State law tracker
Maryland School Parental Notification & Student Records Tracker
Maryland's April 2026 guidance expressly recognizes parent access to official records, including sensitive gender-related information. Anne Arundel revised its regulation on August 18, adding an express FERPA access safeguard.
Agency allegations, findings, district responses and court orders are labeled separately. Unknown means not established by the records reviewed.
Current law and guidance
- Statute / guidance
- MSDE April 2026 guidance; COMAR student-record framework
- Law or guidance status
- Guidance issued; district regulation revised
- Effective date / vintage
- Guidance dated April 2026; not an enacted notification statute
- Notification classification
- Notification conditional
- Preferred-name rule
- MSDE recommends student/parent conferences; AACPS JQ-RA provides local procedure
- Pronoun rule
- Guidance recommends requested names/pronouns; local policy controls implementation subject to law
- Gender-support records
- AACPS regulation calls for work with student and parents, subject to stated safety concerns
- Parent records access
- MSDE says official records, including gender information, must be disclosed on parent request
- Curriculum/material inspection
- Local inspection procedure should be obtained; Mahmoud concerns particular religious-exercise claims
- Survey consent
- PPRA baseline; separate local consent procedure not fully audited
- Survey opt-out
- PPRA where applicable; curriculum opt-outs are a distinct question
- Grades / coverage
- Public K–12 guidance
- Abuse / neglect / safety provisions
- Guidance addresses parents who would engage in abuse; follow applicable child-abuse law
- Adult / eligible-student provisions
- FERPA eligible-student rules apply
- School discretion and limits
- MSDE document describes suggestions for local policy, not a uniform statute
- State education guidance
- April 2026 guidance cites Mirabelli; older 2015 guidance is not used as current authority
- Current litigation
- Mahmoud is distinct from FERPA; AACPS agency finding is not a judgment
- Injunction scope
- No statewide FERPA injunction established here
- Latest source used
- 2026-08-18
- Last checked
- 2026-10-09
- Audit scope
- Focused audit of the cited laws and guidance; not an exhaustive state-law inventory
District implementation and enforcement
2 of 2 results
| District | State | Policy / document | Federal / court status | Resolution status | Source records |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anne Arundel County Public Schools | Maryland | JQ-RA — Safe and Inclusive Environments for LGBTQ+ Students; records governed by JH/JH-RA | Agency finding issued; regulation revised | No signed federal resolution located | AACPS JQ-RA: Safe and Inclusive Environments for LGBTQ+ Students · AACPS public information and student records routing · ED actions concerning Anne Arundel and Ann Arbor · MSDE Safe and Supportive Schools for All Students |
| Montgomery County Public Schools — research record only | Maryland | Not fully audited | Curriculum litigation; current local posture not fully audited | Unknown/not located | Mahmoud v. Taylor, 24-297 |
No matching records. Clear the search or reset the filters.
What parents can do next
Use the cited law with the current local procedure. Ask for the exact policy, regulation, survey or record. Separate requests for public policy documents from requests for your child’s education records.
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 Inspect Curriculum and Instructional Materials
Request the specific materials and the applicable federal, state or local review process.
Audit limits
Focused audit of the cited laws and guidance; not an exhaustive state-law inventory
Attorney-general guidance and all other state statutes were not exhaustively inventoried. Unclassified notification fields are left unknown rather than assigned local discretion.
Direct answers and FAQ
Does Maryland guidance ban parents from seeing gender-related records?
No. The April 2026 document expressly calls for disclosure of official student records on parental request.
Is MSDE guidance the same as district policy?
No. The guidance offers recommendations. AACPS JQ-RA is a separate local administrative regulation.
Source and document library
- MSDE Safe and Supportive Schools for All StudentsState guidance; recommendations · Document: 2026-04 · Checked: 2026-10-09
- AACPS JQ-RA: Safe and Inclusive Environments for LGBTQ+ StudentsDistrict administrative regulation · Document: Revised 2026-08-18 · Checked: 2026-10-09
- ED actions concerning Anne Arundel and Ann ArborAgency announcement · Document: 2026-07-27 · Checked: 2026-10-09
- Mahmoud v. Taylor, 24-297Court opinion · Document: 2025-06-27 · 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.