District tracker
Anne Arundel County Public Schools Parental Rights & Student Privacy Tracker
The August 18 JQ-RA regulation preserves requested names and pronouns while expressly protecting parent inspection of the complete education record. It is inaccurate to summarize the revised text as a universal parent-consent prerequisite for every preferred name.
Agency allegations, findings, district responses and court orders are labeled separately. Unknown means not established by the records reviewed.
Current documented status
- County / locality
- Anne Arundel County
- Exact policy / document title
- JQ-RA — Safe and Inclusive Environments for LGBTQ+ Students; records governed by JH/JH-RA
- Adoption / revision date
- Revised August 18, 2026; originally issued June 16, 2021
- Notification rule
- Notification conditional
- Preferred-name procedure
- JQ-RA D.1 directs requested names; no court order required for everyday address
- Pronoun procedure
- JQ-RA D.1 directs requested pronouns; principal communicates with appropriate staff
- Gender-support-plan procedure
- Staff work with students and parents on a support plan unless principal/designee identifies genuine physical, emotional or mental-health safety concerns.
- FERPA request and records access
- JQ-RA D.4(d) preserves FERPA inspection of the complete education record and points to JH/JH-RA. Current students should request records through their school; the public-information page separately routes former-student records.
- PPRA and survey procedure
- Obtain the survey, funding information, consent notice and local PPRA policy before choosing a consent or opt-out route.
- Curriculum inspection
- Ask the curriculum office for the exact materials and local inspection procedure. Applicable state and PPRA rights are described in the linked guides.
- Current federal/policy status
- Agency finding issued; regulation revised
- Agency finding
- ED FERPA determination announced July 27, 2026
- Resolution status
- No signed federal resolution located
- DOJ litigation
- No DOJ-filed lawsuit established by July announcement; separate private litigation not fully docket-audited
- District response
- The revised regulation is the district's primary policy response. It expressly states that its confidentiality provisions do not limit FERPA access.
- Board action / vote evidence
- The regulation's history establishes an August 18 revision. A board vote is not inferred from an administrative regulation.
- Court status
- No court judgment established by the cited agency materials.
- Next verified deadline
- No future compliance deadline verified
- Latest source used
- 2026-08-18
- Last checked
- 2026-10-09
Policy and enforcement timeline
- 2026-07-27: ED announced FERPA determination and DOJ enforcement cooperation.
- 2026-08-18: JQ-RA revised with express complete-record access safeguard.
Parent request workflow
First use the district-specific contact and process above. Identify the actual document and date range, request confirmation of receipt and retain the response. Avoid sending private student records through a public-records portal.
How to Request Your Child’s Education Records Under FERPA
A practical written-request workflow for existing education records, with federal timing and state-law differences.
How to Inspect School Surveys Under PPRA
Start with the full instrument, funding and administration details before deciding which consent provision applies.
How to Request District Policy Documents
Separate public policy records from a child's protected education records.
How to File a Federal Student-Privacy Complaint
Follow SPPO's current FERPA or PPRA process, including timing and the correct preliminary steps.
How to Document a Denied Student-Records Request
Build a clear chronology that distinguishes a denial, delay, partial production and a disputed record definition.
Direct answers and FAQ
Does the revised regulation require parent permission for every requested name?
The reviewed text says students are to be called by their preferred name and pronoun. Its support-plan and safety provisions and its separate records-access safeguard must also be read; it does not state a universal name-consent condition.
Does this page establish actual compliance in every school?
No. Policies, agency determinations, district statements and implementation are separate evidence categories. Open records gaps are identified rather than resolved by inference.
Source and document library
- AACPS JQ-RA: Safe and Inclusive Environments for LGBTQ+ StudentsDistrict administrative regulation · Document: Revised 2026-08-18 · Checked: 2026-10-09
- AACPS public information and student records routingDistrict procedure · Document: Reviewed 2026-10-09 · Checked: 2026-10-09
- ED actions concerning Anne Arundel and Ann ArborAgency announcement · Document: 2026-07-27 · Checked: 2026-10-09
- MSDE Safe and Supportive Schools for All StudentsState guidance; recommendations · Document: 2026-04 · Checked: 2026-10-09
Update log
October 9, 2026 — Initial evidence-limited publication. Incorporated the Kansas City filed complaint, current Washington records deadline, Maryland April guidance, Anne Arundel August revision, August SPPO letter and October agency/board records where applicable.
This is a dated research snapshot. No automatic monitoring schedule is active. New updates require a dated source and explicit change note.