Joseph and Arlene Kutzko of Massachusetts say staff at Algonquin Regional High School (Northborough–Southborough) socially transitioned their daughter — a new name and pronouns at school — without telling them. They are Catholic. They say they refused to treat her as a boy, oppose testosterone, and that the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) then took custody. She was 15 at removal and is now 17. Their attorney, Vernadette Broyles of the Child & Parental Rights Campaign, is in the local television report.
Watch video (WCVB / NewsCenter 5) — *Massachusetts family battles DCF over custody, gender care dispute.* Parents on camera; Broyles appears in the piece.
Written story: WCVB — Massachusetts family battles DCF over custody, gender care dispute
The Kutzkos told NewsCenter 5 that in January 2025 the school called to say their daughter was “scared to go home,” that a counselor at Algonquin was involved, and that DCF then removed the child. Broyles told WCVB there has never been a finding of unfitness, that DCF has treated itself as having total authority while parental rights have not been terminated, and that a juvenile court later ordered DCF not to give testosterone after the agency argued high-dose testosterone was “ordinary care.” That testosterone order is the attorney’s account of the juvenile case, as reported by WCVB — not a published court PDF on this page.
Physical-abuse claims. Joseph Kutzko denies the assault allegations. Parents and their attorney say physical-abuse claims were unfounded. Deseret News (Sept. 16, 2026), summarizing coverage, writes that he “has denied the allegations, and the claims have since been disproven, according to the news account.” That is Deseret’s summary of reporting — not a court verdict we have published. WCVB, citing court documents, reports he was charged with assault (accused of punching the child in the shoulder and pulling hair); the charges are set to be dropped in December if he meets conditions including an anger-management course and no contact with the child. That is a conditional-dismissal track, not a published finding of guilt and not a published acquittal.
What officials say. Governor Maura Healey told reporters the child was removed after criminal charges, not for what she called a “gender-affirming care issue.” Superintendent Gregory Martineau has denied the school claims; in a statement to WCVB the district called the allegations “not merely baseless but grossly insensitive.”
Federal probe. On September 17, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office opened an investigation — not a finding of a violation — into whether the Northborough–Southborough district violated federal student-privacy laws (PPRA and FERPA). Official sources: ED.gov press release and @usedgov on X. Full write-up: ED investigation story.
The family, their lawyer, local news, and state officials do not all describe the same facts. No published court ruling on this page settles why DCF took the child or what the school did.
- Watch video (WCVB / NewsCenter 5): Massachusetts family battles DCF over custody, gender care dispute
- Written story: WCVB article
- DOE probe (official): ED.gov press release · @usedgov · our story
- Also video: Newsmax / Finnerty