Poe v. Maui Preparatory Academy

This lawsuit, brought on behalf of a Maui family, challenges Maui Preparatory Academy’s (“Maui Prep”) discriminatory policy targeting transgender students. Under Maui Prep’s new policy, transgender students are no longer allowed to use facilities, play on sports teams, or room with students of the same gender. Plaintiffs argue that the school violated Hawaiʻi anti-discrimination law and engaged in unfair and deceptive practices by implementing the policy.

Jane Poe, the plaintiff in the case, is a nine-year-old transgender student who has lived openly as a girl since age five, with support from her family and school staff. Jane attended Maui Prep from the time she enrolled in preschool through third grade, after which the family was forced to withdraw their daughter rather than subject her to daily humiliation and stigma under the new policy.

Plaintiffs argue that Maui Prep's policy violates HRS § 368D-1, which prohibits schools receiving state funds from discriminating on the basis of gender identity or expression. The Hawaiʻi Legislature passed the law in 2018, in response to the Trump Administration’s rollback of Title IX protections for transgender students.

The lawsuit also claims that Maui Prep engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices by using its commitment to “Live Aloha” and its being “rooted in Hawaiian values” to sell families an image of acceptance and inclusion, even as it excluded transgender students.

In April 2025, the ACLU of Hawaiʻi sent Maui Prep a demand letter explaining how the school’s policy violated state law and urging the school to rescind it. The school’s initial response did not say whether it would modify the policy, so the ACLU of Hawaiʻi sent a follow-up letter, which the school ignored.

In September 2025, plaintiffs filed the lawsuit because Hawaiʻi law is clear: schools that accept state funds cannot discriminate against transgender students. Maui Prep was told repeatedly that its policy was illegal, and it chose to press forward anyway. This lawsuit is necessary to enforce the law and protect all students from unlawful discrimination.

Among the lawsuit’s allegations is that, before Maui Prep announced the policy, it quietly removed “gender identity and expression” from the non-discrimination policy published on its website, paving the way for the school to start discriminating against transgender students. The lawsuit alleges Board president Tim Hehemann called transgender students the result of “bad parenting,” likening them to students “with repeated disciplinary violations” and “violent psychological issues.”

The lawsuit also alleges Maui Prep tried to keep the policy secret and unwritten. Specifically, the head of school, Dr. Miguel Solis, tried to get Jane’s family to disenroll voluntarily to avoid disclosing the policy to the rest of the Maui Prep community. After news of the policy leaked in December 2024, faculty, staff, and families were extremely upset. Maui Prep later terminated the teacher who notified faculty and staff about the policy, and teachers who wore LGBTQ+ support pins that stated, “You are safe with me,” were threatened with discipline.

Along with other relief sought, the lawsuit asks the court to issue an injunction that requires Maui Prep to rescind the policy and requires board members and administrators to participate in an educational program about non-discrimination and inclusivity for transgender students.

The plaintiffs in this litigation are parents Paul Poe and Pauline Poe, along with their minor child Jane Poe. They are represented by attorneys with the ACLU of Hawaiʻi and Dentons US LLP.