State Senators Short and Warnick on Parental Rights

Olympia is regrouping after Wednesday's tizzy over modifications to the Parents' Bill of Rights.

Following an impassioned floor debate, S.B. 5181 passed the upper chamber along party lines. Depending on who you ask, the bill is either a tidying-up or a total defanging of I-2081, which endowed public school parents with 15 distinct rights.

Democrats are intent on nixing certain provisions they say are an affront to student privacy and autonomy. Republicans like State Sen. Shelly Short, from the 7th district, aren't pleased.

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"[S.B. 5181] really weakened notification of parents when it came to any kind of medical issue, or injuries, or maybe a fight," Short tells KPQ. "It just set a different tone - like parents are the problem. I'm super glad that three amendments were adopted to tighten that back up and say, look, parents ought to be notified immediately." (Those amendments were indeed adopted on Wednesday, but as Short points out, they may be stripped in the House.)

"In part, I feel like this bill really fomented more distrust. There are challenges that parents have, and sometimes parents aren't the best, but [this bill] puts all parents under that umbrella, which is not fair and not right."

"I-2081 came across the floor of the Senate last year, and [supporters'] argument then was, it didn't really do anything," adds 13th district Republican Judy Warnick. "It was consistent with state law. Now, all of a sudden, it's not? It's causing confusion among school districts?"

"That doesn't hold muster for me. When the OSPI gets 198 confused emails, I think that's just clarification, giving [the initiative] time to work."

In response, Warwick introduced an amendment restrengthening parental notification protocols. It "would've clarified that parents need to be notified when any medical services are offered to their children - except in emergencies. I've had, my daughters have had those phone calls where your kid fell off the monkey bars and broke their arm or twisted their ankle real bad. Those are kind of emergencies."

"But other forms of medical services could impact children who are more medically fragile." Warnick cites, by way of example, a colleague whose 13-year-old granddaughter underwent a heart transplant. So what happens next?

"It will now move on to the House," Short explains. "The House will send it to the appropriate committee. They will have hearings and a vote in committee, followed by, potentially, floor action on the House side. So, really, this fight is far from over."