The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi is suing Maui Preparatory Academy on behalf of the family of a 9-year-old girl, saying a policy the small private school in West Maui implemented this year unfairly targets transgender students.

According to the lawsuit, Maui Prep tried to quietly put a new policy in place in December 2024 for the 2025-26 school year that requires students to use bathroom facilities, play on sports teams and room with students who were assigned the same gender at birth.

“Thus, students who are transgender must use bathrooms and locker-rooms with students of the opposite gender. During school trips, they are assigned accommodations with students of the opposite gender. And they are required to participate on sports teams, even in middle school, with students of the opposite gender,” the suit states.

The suit says the new policy not only contradicts prevailing expert recommendations, it overturned a longstanding policy of inclusion and support for gender-nonconforming students at Maui Prep without first getting input from community members, the faculty or experts about transgender experiences.

The suit says Maui Prep even “surreptitiously removed ‘gender identity and expression’ as a protected characteristic in their non-discrimination policy, showing that the school was fully aware of — and comfortable with — the fact that the policy is discriminatory.”

As a result of the new policy, the suit says the girl’s parents were forced to withdraw their daughter and forfeit tuition fees, as they feared forcing her to use facilities with boys would subject her to unnecessary torment and anguish.

The lawsuit focuses on state funding received by the school and claims Maui Prep’s policy is discriminating on the basis of gender identity or expression.

“Hawaiʻi law is clear: Schools that accept state funds cannot discriminate against transgender students,” said Emily Hills, ACLU of Hawaiʻi Senior Staff Attorney, in a news release announcing the lawsuit.

“Maui Prep was told repeatedly that its policy was illegal, and it chose to press forward anyway,” Hills continued. “That’s why this lawsuit is necessary — to enforce the law and protect all students from unlawful discrimination.”

The suit further alleges Maui Prep has engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices by implementing the new policy at the same time the school sells families an image of acceptance and inclusion, and promotes to “Live Aloha.”

The lawsuit says the 9-year-old student, who had been attending Maui Prep since age 3, has lived openly as a girl since age 5 with support from her family and school staff.

The suit says many of the girl’s classmates do not even know the petite girl who has a passion for history and airplanes is transgender.

The lawsuit says Maui Prep has been unresponsive in the ACLU’s attempts to get the school to rescind its policy.

The lawsuit further alleges multiple board members have resigned and that the school has retaliated against teachers who have come out against the new policy.