Massachusetts school district responds to Trump admin investigation: 'Errors and mistakes did occur'

Rick Sobey, Boston Herald on Aug 26, 2025

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BOSTON — The local school district that’s facing a federal investigation for a “graphic” student survey admitted that “errors and mistakes did occur” when the survey was given to kids against their parents’ wishes.

The U.S. Department of Education this week announced that the agency launched an investigation into Burlington Public Schools for allegedly failing to comply with parents’ written requests to opt their children out of a survey that asked questions about sexual activity and gender identity.

Burlington’s superintendent in response said the district will “cooperate fully with the investigation and will respond within the time required.”

According to the Trump administration, the district may have violated parents’ rights under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment — which allows parents to recuse their children from participating in certain school surveys.

The controversial “Youth Risk Behavior Survey” earlier this year was given to both middle and high school students in Burlington Public Schools. The survey had questions about: sexual intercourse, sexual orientation, gender identity, sexting, experiences with sexual assault, alcohol use, and more.

“Without addressing the government’s allegations directly, the Burlington Public Schools has already taken significant steps to address reported issues with the administration of the YRBS, and the District has been transparent throughout this process,” Eric Conti, Burlington superintendent of schools, said in a statement.

“Last winter, the District terminated its contract with the company that drafted the survey,” he added. “The School Committee also unanimously voted that no new student surveys will be administered until a new policy is written and approved by the School Committee. That process is already ongoing, with the assistance of legal counsel. The YRBS survey is not scheduled to be given again, if at all, until the Spring of 2027.”

Students whose parents had opted them out of the questionnaire were still required to take the survey, leading to outraged parents filing complaints with the feds.

“Sexual intercourse includes vaginal sex which is when a penis goes inside of a vagina, oral sex which is contact between the mouth and genitals, anal sex which is when the penis goes inside an anus (butt), and use of toys or props (vaginal or anal). Have you ever had sexual intercourse?” reads one of the survey questions to the middle and high schoolers.

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon called the survey “graphic, and downright inappropriate.”

The Burlington superintendent said the district previously hired an independent consultant who performed an external review of the administration of the survey. The district during public meetings and on its website has discussed the allegations being raised by the feds.

“The School District also previously emailed all families acknowledging that errors and mistakes did occur and that the School District recognized the critical importance of having clear communication with families, especially regarding parents and students’ rights to opt-out of such surveys,” the superintendent wrote.

“The School District previously acknowledged to the community that it was able to confirm five instances of students whose parents opted them out were allowed inadvertently to participate in the survey,” he added. “This is not a new issue, and the District has gone to great lengths to be transparent and forthcoming about the problems, unintentional as they were, with the 2025 YRBS. The Burlington Public Schools looks forward to resolving this matter with the federal government and to implementing the forthcoming amended policies that continue the goal of improving the protection of all students’ rights.”

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