Parents’ Bill of Rights. House Bill (HB) 241 (2021) created Section (s.) 1014.04, Florida Statutes (F.S.), Parental rights.

Florida law guarantees that all parental rights are reserved to parents of minor children, without obstruction or interference from the state or any governmental or educational institution.

Key parental rights include:

• Educational Rights:

  • Directing their child’s education and care.

  • Directing their child’s upbringing, including moral and religious training.

  • Choosing their child’s educational setting, including public, private, religious or home education programs.

  • Accessing and reviewing all school records related to their child.

• Health and Privacy Rights:

  • Making healthcare decisions for their child, unless otherwise prohibited by law.

  • Accessing all medical records of their child, except in limited circumstances involving law enforcement investigations.

• Providing written consent before:

  • Biometric scans are made, shared or stored.

  • Audio or video recordings of their child are made, with exceptions for safety, instruction, school activities, security or identification cards.

  • DNA or blood records are created, stored or shared, except as required by law or court order.

• Notification Rights:

  • Receiving prompt notification if a state or governmental employee suspects a criminal offense against their child, unless reporting to law enforcement or child welfare would be impeded. Additional protections:

• Additional protections:

  • State and school employees may not encourage or coerce a child to withhold information from their parents. Violations of this provision may result in disciplinary action.

    Parental rights under this law are broad and extend beyond the rights specifically listed in the statute. These rights may not be limited or denied unless expressly required by law.

• Key provisions of the Parental Rights in Education Act include

  • Requiring district school boards to adopt procedures for notifying a student’s parent if there is a change in the student’s services or monitoring related to the student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being and the school’s ability to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for the student.

  • The procedures must reinforce the fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children by requiring school district personnel to encourage a student to discuss issues relating to his or her well-being with his or her parent or to facilitate discussion of the issue with the parent. o The procedures may not prohibit parents from accessing any of their children’s education and health records created, maintained or used by the school district, as required by s. 1002.22(2), F.S. • Providing that school districts may not adopt procedures or student support forms that prohibit school district personnel from notifying a parent about his or her student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being, or a change in related services or monitoring, or that encourage or have the effect of encouraging a student to withhold from a parent such information.

  • School district personnel may not discourage or prohibit parental notification of and involvement in critical decisions affecting a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being.

  • School districts may adopt procedures that permit school personnel to withhold such information from a parent if a reasonably prudent person would believe that disclosure would result in abuse, abandonment or neglect, as those terms are defined in s. 39.01, F.S.

  • Establishing that classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.

  • Requiring each school district, at the beginning of the school year, to notify parents of each health care service offered at their student’s school and the option to withhold consent or decline any specific service.

  • Parental consent to a health care service does not waive a parent’s right to access his or her student’s educational or health records or to be notified about a change in his or her student’s services or monitoring.

  • Before administering a student well-being questionnaire or health screening form to a student in kindergarten through grade 3, a school district must provide the parent the questionnaire or health screening form and obtain permission of the parent.

  • Requiring each school district to adopt procedures for a parent to notify the principal, or his or her designee, regarding specific concerns at his or her student’s school about practices and procedures under s. 1001.42(8)(c), F.S., and the process for resolving those concerns within seven calendar days after notification by the parent.

  • Requiring school districts to adopt procedures to resolve concerns that remain unresolved by the principal; requires resolution within 30 days.

  • Requiring each school district to adopt policies to notify parents of the procedures required if a concern is not resolved by the school district. Additional Bills Supporting Parental Rights in Education. HB 1069 (2023) again amended s. 1001.42, F.S., Powers and duties of district school boards ensuring that parents continue to have the fundamental right to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children. Key provisions of this bill include:

  • Expanding that classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in prekindergarten through grade 8, except when required by ss. 1003.42(2)(n)3. and 1003.46, F.S. The law clarified that if such instruction is provided in grades 9 through 12, the instruction must be age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards. The law also explicitly stated that this provision applies to charter schools.

  • Providing that a person's sex is an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person's sex.

  • Providing that an employee, contractor, or student of a public K-12 educational institution may not be required, as a condition of employment or enrollment or participation in any program, to refer to another person using that person's preferred personal title or pronouns if such personal title or pronouns do not correspond to that person's sex.

  • Providing that an employee or contractor of a public K-12 educational institution may not provide to a student his or her preferred personal title or pronouns if such preferred personal title or pronouns do not correspond to his or her sex.

  • Providing that a student may not be asked by an employee or contractor of a public K-12 educational institution to provide his or her preferred personal title or pronouns or be penalized or subjected to adverse or discriminatory treatment for not providing his or her preferred personal title or pronouns. House Bill 1467 (2022) amended s. 1006.28, F.S., to increase transparency around school materials. The bill introduced new requirements, such as the online posting of school library media center and reading list materials, as well as a state-maintained list of materials removed due to objections. In addition, the bill reaffirmed parental rights by requiring each district school board to adopt a policy that outlines the process for parents to object to specific instructional materials and ensures those objections are addressed and resolved. Key provisions of this bill include:

  • Requiring that each elementary school publish on its website, in a searchable format, a list of all materials maintained in the school library media center or required as part of a school or grade-level reading list.