Montgomery County school leaders this week updated their guidelines to require staff to share a student’s gender identity if their parents ask.

The change comes shortly after a conservative legal group challenged the district’s previous policy.

In earlier versions of Montgomery County Public Schools guidelines, district officials wrote that a student’s decision to disclose they are transgender doesn’t authorize school staff members to share that information with other people, including the child’s parents — unless they are legally required to do so or the student says it’s OK.

The Trump-aligned America First Legal group filed a complaint last month, alleging this policy violated parents’ rights to access their child’s education records.

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Around the same time, the Supreme Court took up a case hinging on similar issues, prompting MCPS officials to update the guidelines.

In a Thursday memo to principals, district leaders wrote that the 2025-26 Gender Identity Guidelines were amended to “to align with a recent Supreme Court case, Mirabelli v. Bonta, in which the court decided the parental right to ‘direct the upbringing and education of their children’ is fundamental.”

The guidelines now include: “Upon request of the student’s parent/guardian, school staff must inform them that their student has expressed that they identify as transgender or gender nonconforming.”

The document emphasizes staff should talk with the principal before releasing that information to parents, “especially when doing so may pose a significant risk of harm to the student.”

In a statement, MCPS officials said the updated guidelines “reflect new legal expectations that place greater emphasis on parental rights.”

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“We recognize this represents a meaningful shift and may be challenging,” they wrote. “As we revise our guidelines, MCPS remains committed to balancing legal obligations with our core values of student privacy, trust and well-being.”

District staff members said they will approach students’ individual situations sensitively, especially if the child is concerned about sharing information about their gender identity at home.

Representatives from America First Legal, which was co-founded by Trump administration official Stephen Miller, did not immediately respond to a request for comment