The School Board of Lee County got an update this week on legislative impacts on the district, including controversial House Bill 241, Parental Rights.

Legislative consultant Ashley Stacell, of Capital Strategies Consulting, Inc., told the board Monday that the bill has been given to the governor who has until June 26 to sign.

“I’m fairly certain he will sign the bill,” she said.

As of press time Thursday, the bill was still pending action by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

According to report given by Capital Strategies, “the bill provides that the state, its political subdivisions, any other governmental entity, or other institution may not infringe upon the fundamental rights of a parent to direct the upbringing, education, health care and mental health of a minor child.” Stacell said in no way are those entities — school, school board, local governments and state –are to infringe on those rights.

According to a report, “if those entities infringe upon a parent’s fundamental right, they must demonstrate that the action is reasonable and necessary to achieve a compelling state interest, and the action must be narrowly tailored and not otherwise served by less restrictive means.”

The bill also gives parents the right to see educational materials that are given, or taught to the child.

Stacell said there are unintended consequences with this bill and some of the language will likely be challenged in the courts. One of those issues will deal with a student who is close to their guidance counselor, teacher, or principal and shares sensitive information.

“Is that adult required to tell that parent that information? We don’t know the answer to that yet. I think it will be determined in the courts,” she said.

Attorneys across the school districts statewide are looking into this matter.

A bill that has been around for almost three years received unanimous support from the Senate and House. HB 419, Early Learning and Early Grade Success, moves accountability from the Office of Early Learning to the State Board of Education. Stacell said the Department of Education has new methods and testing, adding that there is a lot to look into as rules are developed.

The report given by Capital Strategies states that “the bill repeals the current kindergarten readiness rate and associated assessment and expands accountability and assessment requirements for VPK providers.” The bill also requires that screening and progress monitoring is issued at the beginning, middle and end of each school year through third grade to monitor the students’ progress in mastering appropriate grade level standards.

“It’s another big win not just for Lee County, but for the state and kids. If we don’t get them started out right then they are already behind,” Capitol Strategies legislative consultant Carole Green said.

Another bill highlighted dealt with civic education curriculum.

House Bill 5, Civic Education Curriculum, is a revision of the social studies credits required for high school graduation.

Stacell said the United States government course includes a comparative discussion of political ideologies that conflict with the principals of freedom and democracy in the nation’s founding principals. She said basically what this bill does is address countries that may have communism, or conflict, which was not being taught in high school classes.

“It’s bringing a more well-rounded curriculum into civics in high school,” Stacell said.

The second civic education bill, Senate Bill 146, deals with literacy and teaching children their obligation of being a good voter and what their rights are in this country, she said.

Required Health Education Instruction, House Bill 519, was another bill brought to the board’s attention. The comprehensive health education curriculum is for K-12 students — age and developmentally appropriate — and includes instruction on the prevention of child sexual abuse, exploitation and human trafficking.

Green said they got out to the delegation to make sure they knew it was an important bill, so they would do whatever they could to lift it across the finish line.

Stacell said the bill passed on the floor unanimously and is a really good platform to move forward.

House Bill 529, Moments of Silence in Public Schools, requires each teacher to set aside one to two minutes during first period for a moment of silence without suggestions as to the nature of any reflection, or students interfering with another student’s participation.

Stacell said House Bill 545, Materials Harmful to Minors, requires that the district notify parents of their right to exempt their child from the teaching of reproductive health, or any disease, through submission of a written request. For example, under this bill, it allows her to look at the material and opt out if she does not want her son to participate, she said.

“It requires the district school board to annually approve instructional material for reproductive health in an open meeting, making that a more public affair was the big change in this bill,” Stacell said.

The “Choo Choo Train Bill” or Senate Bill 1028 Charter Schools, Stacell said started off as a very innocent charter bill and turned into one that expanded.

The bill includes Florida college system and state university charter schools, charter school operations, high performing charter schools, Schools of Hope, student retention, Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, among other bullet points.

The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act House version was very gender specific to the birth certificate, while the Senate had a more progressive approach, allowing students to have hormones tested with a formula of what would be accepted, Stacell said.

The bill states that athletic teams, or sports designated for females, women, or girls may not be open to students of the male sex.

According to a report given by Capital Strategies Consulting, Inc. “a statement of a student’s biological sex on the student’s official birth certificate is considered to have correctly stated the student’s biological sex if the statement was filed at or near the time of the student’s birth.”

“This bill was signed into law on June 1. I’m sure we are going to see some court action,” she said.