(The Center Square) – Critics of a new law concerning student rights and privacy protections at school say the fight is far from over, but note the damage has been done.

Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1296 was signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson on Tuesday. It defines student rights, including access to a safe and unbiased education and protection from discrimination. It restricts certain parental rights. Specifically, it removes parental rights regarding accessing mental health counseling records and modifies timelines for notifying parents of criminal actions involving students.

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The bill was offered in response to Initiative 2081, which was passed by lawmakers during the 2024 session, guaranteeing that parents have access to their children’s school records and are notified if their child is seeking mental health or medical services.

Majority-party Democrats argued that ESHB1296 was necessary because school districts were confused by I-2081, and student privacy should be paramount.

State Sen. Perry Dozier, R-Walla Walla, told The Center Square he believes the only reason Democrats agreed to pass I-2081, the parents’ bill of rights, was to keep it off the ballot.

“Had it gone to the voters, I believe it would have passed, and then they couldn’t touch it for two years,” Dozier explained. “Now they’ve put the emergency clause on it [ESHB 1296]. This is not an emergency, but the emergency clause was put on it, so it is in full effect right now.”

Dozier said he’s worried about the fallout from the new law impacting enrollment and voter support for schools.  

“I think what’s going to happen is school districts are going to continue to struggle [with enrollment], and how do you think you’re ever going to pass a bond or an enrichment levy?” he asked. “We’ve already seen that happening because people are frustrated with our schools, and they’re saying, ‘No, I’m not going to give you any more money to do this,’” said Dozier.

He continued: “And then there’s the penalties for noncompliance with OSPI coming in and potentially withholding 20% of state funding to these schools if they deem that they are not following the letter of the law correctly.”

Dozier was referring to language in the bill that “Directs the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to establish a process for receiving and investigating complaints alleging willful noncompliance with certain state laws and permits the OSPI to impose resulting penalties.”

During Senate debate ahead of the bill’s final passage in that chamber, Republicans offered amendments to remove that portion of the bill.

Sen. Paul Harris, (R) Vancouver, who was speaking in favor of an amendment for HB 1296, which was not adopted that would have taken out language in the bill that allows OSPI to punish districts financially if they don’t comply.

“What was frustrating to me is there was never a candid, open debate about the premise,” Dr. Vicki Murray, director of the Center for Education at the Washington Policy Center think tank, told The Center Square. “I think that from the beginning, the premise that parents are somehow a threat to students’ safety, security, and success in school, I do not accept. So, I think we did not have that honest debate, because to accept that premise, we would have to accept that the vast majority of Washington parents are bad, potentially abusive parents. I have seen no evidence of that.”

Like Dozier, Murray said she expects the new law to further reduce enrollment in Washington public schools and negatively impact academic progress.

“Washington is already struggling academically. The notion that Washington used to be among the top performers nationwide – that hasn’t been true for over a decade, and this is just a giant step in the wrong direction,” Murray said. “I mean, we’ve leapfrogged backwards. And if you talk to folks at school districts who are trying to do the right thing, they want to work with parents. They’re very upset about this, too. How are we going to have a good working relationship with our parents when they don’t know what they don’t know?”

Murray said OSPI’s threat to withhold funding to districts deemed out of compliance is another troublesome part of the law.

“Does the state superintendent have the authority to come in and withhold funding?” she asked. “Superintendents have the authority to withhold up to 20% of the state basic funding for schools? Comply federally and risk state funding? Comply with the state and risk federal funding? This is going to lead to some confusion moving forward.”

Adding to that confusion: the ongoing investigation of OSPI by the U.S. Education Department and the U.S. Department of Justice.

In an April 30 letter to Superintendent Chris Reykdal, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon noted that “several Washington school districts have reported that OSPI is requiring school boards to adopt policies that allow biological males to participate in girls’ and women’s sports and use female-only facilities.”

Reykdal and OSPI suggested in a news release that the investigation is part of the Trump administration’s “dangerous war against individuals who are transgender or gender-expansive. In this alarming attempt to infringe on the rights of our transgender and gender-expansive students, the Department is trying to co-opt laws enacted to protect students from discrimination and distort them into mandated discrimination.”

The Center Square contacted the Washington Parents Network, which is also suing OSPI over alleged Title IX and Title VI violations against students, for an update on its complaint.

“It will likely be a month or two until the new DOJ attorneys will be appointed for Seattle and Spokane. They will then replace the Biden loyalists in their offices and conduct an investigation of our complaints. In the meantime, we are not waiting to restore the rights of parents and their kids in our state,” WPN Executive Director David Spring said in an email.

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WPN is preparing an initiative campaign in hopes of getting a Family Rights Initiative on the 2026 general election ballot. 

The Center Square also reached out to OSPI for comment on the threat to withhold funding for schools deemed out of compliance with 1296, but did not receive a response.