of the three accused districts — it serves around 4200 students in Castroville, Prunedale, Moss Landing, Aromas and parts of Salinas, and most of its students are Hispanic and socioeconomically disadvantaged.

In Palo Alto Unified — with around 10,000 students — Superintendent Don Austin announced an indefinite pause in January 2025 on making ethnic studies a graduation requirement. Days later, the school board reversed course and voted 3-2 to require it starting with the class of 2029. 

San Francisco Unified — the largest of the three districts under investigation with over 55,000 students — has offered ethnic studies since 2010.

In 2021, its board made the course a two-semester graduation requirement. The board adopted a new ethnic studies curriculum this year after years of controversy over course content. The district has said students who don’t want to take its standardized ethnic studies course can request a different course that still meets the requirement.

Under the federal law, schools must make all curriculum available to parents for review on request. They must also notify parents and get written consent before giving a survey, analysis or evaluation that would reveal protected information about a student or their family.

Friday’s announcement is the latest in a string of federal actions against California schools this year.

In January, the Student Privacy Policy Office found the California Department of Education in violation of federal student records law. It said state policies pressured schools to hide students’ gender transitions from their parents.

In May, the department opened a Title IX investigation into LAUSD over policies it said automatically reassign teachers accused of sexual misconduct with students. LAUSD has disputed that characterization.

In July, it opened sexual misconduct investigations into the Tulare City and Wilsona school districts. In September, it opened an investigation into the Etiwanda School District over complaints that the district failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment.

Violations of the law can lead to enforcement actions and the potential loss of federal funding, the department said.

California passed a law in 2021 requiring ethnic studies in high school. But the graduation requirement takes effect only once the Legislature funds it, so districts currently aren’t bound by it.