The U.S. Department of Education's Student Privacy Policy Office has opened an investigation into the Public Schools of Northborough and Southborough, examining whether the district violated federal law in its handling of a student's gender identity during a custody dispute between Massachusetts parents and the state, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The district has denied the family's allegations and said it will cooperate with investigators. Joseph and Arlene Kutzko allege that state officials and school staff helped transition their teenage daughter without their consent after she was removed from their home.
According to WCVB, the federal office will assess whether the district violated the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The Kutzkos allege that the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families has, for nearly two years, assisted in the gender transition of their biological daughter, identified in reporting as Sophie, who was 15 when she was privately counseled by school staff. The family says that counseling led officials to report the matter to DCF. The parents are seeking to regain custody of their now-17-year-old daughter and oppose Massachusetts officials medically transitioning her to a male, according to the Boston Herald. Those allegations have not been independently established.
Conflicting Accounts of When and Why Sophie Was Removed
Reporting differs over when DCF took custody of the teenager. WCVB places the removal in January 2025, after the child reportedly told a school counselor she felt unsafe at home. Fox News Radio reported that DCF removed Sophie in December 2024, when she was 15. The discrepancy has not been resolved in the available reporting.
Gov. Maura Healey has pushed back hard on the family's narrative. She said the child was removed because of criminal allegations against the parents rather than because of any gender-affirming care issue, telling reporters, according to WCVB, that this was not a removal over a gender-affirming care issue. Per the Boston Herald's sourcing, Healey said DCF removed Sophie after criminal charges were filed against her parents, and the governor has defended DCF's handling of the case while saying the Kutzkos' claims are incorrect.
Statewide DCF Context
The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families reported in its FY2021 annual report that its rate of reunification within 12 months of a child's entry into foster care had decreased since fiscal year 2017. That statewide trend provides context for questions about placement and reunification outcomes, but it does not establish why the teenager in this case remained in state custody.
Parents' Attorney Disputes the Governor's Framing
The Kutzkos' attorney, Vernadette Broyles, has directly disputed the governor's version of events, saying Healey is misrepresenting the truth and that no criminal charges currently stand against the couple. Court documents cited in reporting show Sophie accused Joseph of punching her, pulling her hair, and threatening to kill her, but the Boston Herald's sourcing indicates the allegations against the Kutzkos led to no criminal finding of guilt. Joseph and Arlene Kutzko reached a non-guilty disposition with prosecutors in both juvenile and criminal court in February 2025, Boston Herald reported, and Broyles has said the couple's pre-trial probation will be lifted after one year if they commit no further offenses during that period. Broyles has also said there has never been a finding that the parents are unfit, per WCVB's report, and per the Herald's account, the family's legal fees have already exceeded $150,000.
A permanent restraining order now bars Sophie's parents and her older brother from contacting her, according to CBN. Reporting indicates Sophie had been in state custody for nearly a year when that order was obtained, and that an unidentified adult allegedly assisted her in securing it. A juvenile court separately ordered DCF not to provide testosterone treatment after the agency had argued the treatment constituted ordinary medical care, per a report from WCVB. The Kutzkos claim that Algonquin Regional High School, located in Northborough, initiated the gender-transition process without their knowledge — an allegation the family has made but that remains their account of events, not an independently confirmed fact.
School District Says It Will Cooperate Fully
The school district has denied the family's allegations but said it welcomes and will cooperate fully with any authority investigating the matter, according to WCVB's reporting. The Kutzkos are expected to appear in court on October 29, per the Boston Herald.
Part of a Broader Federal Push on Parental Rights
The Northborough-Southborough investigation lands amid a wider federal effort targeting how schools handle transgender students' privacy versus parents' rights. The Education Department and Department of Justice entered a partnership in June focused specifically on privacy policies, including parental rights, according to Michigan Advance. That same federal office recently found that Ann Arbor Public Schools' policy requiring employees to hide a child's transgender status from parents likely violates FERPA, and gave that district until Aug. 10 to respond or face potential enforcement action alongside the DOJ.
Michigan Advance also cited a FERPA expert who told Chalkbeat that the law requires school districts to share written records, such as gender support plans, if parents request them, but that FERPA does not appear to create a duty for schools to proactively disclose that a student is expressing a different gender at school. Under FERPA, schools must generally allow parents to access their children's education records, permit parents to request changes to those records, and provide a hearing if a requested change is rejected. The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment separately requires schools to obtain written parental consent before evaluating, surveying, or analyzing students on specified sensitive subjects, which include mental health, sex behaviors and attitudes, and religious beliefs.
Similar fights have played out in California courts. A federal district court dismissed a parent's lawsuit against Chico Unified School District in July 2023 over a policy restricting disclosure of a student's transgender status without the student's consent, according to AALRR. That same year, a California superior court preliminarily enjoined Chino Valley Unified School District from enforcing a parent-notification policy, while a federal court in the Mirabelli v. Olson case blocked Escondido Union School District from disciplining teachers who withheld students' gender identity from parents without student consent.
