Parents have the right to withhold their children from discussions of reproductive health and safety programs, the right to seek a medical or religious exemption to immunization requirements, the right to review state educational testing data and reports and to inspect textbooks and curricula.Public schools must communicate policies and procedures with parents, which typically they do.A parent must be notified if a state employee suspects that a criminal offense has been committed against the child unless that notification would impede a criminal investigation.No testing, sampling or storage of biomedical or DNA material from a child and no video recording of a child may be conducted without a parent’s permission.A parent would direct the education and care of a child, including the moral and religious training, have school choice options, be able to access and review all educational records and to make all health care decisions – all of which already are available to parents.The bill has been likened to Florida’s controversial so-called “Don’t Say Gay Bill.” What’s in the bill It’s the issues about personal pronouns and teachers’ responsibilities to communicate with parents about discussions that might emerge and the limitations on curricula in kindergarten through Grade 3 that draw the most attention. Most of the items in the bill are covered by existing state statutes and processes.
