The department announced on Monday that its Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) is investigating Burlington Public Schools (BPS) over the claims, which it said could be a violation of the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). The PPRA allows parents to recuse their children from participating in school surveys and questionnaires that pertain to students’ sensitive and private information.
Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center submitted a complaint to the department on behalf of several parents over the 2025 “Youth Risk Behavior Survey,” after sending a letter in April to the district making them aware of parents concerns and asking for a change in policy and a commitment to uphold the PPRA. That letter, included in the department’s news release, contains more specific allegations and screenshots of the 45-minute survey, which was purportedly sent to every student at Marshall Simonds Middle School and Burlington High School in March.
The survey included questions like: “Which of the following terms best describes your current gender identity?” and “What sex were you assigned at birth, on your original birth certificate?” The survey also asked students questions about sexual abuse, alcohol consumption, smoking habits, and overall sexual experiences.
The survey included items explaining gender identity and sexual orientation to students before asking them questions.
“Gender identity is how you see yourself. You can see yourself as male, female, a mix, or both, or neither. It can be the same or different from the sex you were assigned at birth,” the survey reads, before explaining terms like “cisgender,” “transgender,” “nonbinary,” and “genderqueer.”
The letter to BPS alleges that students were told they were required to take the survey unless they were on a list of students whose parents opted them out. However, “many students who had, in fact, been opted out were not on the opt-out list,” the letter alleges.
“These students were told by their teachers that they needed to complete the survey. In at least one case, when a student protested and told the teacher that she had been opted out and that she did not want to take the survey, her teacher made her take the survey anyway since she was not on the opt-out list,” the letter alleges.
“Unsurprisingly, many parents were extremely upset that the school violated the assurances that it had given them about opting their children out of the survey. These parents made their voices heard through messages to the administration and by engaging in public comment at the April 1st School Committee meeting. Despite further assurances from the administration that this kind of incident will not happen again, however, BPS has not taken any concrete steps to prevent future violations,” the letter continues.
The letter further alleges that “this is not the first time that Burlington Public Schools have violated the rights of parents and students,” and pointed to alleged incidents of the district pushing DEI and LGTBQ+ propaganda onto students.
“While this most recent survey incident may have been a genuine accident, it was no accident that it happened in Burlington. Rather, it was the predictable result of an educational culture at BPS that does not take parental rights seriously and does not see a problem with foisting radical ideologies upon minor students. Changes must be made,” the letter reads.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement that the department “will investigation this matter thoroughly and continue to resolutely defend parents’ rights.”
“Parents must be the primary decision-makers in their children’s education. The allegations that Burlington violated parents’ rights by administering a survey against parents’ wishes — and particularly one that is graphic, and downright inappropriate in nature — is unconscionable,” McMahon said.
BPS did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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