Voter initiatives are generally spurred by lightning rod issues. What’s perplexing about IL26-001, the so-called “parents’ rights” initiative on ballots this November, is that it lays out rights that are, in the main, already standard.
These include a parent’s right to review their child’s textbooks and curricula; and to be able to opt their child out of activities that include questions about sexual experiences, politics or religious beliefs. Check and check. Parents in the K-12 system can do that now.
It even enumerates that parents should get their kid’s school calendar a month before the new school year. Well, sure. But none of that requires a voter initiative.
Tucked into the legalistic language 12 paragraphs down is the real driver behind this effort: access to student mental health records. If the initiative passes, those documents could be released to parents. Currently, they are shielded.
So, if a student discusses gender confusion with a school counselor because they are afraid of the reaction at home, parents could get that information. Supporters of the initiative suggest that educators are hiding instances when youths may, for example, use different pronouns while at school. They imply that schools could spirit children off to medical facilities to change genders — without letting parents know.
But in a meeting with The Times editorial board, supporters of Initiative 001 could not cite a single instance of this happening, at least not in Washington. Indeed, the initiative is lifted nearly word-for-word from an identical law in Louisiana.
It’s an effort by the citizen group Let’s Go Washington to repeal and replace parts of the state’s current parent rights and student privacy bill, HB1296, which was sponsored by state Rep. Monica Stonier, D-Vancouver, and passed last year.
Under that law, parents must immediately be notified by schools the moment an alleged crime against their child has been reported. Initiative 001 actually weakens this provision. Its language says parents would be notified after a crime has been “deemed to have been committed.”
Deemed by whom? And when — after an investigation? After charges are filed? In a week? A month? The initiative offers no clarity. It is poorly written, not tailored for Washington and could expose already vulnerable kids to harm in instances where they are victims of abuse at home.
For these reasons, Initiative 001 has attracted some high-powered opposition, including from the state’s largest parent advocacy organization, the Washington State PTA, which said it “poses a real risk” to students’ access to mental health care.
“A student who seeks support from a school counselor, trusting that the conversation is confidential, could have those records disclosed to a parent,” the parents group points out. “Students who fear disclosure may not seek help at all, making school-based mental health services inaccessible in practice even where they exist.”
The question at the heart of the matter is student safety. Domestic violence experts say the initiative could make it harder for a child to reach a safe adult.
For that reason, we urge voters to turn it down.
