Secretary of Education Linda McMahon speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington on March 20. Ben Curtis/Associated Press

The Trump administration is once again targeting Maine over its policies on transgender youth.

The U.S. Department of Education — an agency the president is trying to abolish – announced Friday that it has initiated an investigation into Maine’s Department of Education over allegations that school districts in the state are violating the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA).

Specifically, the federal agency says school districts are allowing officials to create “gender plans” that support a transgender student’s identity but then not making those plans available to parents.

A similar investigation was launched in California this week. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, a former professional wrestling promoter, said in a prepared statement that “parents and guardians have the right to access their child’s education records to guide and safeguard their child’s mental, emotional and physical well-being. Any policy to the contrary is both illegal and immoral.”

Although the U.S. Department of Education did not name specific districts in its announcement Friday, it appears the investigation was spurred by a report in the Federalist, a conservative news outlet, that claimed 57 of 192 school districts in Maine have policies that don’t require notification to parents if a child identifies as transgender. (Maine has 264 school districts, according to the state DOE).

“It is deeply concerning to hear that teachers and school counselors in Maine are reportedly encouraging and helping students to undergo so-called ‘gender transitions’ while keeping parents in the dark,” McMahon said. “The Trump administration will enforce all federal laws to safeguard students and families.”

A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Education did not respond Friday to questions about the investigation. The Office of the Maine Attorney General declined to comment.

Many states, Maine included, have strong protections for transgender individuals.

“They are fixated on Maine right now because Maine has dug in and said we’re supporting all of our kids,” said Gia Drew, executive director of EqualityMaine, the state’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization. “I like to think we’ll keep defending our kids, making sure they are safe.”

Portland Public Schools, the largest district in the state, is highlighted in the Federalist article for its policies on transgender students, which allow those individuals to work with school officials on creating a support plan, and requires schools to abide by a student’s wishes regarding their preferred name, pronouns and gender expression.

In response to the investigation, a district spokesperson said that Portland schools will continue to support transgender and non-binary students.

“We are not aware of any time when a parent has requested student records and not received the records,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to partner with our students and families to support a welcoming environment for all students.”

Schools in Maine have been caught in a legal gray area between respecting students’ rights to privacy and parents’ rights to be informed about their children’s expression of gender identity while at school. Some youth fear family members might not be supportive of their gender identity or may not feel ready to “come out” to their parents, according to students and advocates for LGBTQ teens.

Drew, of EqualityMaine, was a teacher for 20 years and said the administration’s investigation amounts to a solution in search of a problem.

“Support plans in schools, specifically those around transgender youth, most of them are initiated by parents who want to make sure their kid can feel like themselves in school,” Drew said. “There is never the intent to leave parents out unless you have a student who says, ‘I don’t feel comfortable talking about this with my parents.'”

Gia Drew, executive director of EqualityMaine, speaks during the Great Falls Pride Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston in June 2024. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Two years ago, a Lincoln County mother sued her child’s school district, alleging that employees supported her child’s gender identity without the parent’s knowledge, including referring to them with different pronouns than those aligned with their sex assigned at birth and providing them with a chest binder.

A federal judge dismissed the case, saying that it failed to demonstrate the school district was liable in any way, but the mother, Amber Lavigne, appealed.

The Trump administration has already been investigating Maine for allowing transgender athletes to compete in high school sports, something that is allowed under the Maine Human Rights Act but defies an executive order the president signed in February.

This month, the administration found that Maine, a local school district and the nonprofit that governs high school athletics here violated the federal law known as Title IX and warned that if the state didn’t make changes, it would risk referral to the U.S. Department of Justice and the potential loss of tens of millions of dollars in federal funding.

The Maine Principals’ Association and Maine School Administrative District 51, where a transgender athlete competed this winter, have declined to sign an agreement proposed by the Trump administration.

Friday’s announcement from the U.S. Department of Education also warned that if any Maine district is found in violation of the federal privacy act, it could lose federal funding. It’s unclear how that will play out, though, because Trump is trying to eliminate the education department at the federal level.