Washington State Voters Decide Initiative IL26-001 Today on Parents' Access to School Health Records and Curriculum
The Daily Wire says a yes vote restores rights that lawmakers trimmed in 2025, and cites an Auburn school district policy on notifying parents about students' gender changes. The district says it follows state law. The report quotes no opponents.
Voters in Washington state decide Tuesday whether parents have a right to see their children's school health records and review curriculum in a timely way, the Daily Wire reports.
The measure. It is Initiative IL26-001. The Daily Wire says a "yes" vote would restore parents' rights to information about their children from public schools.
The district policy the Daily Wire cites. The outlet points to the Auburn School District's procedure on gender-inclusive schools. It says that when a student's gender expression or identity changes, a school employee is "encouraged" to meet with the student, and that "before contacting a student's parents, the school will consult with the student about the student's preferences regarding family involvement and consider whether safety concerns are present." The policy also tells staff not to disclose a student's transgender or gender-expansive status to staff, students or parents unless legally required or the student authorizes it. The Daily Wire says that in practice leaves the student with the final say. The district told the Daily Wire it "follows all state laws regarding this topic" and had nothing to add.
How it got here. In 2023, Let's Go Washington, a conservative group sponsored by hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, collected more than 420,000 signatures for the first parents' bill of rights. Republican state Sen. Phil Fortunato told the Daily Wire that an initiative to the legislature "can be changed the following session, which is exactly what the Democrats did." In 2025, Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a bill amending it. The Daily Wire says the changes include a section on "eliminated rights," under which parents would not get prior notice when medical services are offered to a child, except in emergencies, and would not be notified of some services with an insurance cost or follow-up care outside school hours. The same bill lengthened the time schools have to share curriculum from 10 days to 45.
What we could not check. We have not read the ballot text or the 2025 law. The description of what a yes vote does, and of how districts handle parental notification, is the Daily Wire's. The report does not include arguments from opponents of the initiative, the governor's office or the legislators who passed the 2025 changes.