Burlington Public Schools broke federal law when it gave a graphic student survey to children whose parents had opted them out, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
The department’s Student Privacy Policy Office announced its finding on Wednesday, July 29.
Federal officials found that the district violated the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment. The law gives parents the right to opt their children out of school surveys that ask about sex, drug use, mental health, religious beliefs, and other private matters.
The district gave the 2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey to students at Marshall Simonds Middle School and Burlington High School.
The survey asked students as young as seventh-graders about sexual activity, drug and alcohol use, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
It defined sexual intercourse to include vaginal sex, oral sex, anal sex, and the use of sex toys or props. It then asked students, “Have you ever had sexual intercourse?”
Other questions asked students whether anyone had forced them to perform sexual acts, what sex appeared on their original birth certificates, and whether they considered themselves transgender, nonbinary, or “genderqueer.”
“Parents must always have the final say when it comes to their children — not schools,” DOE Student Privacy Policy Office director Frank Miller said.
Miller said the district ignored parents’ clear orders and exposed children to “disturbing information and invasive questions.”
Burlington Public Schools admitted that five students took the survey even though their parents had opted them out.
The federal department proposed a resolution agreement requiring the district to take several steps.
The district must send every parent a copy of the 2025 survey so families can see the questions and discuss them with their children.
Superintendent Eric Conti must also send apology letters to the families who filed federal complaints.
The district must change its survey policies to comply with federal parental-rights law. It must also submit future surveys containing explicit or sensitive questions to the U.S. Department of Education for review.
Federal officials said Burlington risks “imminent enforcement action” if it does not agree to resolve the violations voluntarily.
A violation of the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment can result in a school district losing federal money.
The controversy began after Burlington gave the survey to students on March 27, 2025.
The district had notified parents that the survey was voluntary and provided them with a form to opt out. However, the survey link went to every student at Marshall Simonds Middle School and Burlington High School.
Students were told to take the survey unless their names appeared on an opt-out list, according to complaints filed with the federal government.
Some students whose parents had opted them out did not appear on that list.
In at least one case, a student told a teacher that her parents had opted her out and that she did not want to take the survey. The teacher still told her to complete it because her name was not on the list, according to an April 2025 complaint.
The Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center filed federal complaints on behalf of several Burlington parents.
Burlington parent David Hanafin said the questions were not proper for middle-school children.
“If a hockey coach, of a seventh grade kid asked them any questions along these lines, they’d be in jail,” Hanafin told WBZ-TV in 2025.
The district hired lawyer Jeffrey Sankey to conduct an outside review.
Sankey found that the final survey included revised definitions of sexual intercourse and gender identity that Burlington’s Wellness Committee had not reviewed or approved.
He also found that an assistant principal at Marshall Simonds Middle School failed to send teachers a required script. That script would have told students that taking the survey was voluntary and anonymous.
Sankey found no evidence that district employees meant to force opted-out students to take the survey. He said the failures resulted from omissions and poor procedures.
The Burlington School Committee later stopped all new student surveys until it could adopt a new policy. The district also ended its contract with the outside company that drafted the survey.
The Youth Risk Behavior Survey won't return to Burlington before spring 2027, if the district uses it again at all.
The district says the survey helps it track student health, safety, drug use, and emotional needs. It uses the results to guide counseling, staffing, and other student programs.
Burlington Public Schools said it had already taken steps to address the mistakes before the federal findings came out.
“We will now review the findings and the Proposed Resolution Agreement, and will respond expeditiously,” the district said in a statement.
