Schools adjust as parental rights law goes into effect

The first day of school represents a fresh start for students entering new classrooms and buildings and teachers stepping into new roles, but this year the occasion also heralds the arrival of a new parental right’s law passed in the spring by the Wyoming Legislature.
Senate File 9, titled Parental Rights in Education, emerged from Cheyenne with the backing of the state’s most conservative lawmakers, including Sen. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, and Dalton Banks, R-Cowley.
According to the bill summary on wyoleg.gov, it requires K-12 public schools to “provide parents and guardians notice regarding their children as soon as practicable if there is a change in their child’s education, physical, mental or emotional health or well-being.”
Furthermore, it requires school districts to “adopt policies to reinforce the fundamental right of parents and guardians to make decisions regarding the care and control of their children.”