Kansas school told students not to call Trump and Charlie Kirk role models, reveals complaint

EUREKA, KANSAS: An elementary school in Kansas has become the subject of a federal discrimination complaint over President Donald Trump and late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

In the complaint, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) alleged that a teacher at the Marshall Elementary School in Eureka, Kansas, instructed students not to mention Trump or Kirk as their role models.

The ACLJ claims that the incident happened in October 2025, but only came to light recently, as children were asked not to inform their parents about it back then.

The complaint was filed on Tuesday, January 13, with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Education (DOE). 

The ACLJ, a conservative legal advocacy group, wrote the complaint on behalf of a parent and a student.

It has alleged religious discrimination, political or viewpoint discrimination, violation of free speech rights and retaliation.

Kansas school accused of 'selective prohibition'

In its complaint, ACLJ stated that a school guidance counselor tasked students with an assignment, titled ‘Find Your Voice’ that involved writing their role model names.

But “when a student identified Kirk as a role model, [the guidance counselor] got very uncomfortable and refused to allow this name to be written on the board, yelling that he was ‘not a hero,’ and that he was not a role model,” it claimed.

The counselor had the same response when another student mentioned Trump as their role model.

“When another student selected President Donald J. Trump as a role model, [the guidance counselor] reiterated her prohibition even more angrily, stating that students could not write political or religious figures on the board, and in fact excluded political and religious topics altogether,” the complaint said.

The complaint alleges that prohibiting students from picking religious figures, Jesus Christ was also excluded as a role model.

By excluding religious figures while permitting secular role models, "the school engaged in discrimination based on religious viewpoint," the ACLJ alleged.

The group has also said that “the selective prohibition created immediate confusion among students about whose voices were valued and whose were not.”

Complaint questions school's 'educational ethics and child safety'

It also highlighted the “directive, instructing children not to report concerns to their parents … violates fundamental principles of parental rights, educational ethics and child safety.”

The group even accused the school of not providing any public response, “no corrective action has been announced, and the violations continue to remain unaddressed.”

“Our client has been forced to withdraw her children rather than continue to subject them to these practices,” it added.

The ACLJ has also started a petition, claiming “radical Left officials are using taxpayer dollars to smear pro-life organizations as ‘dangerous,’ while Christians are harassed, attacked, and dragged into court.”

The goal is to get 50k signatures and it has garnered over 24k signatures till now.

Kansas Representative Ron Estes slams school

Representative Ron Estes, representing Kansas’ 4th Congressional District that includes Eureka, called out the school.

He shared, “Schools shouldn’t be a place where a teacher’s political beliefs are forced onto students. This is a violation of their constitutional rights and does not represent Kansas schools’ fundamental principles … I do not condone this type of political censorship in any school.”

Marshall Elementary School issues statement

Meanwhile, Marshall Elementary School has presented its side.

Principal Stacy Coulter said, “We are aware of this incident and are always working with families and our school staff to make sure every learning activity is a positive and encouraging experience for every student.”

“We are unable to comment on the individuals involved because of our commitment to the privacy of our students and employees. This information is also protected by confidentiality laws,” she added.