WA House Bill 1296: Court Challenge and 2026 Repeal Vote

Washington House Bill 1296, signed by Governor Bob Ferguson on May 20, 2025, rewrote the Parents’ Bill of Rights that voters’ Initiative 2081 had put in place a year earlier. It removed several parental notification requirements, extended the deadline for schools to produce records, limited parental access to certain student records during abuse or neglect investigations, added protections for transgender and gender-expansive students, and created a formal statement of student rights. A Thurston County judge upheld the law in May 2026, and a citizen initiative to repeal it, IL26-001, is on the November 2026 ballot.

What Changed for Parents

Under I-2081, schools had to notify parents before medical services were offered to a child, disclose the potential insurance impact of those services, and tell parents about follow-up care arranged during school hours. HB 1296 struck all three requirements. Supporters said the change aligned school practice with a 1985 state statute that lets children 13 and older seek mental health treatment without parental consent.¹

The records-request deadline moved as the bill moved. I-2081 required schools to produce student records within 10 business days. The committee version of HB 1296 pushed that to 45 days. A Republican floor amendment restored the 10-business-day window, and that shorter deadline is what the final law carries.²

The law also narrowed what counts as an “education record,” excluding notes kept by staff solely as personal memory aids. And it restricted parental access to a child’s medical, counseling, social work, and disciplinary records while law enforcement or the Department of Children, Youth, and Families is investigating possible abuse or neglect.³

Rights Parents Kept and Gained

HB 1296 did not eliminate parental rights wholesale. It added the right to receive annual notice of language access policies and services, to request information about special education programs, to file harassment and bullying complaints on a child’s behalf, and to visit a child’s classroom to observe procedures and materials. Districts must notify parents of unexcused absences and must immediately inform parents when a student is a victim of abuse, sexual misconduct, or assault.³

Parents retain the opt-out rights that I-2081 established for assignments involving questions about sexual experiences or religious beliefs. The state’s position in subsequent litigation was that nothing in HB 1296 explicitly prohibits notice or opt-outs beyond the specific requirements the law removed.⁴

Student Rights and Protections

The law created a Statement of Student Rights listing 24 rights drawn from constitutional and statutory sources. These include free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, access to an educational environment with “historically and scientifically accurate information,” and the special education rights of students with disabilities. Districts must develop promotional materials incorporating the student rights and make them widely accessible.⁵

HB 1296 added ethnicity, homelessness, immigration and citizenship status, and neurodivergence as protected classes, and clarified protections based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.¹

As introduced, the bill would have required districts and charter schools to adopt gender-inclusive policies by January 31, 2026, and directed the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to adopt matching rules by December 31, 2025. The Senate removed both deadlines. The final law still requires that school policies “prioritize the protection of every student’s safety, access to a free public education, and privacy to the fullest extent possible.”⁶⁷

School districts may not terminate, demote, or suspend employees for supporting students in exercising their legal rights, for teaching about historically marginalized groups, or for teaching in accordance with state learning standards and culturally representative materials.⁵

How the Law Is Enforced

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction may investigate complaints about noncompliance with state civil rights and nondiscrimination laws. As a last resort, OSPI can withhold up to 20 percent of a noncompliant district’s state funds, terminate specified programs where violations are flagrant, or place a district on probation until it comes into compliance.¹

HB 1296 carries an emergency clause. The law took effect the day Ferguson signed it, and the emergency designation also blocked opponents from using Washington’s standard referendum process to put it to voters.¹

The Court Challenge

On October 23, 2025, the Citizen Action Defense Fund sued in Thurston County Superior Court on behalf of school board members from Kennewick, Lynden, Darrington, Woodland, and Deer Park, together with parents from the Olympia and Tumwater school districts. The lead plaintiff is Kennewick school board member Gabriel Galbraith.⁸

The plaintiffs argued the law violates parental rights to direct the upbringing and education of children under the state and federal constitutions, infringes on free exercise of religion, conflicts with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act by removing parental access to school-based medical records, and violates the Washington Constitution’s single-subject rule by combining parental rights and student rights in one bill. They pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2025 decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which held that a Maryland school board violated parents’ First Amendment rights by refusing to allow opt-outs from instruction involving LGBTQ+ themes.⁹¹⁰

On May 15, 2026, Judge John Skinder ruled for the state and rejected the challenge. The plaintiffs are expected to appeal.⁴

The November 2026 Repeal Vote

Because the emergency clause blocked a direct referendum, Let’s Go Washington, the group that organized the I-2081 signature drive, launched an initiative to the Legislature, IL26-001, to repeal HB 1296 and restore the Parents’ Bill of Rights as voters originally enacted it.¹¹

Organizers needed 308,911 valid signatures by January 2, 2026, and submitted 418,666. The Secretary of State certified the initiative on January 26, 2026. Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen and House Speaker Laurie Jinkins declined to hold hearings or advance the measure in the Legislature, which under Washington’s initiative process sends it to the general election ballot.¹²¹³

IL26-001 is confirmed for the November 2026 ballot. If voters approve it, the repeal would be protected from legislative amendment for two years unless two-thirds of each chamber agreed to change it. A coalition called Washington Families for Freedom has organized to oppose the initiative.¹¹

Until the vote and any appellate ruling, HB 1296 is the law in Washington public schools.

1
Washington State Standard. WA Governor Signs Parental Bill of Rights Rewrite
2
Washington State Standard. Rewrite of Parental Rights Law Passes Washington House
3
Washington State Legislature. HB 1296 House Bill Report
4
Washington State Standard. Judge Rejects Challenge to Rewrite of WA Parental Rights Law
5
Washington State Standard. Parental Rights Overhaul Gains Final Approval in WA Legislature
6
Washington State Legislature. ESHB 1296 Senate Amendments Report
7
Washington State Legislature. HB 1296 House Bill Analysis
8
Washington State Standard. Conservative Group Sues to Overturn Rewrite of WA Parental Rights Law
9
The Olympian. HB 1296 Lawsuit Coverage
10
SCOTUSblog. Court Allows Parents to Opt Their Children Out of School Lessons Involving LGBTQ Themes
11
Washington State Standard. New WA Initiatives Seek to Undo Rewrite of Parental Rights Law
12
Washington State House Republicans. IL26-001 Restoring Parents’ Rights
13
Washington Policy Center. Washington Parental Rights Battle Goes National: What’s at Stake in 2026