Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion, KP-0100

Fort Worth ISD superintendent adopted "Transgender Student Guidelines" (2015–16) to direct staff on addressing transgender students; guidelines labelled "mandatory" and noncompliance could lead to adverse employment action.
The superintendent adopted the Guidelines without a school board vote and without prior public comment; district staff developed them and superintendent approved them.
The Guidelines instruct staff to keep a student’s actual or perceived gender identity private, share it only on a need-to-know basis (including with parents), and generally to work with the student before notifying parents about gender identity or transition.
Texas Education Code chapter 26 grants parents access to all written school records concerning their child and "full information" about school activities, and forbids school employees from encouraging a child to withhold information from parents (discipline ground).
Chapter 11 assigns boards of trustees the role of adopting district policies and charges superintendents with day-to-day management and implementing board policies via administrative regulations; superintendents may recommend policies but not unilaterally set district policy.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the Guidelines unlawfully limit parental access to information about their child under Tex. Educ. Code ch. 26	Guidelines keep gender identity private and can prevent parents from receiving information about their child, violating parental rights statutes	FWISD contends some lawfully limited exceptions exist (e.g., child-abuse investigations, certain counseling) and says parents are generally involved; intends to clarify guidelines	AG: To the extent Guidelines limit parental access or encourage students to withhold information, they violate chapter 26
Whether the superintendent had authority to adopt the Guidelines without board vote or public comment	Adoption without board action improperly creates significant policy limiting parental involvement	FWISD asserts Guidelines are administrative regulations implementing Board Policy FFH (anti-discrimination) and within superintendent authority	AG: Policy questions (e.g., limiting parental involvement) must be addressed by the board before administrative regulations; superintendent may not unilaterally enact such policy

Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (recognizing parents' fundamental right to direct care and upbringing of their children)
Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745 (acknowledging parental liberty interest in childrearing)
Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (emphasizing parental role in upbringing and education)
Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510 (parental right to direct education of children)
Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (parental liberty in controlling education and upbringing)