LOS ANGELES — The Trump administration has launched an "enforcement action" against the Los Angeles Unified School District, accusing it of hiding sensitive student information from parents in relation to a student's gender identity. The administration also is investigating alleged violations of parents' right to safeguard their children from the collection of private and sensitive information at school.

L.A. Unified has denied wrongdoing.

Federal officials described their actions as morally necessary and in keeping with legal requirements.

"The Trump Administration is acting with unprecedented energy and purpose to restore parents' natural rights as the primary protectors of their children," said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

"Parents are children's natural providers and protectors," said Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights.

In their release, federal officials did not provide details on the nature of their action. The announcement referenced only "a new enforcement action ... for policies that require staff to keep sensitive information hidden from parents."

L.A. Unified already is entangled with the Trump administration in several disputes — all of which carry the threatened loss of the district's federal funding, which surpasses $1.1 billion a year.

A senior education department official, speaking on a not-for-attribution basis, explained some of the details.

The district's "Gender Policy provisions require LAUSD employees to keep a student's asserted 'gender identity' 'private' or confidential, including from parents, which likely violates [federal] protections for parents to inspect their children's education records," the official said.

The Trump administration has been clear in insisting that parents must be notified of a child's gender-identity issues at school, but the law itself is less settled.

It remains illegal in California for a school district to force teachers and other staff to alert parents about their child's gender identity. But based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, parents must be told when they ask about it.

L.A. Unified officials said Monday that they were unaware of a new demand or filing by the Trump administration.

"At this time, L.A. Unified has not been notified of any new or additional enforcement actions by the U.S. Department of Justice," a district statement said. "The Los Angeles Unified School District complies with all applicable state and federal laws and will continue to do so."

When told about the explanation by the Trump administration official, the district declined further comment.

A warning to attorneys general

The major thrust of a joint release from the Trump education and justice departments was an alert to state attorneys general nationwide, calling on them to enforce the administration's interpretation of federal law, some of which is not in dispute.

The administrative directive focuses on the collection of information from students, which is limited by a federal law called the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment or PPRA. It's also sometimes referred to as the Protection of Pupil Rights Act or the Hatch Amendment and it dates from 1978.

Among its provisions, that law requires parental notification and consent, with an opt-out option, before students participate in surveys asking about sensitive private information such as religious beliefs, sexual behavior or mental health problems.

Federal officials "have found that schools continue to violate PPRA with their administration of 'mental health screenings,'" the letter says. "If any school expects students to complete 'mental health screenings' or any other similar evaluation or coursework, they must FIRST effectively notify the parent and obtain written consent to administer such screenings."

The senior administration official related this issue directly to L.A. Unified.

The district's "Gender Policy directs LAUSD employees to 'privately ask the student how they want to be referred to when communicating with parents/legal guardians,'" the official said. "These interactions between school officials and minor students likely violate PPRA's requirement that a school obtain the prior written consent of a student's parent before requiring the student to submit to a survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals certain private information about a student and their family."

L.A. Unified declined to comment on this specific allegation.

Entanglements between Trump and LAUSD

The legal binder of cases involving the Trump administration and L.A. Unified is getting thicker.

The Justice Department has moved to intervene in a January lawsuit that accuses L.A. Unified of discriminating against white students through a long-running effort to help disadvantaged students of color by providing somewhat smaller classes at the majority of schools at which non-white students are the vast majority of students. The ACLU has filed court briefs supporting the district.

In April, the Education Department reopened an investigation into the district's Black Student Achievement Plan, claiming that the district has failed to follow through with eliminating race as a factor in providing services. And in May, the education department opened an investigation over how the district handles teachers accused of sexual misconduct.

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