The Trump administration is investigating a Massachusetts public school district after parents said a high school helped their daughter identify as a transgender boy without telling them.
The U.S. Department of Education announced the investigation on Thursday.
The department will investigate Northborough and Southborough Public Schools. It's looking at what happened at Algonquin Regional High School; the school serves both towns.
Joseph and Arlene Kutzko of Southborough said school employees used a male name and male pronouns for their daughter without telling them, as NewBostonPost previously reported.
The parents said their daughter attended after-school counseling sessions. They thought she was getting extra help with math.
They said a school counselor later reported them to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families for not treating their daughter as a boy.
“Parents have a right to know what is happening with their children at school, particularly when it concerns deeply personal matters involving their health and well-being,” DOE Student Privacy Policy Office Director Frank Miller said in a press release.
“These egregious allegations are not an isolated problem,” he added. “Families deserve answers and SPPO will thoroughly investigate reports like this and hold any educational institution that violates federal law accountable.”
The department will see if the district broke two federal laws.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act lets parents see their children’s school records and ask schools to correct them.
The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment requires written parental consent before schools conduct certain evaluations of a student’s mental health, sexual behavior, religious beliefs and other subjects.
School officials deny the parents’ claims.
“Our school district aggressively and unequivocally denies the claims made by the two individuals,” superintendent Gregory Martineau told reporters.
The federal investigation is only about the school district. It doesn't concern DCF's decision to take custody of the kid.
The parents said the school counselor’s report ultimately caused DCF to take their daughter away when she was 15. That girl is now 17.
Gov. Maura Healey said the state removed the girl because law enforcement filed criminal charges against the parents.
Westborough District Court records show police accused Joseph Kutzko of punching his daughter, pulling her hair and threatening to kill her in January 2025. He pleaded not guilty.
Authorities charged Arlene Kutzko with witness intimidation. Police said she pressured her daughter to change her account of the incident.
A judge agreed to dismiss the charges against Joseph Kutzko if he completed an anger management course, stayed away from his daughter and followed a restraining order.
The family’s attorney said no evidence supported allegations of physical or sexual abuse. She told WBUR the other neglect claim appears connected to the parents’ refusal to treat their daughter as a boy.
The parents want to regain custody and stop the state from giving their daughter testosterone. The next court hearing will take place in late October.
