EUREKA, Kan. (KWCH/Gray News) — Parents at an elementary school in Kansas are upset after students were reportedly told that they were not allowed to list President Donald Trump or late conservative activist Charlie Kirk as their role models for an assignment.

The situation happened at Marshall Elementary School in Eureka, Kansas, in October. A formal complaint said the incident only recently came to light because students were originally instructed not to tell their parents about what happened.

The American Center for Law & Justice, described as “a politically conservative, Christian-based legal organization,” has filed a civil rights complaint with the school.

The organization said it is representing a parent and a student in the case.

The complaint filed Tuesday accuses the district and Marshall Elementary School of religious discrimination, political or viewpoint discrimination, violation of free speech rights and retaliation.

The complaint said a school guidance counselor gave sixth-grade students an assignment called “Find Your Voice,” in which the students were asked to identify their role models.

“When a student identified Charlie 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,” the complaint read.

When another student chose Trump as their role model, the guidance counselor reportedly had the same response.

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 read.

A parent told KWCH that another student chose Jesus as their role model and that the guidance counselor did not allow this either.

However, the guidance counselor reportedly allowed other “controversial figures” to be listed as heroes, though it’s unclear who they were.

The American Center for Law & Justice argued that “the selective prohibition created immediate confusion among students about whose voices were valued and whose were not.”

The group also called out the school’s response to what happened, saying that administrators claimed that prohibiting political and religious figures from being discussed in the activity was in the name of being “inclusive and neutral.”

The American Center for Law & Justice also took issue with an alleged instruction for students to bring concerns to teachers or the principal, not to their parents.

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

The Eureka school board reportedly addressed the issue during a Dec. 8 meeting.

However, the American Center for Law & Justice said that “no public response was provided, 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,” the group said.

Rep. Ron Estes, representing Kansas’ 4th Congressional District that includes Eureka, called the situation “alarming.”

“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,” Estes said in a statement, in part.

Marshall Elementary School Principal Stacy Coulter said she was aware of the incident but was unable to provide many details for privacy reasons.

“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,” Coulter said. “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.”

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