Feds probing Massachusetts' removal of trans-identified girl from Catholic parents

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating a Massachusetts school district over reports that officials worked to socially transition a trans-identified teenager without her Catholic parents’ consent and took steps to remove the girl from their custody after they objected.

The Education Department’s Student Privacy Policy Office is investigating the Northborough-Southborough Regional School District to determine whether the district violated the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) by working to socially transition a female student without informing her parents.

“According to the student’s parents, school personnel at Algonquin Regional High School helped facilitate their daughter’s so-called ‘social transition’ to a boy without informing them,” the department said in an announcement. “The parents claim that their daughter participated in counseling sessions after school to support the transition while they were under the impression she was receiving academic assistance for her math class.”

The department contends that FERPA requires schools to allow parents to access their children’s education records and make changes to those records. Schools are also required to "provide a hearing if the school rejects the changes."

"PPRA requires schools to receive written consent from parents if they plan to conduct any evaluation, survey, or analysis on students regarding their or their family’s mental health, sex behaviors and attitudes, religious beliefs or any other invasive sensitive subjects outlined in the statute," the Education Department statement reads. 

The student’s parents, Joseph and Arlene Kutzko, were reported to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) after they objected to the school’s actions and declined to treat their daughter Sophie as a boy. DCF took custody of Sophie in December 2024 at age 15, and a restraining order put in place by the agency prevents communication between the teen and her family.

The Kutzkos, who oppose gender ideology as contrary to their Catholic faith, are suing state officials over their daughter’s removal. A judge has temporarily blocked Sophie from receiving testosterone. A hearing in the custody case is scheduled for Oct. 29.

Vernadette Broyles, an attorney with the Child and Parental Rights Campaign who represents the Kutzkos, told the Boston Herald that the father is a scientist who has "science-based objections to the idea of ever telling a child that you can change sex because that’s impossible." The family also holds "faith-based objections to the idea of a child rejecting how God made her.” The attorney cited the parents’ “medical objections to the idea of the child ever getting cross-sex hormones, which has irreversible and damaging effects on a female’s body.”

“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,” said SPPO Director Frank Miller. “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.”

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, has defended DCF’s actions and denied that the Kutzkos’ opposition to their daughter’s transition led the agency to remove her. “DCF did not remove the child because of a health issue or a gender-affirming care issue. DCF removed the child after there were criminal charges filed against the parents, including the father,” she said.

“This is currently a subject of criminal prosecution right now against the parents. So, I’m not going to comment on this particular case right now, but I just want to be clear with the public that this child was not removed because of a gender-affirming care issue,” she added.

Broyles pushed back on the governor's explaination, saying that a juvenile court ruled last year that the abuse accusations against the parents were unfounded.

“It’s very dishonest, because there are no standing charges against them,” said Broyles. “There is no finding that these parents have committed any abuse against this child in the criminal court, nor is there any supported allegations of abuse or neglect against them, even in the juvenile court.”

Broyles previously represented Jeffrey and January Littlejohn, who also alleged that their daughter’s school in Florida worked to socially transition her without their consent. She filed a lawsuit in 2021. Afters years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case last April. 

January Littlejohn was a guest at President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress last year. Trump cited stories like hers as the reason he “signed an executive order banning public schools from indoctrinating our children with transgender ideology.”

Several states have passed laws requiring schools to inform parents about changes to their children’s mental health, including their gender identity. States that have passed such laws include Florida, West Virginia, Indiana and North Dakota.