Souza brings back revised parental rights bill, gets it through Senate Education
Idaho Sen. Mary Souza has brought back her “parental rights” bill, with one change: An added paragraph defining “reasonable accommodation.” The bill still permits parents to withdraw their child from any program or activity to which they object; requires schools to develop parental involvement plans and a process by which parents can review all educational materials; and requires annual notice to parents of their rights.
The new “reasonable accommodation” definition says that schools must enable parents to exercise parent rights “without substantial impact to staff and resources, including employee working conditions, safety and supervision on school premises for school activities and the efficient allocation of expenditures, while balancing the parental rights of parents and guardians, the educational needs of other students, the academic and behavioral impacts to a classroom, a teacher's workload and the assurance of the safe and efficient operations of the school.”
“It does not obligate the school to do anything if the parent takes the child out of a particular activity,” Souza told the Senate Education Committee this afternoon. “But it does allow the parent that leeway to make that decision.”
Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, said she still worried that the opt-out provision could endanger Idaho’s compliance with the 95 percent participation rule for student testing – which could jeopardize millions in federal funds. Souza said she doesn’t think that’s such a big issue any more.
“I realize that that’s a concern, but I don’t think it’s as overwhelming a concern as it was last year,” Souza said. She said the latest federal education reauthorization bill “seems to have a little more latitude,” and said, “I think school boards and administrators have found that talking with parents … has created a situation where that’s not as big a concern or fear as it was.”
Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb, D-Boise, called the bill, SB 1293, “better than it was.” It cleared the Senate Education Committee without objection and now heads to the full Senate.
