Conservative group sues to overturn rewrite of WA parental rights law

A group of school board members and parents have sued Washington state, arguing House Bill 1296 violates parental rights and constitutional protections in education. — Gov. Bob Ferguson hands over one of the pens he used to sign House Bill 1296, the ‘students bill of rights’ to a child who attended the bill signing. Photo courtesy Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero/Washington State Standard

House Bill 1296 already faces a repeal campaign via citizen initiative. Now it’s been hit with a lawsuit as well

Jake Goldstein-Street
Washington State Standard

School board directors and parents sued Washington state Thursday to block a Democrat-backed law overhauling rights for public school students and their parents.

The policy has become a flashpoint in the national debate over gender inclusivity and diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools. A conservative political group has a separate push underway to get it overturned through the legislative process or at the ballot box.

This week’s lawsuit, filed in Thurston County Superior Court, argues House Bill 1296 violates state and U.S. constitutional rights guaranteeing the free exercise of religion and ensuring parents can raise their children without state interference.

The debate over House Bill 1296 was one of the most contentious of this year’s legislative session in Olympia. Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the law in May.

Republicans argued that it undermines Initiative 2081, which lawmakers passed last year.

The earlier initiative enshrined certain rights for parents of public school children, specifically around issues like reviewing classroom materials, obtaining medical records, and opting children out of assignments involving questions about their sexual experiences or their family’s religious beliefs.

Let’s Go Washington, the group that spearheaded Initiative 2081, is collecting signatures to get a measure before lawmakers next year that would repeal this year’s rewrite. If the group is successful, and lawmakers don’t approve it, this new measure could end up before voters in 2026.

Republicans and other critics of this year’s law argued that it undermined last year’s initiative.

Democrats countered that changes were necessary to protect vulnerable children.

One of the most significant changes removed parental access to their children’s school-based medical records. The complaint claims these revisions violate the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA.

Other changes include pushing back the deadline for parents to receive copies of their child’s school records from 10 days to 45 days.

One of the plaintiffs, Gabriel Galbraith, is a Kennewick school board member. In March, the board pleaded with the Trump administration to force the state to comply with the president’s executive order seeking to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.

“We’re being told not to share information that parents have a right to know,” Galbraith, who is up for re-election next month, said in a statement Thursday. “That’s not education — that’s state interference in the family.”

The more than half-a-dozen other plaintiffs include school board members from Lynden, Darrington, Woodland and Deer Park, and parents from Olympia and Tumwater.

One parent reported taking her son out of Olympia public schools because she couldn’t opt him out of instruction about gender identity.

The state Legislature, Ferguson, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and state Superintendent Chris Reykdal are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Reykdal said the agency is reviewing the complaint.

“OSPI is charged with implementing, upholding, and enforcing the law and will continue to do so unless or until the law changes,” spokesperson Katy Payne said in an email.

The parents and school board members are represented by the conservative Citizen Action Defense Fund and Joel Ard, a Washington lawyer who has challenged Democratic-backed policies and represented the state Republican Party.

The lawsuit also argues the law violates the state constitution’s “single subject” rule as the legislation deals with both parental and student rights.

A spokesperson for state Attorney General Nick Brown said Thursday his office hadn’t reviewed the filing yet.

This report was first published by the Washington State Standard.