Gov Offers Strong Parental Rights Amendment
Despite the left’s dismissive attitude and downright contempt towards anything affirming parental rights, Governor Youngkin seized on an opportunity to turn a bill with a narrow parental notification into a major win for parental rights in schools. Of course, that’s if the Democrat majority accepts the amendment when the General Assembly returns to Richmond on April 17 for the reconvene session.
The Governor’s recommended enactment clause to HB 498 (D-Cohen) is a significant advancement of parental rights and responsibilities, extending far beyond the issue of notifying parents about firearm storage safety. The current bill requires each local school board to implement a policy to remind parents to safely store any firearm present in the household, by email or via text message, and available in multiple languages, within 30 days of the first day of each school year. The Governor’s added language, however, goes beyond the narrow scope of firearm storage notification, to require schools to notify parents about their rights to be fully informed about their children's education and well-being.
The amendment requires school boards to collaborate with stakeholders to compile a comprehensive list of parental rights and responsibilities that encompass a wide array of fundamental rights, including the right to be notified of sexually explicit materials, the right to express disagreement with school policies, and the right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of their children. It also outlines crucial parental responsibilities, such as safeguarding children against drug access, protecting them from exploitation or abuse, ensuring school attendance, participating in disciplinary proceedings, and monitoring their behavioral and educational progress.
Furthermore, the amendment requires the list parental rights to be provided to parents at the beginning of each school year. This provision would ensure that parents are well-informed about their rights and responsibilities from the outset, fostering transparency and accountability within the education system.
Governor Youngkin's amendment is especially significant considering recent legislative developments by the Democrat majority that undermine parental rights, such as when it comes to notifying parents of drug overdoses on school grounds, or when their child is experimenting with gender ideology, or accessing sexually explicit materials in school libraries.
At “Mama Bear Day” we urged the General Assembly to adopt the Senate version for two bills, HB 1504 (D-Seibold) and SB 498 (D-Carroll Foy), which would have required that parents be notified of drug overdoses on school premises within 24 hours of learning of the overdose and as much information as is known about the circumstances surrounding the overdose. Yet, the Democrat majority in the House refused to include those provisions and instead settled for simply permitting the Department of Education to develop model policies for notifying parents about drug overdoses at schools, something they already have the authority to develop.
It is troubling that while the Democrat majority has emphasized parental notification of firearm storage safety, they have been reluctant to extend the same level of concern to other critical issues affecting parental rights. For instance, they defeated Sage's Law (HB 670 and SB 37), which would require schools to notify parents if their child is experimenting with gender ideology and social transitioning at school and passed bills to stifle local school boards from removing sexually explicit materials from school libraries.
If they can pass detailed legislation with specific notification requirements for parents about firearm storage safety, why can’t they approve legislation with similar details for notifying parents about drug overdoses on school premises? The answer is obvious – parental notification is only desired when it satisfies their political agenda.
Parents deserve to be informed and involved in all aspects of their children's education, not just those deemed politically expedient. Governor Youngkin's amendment serves as a reminder that parents have a fundamental role in shaping their children's educational experiences and should be empowered to do so. With the addition of the enactment clause to HB 498, Governor Youngkin has taken a significant step towards protecting and promoting parental involvement in education.
Now we wait to see if the Democrat-majority in the General Assembly will support this amendment, and the key concept of parental rights.
