by Jake Goldstein-Street, Washington State Standard
May 15, 2026
A Washington judge on Friday sided with the state as he turned back a lawsuit seeking to block a controversial 2025 law concerning rights for parents of public school students.
Thurston County Superior Court Judge John Skinder acknowledged the case over House Bill 1296 is likely to be appealed.
The deeply partisan debate over the legislation was one of the most contentious of the 2025 legislative session. The law is enmeshed in broader debates over how schools handle sensitive issues around gender identity and inclusion that have become political flashpoints in recent years.
Critics of the law argue it gives the state more power than parents in their children’s education, and puts local school leaders in a bind of complying with the state law at risk of running afoul of the U.S. Constitution.
The law allows the state to hold superintendents accountable and withhold school funding for violations.
It rewrote a conservative-backed initiative that lawmakers passed the year prior.
The initiative enshrined certain rights for parents of public school children, specifically around issues like reviewing classroom materials, obtaining medical records, and opting children out of assignments involving questions about their sexual experiences or their family’s religious beliefs.
Democrats argued changes were necessary to protect vulnerable children. Republicans argued the rewrite undermined the initiative. One change, for example, pushed back the deadline for parents to receive copies of their child’s school records from 10 days to 45 days.
Parallel to the court fight is an initiative that will appear on this year’s November ballot that seeks to overturn House Bill 1296.
The plaintiffs challenging the law, including local school board directors and parents, argued it has multiple legal problems.
Their attorney, Joel Ard, said it has resulted in policies that forbid parents from opting their children out of certain curriculum, and stop school employees from informing parents about their child’s gender transition, including if they adopt new pronouns.
The plaintiffs argue the law runs contrary to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from last year that not allowing parents to pull their children out of LGBTQ+-themed instruction is unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
But the state countered that the law doesn’t do those things.
“This is a policy disagreement that’s dressed up as a civil complaint,” said William McGinty, of the state attorney general’s office.
“It does not state anywhere that public schools have to refuse to tell their parents anything, keep secrets from any parents, and it does not state anywhere that public districts or public school districts cannot have a policy to permit notice and opt-out opportunities for any particular subject of instruction,” McGinty added.
Ard conceded that these issues aren’t “leaping out of the face of the statute,” but claims the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction sees it that way, as the agency cites the law in mandating policies his clients take issue with.
The state notes that model policies regarding transgender students were required years before House Bill 1296. The current policy from the Washington State School Directors’ Association holds that school employees should ask students how to identify them when communicating with the students’ parents, as revealing their transition could be “very dangerous.”
“The district will not condone the intentional or persistent refusal to respect a student’s gender identity or gender expression, or inappropriate release of information regarding a student’s transgender or gender-expansive status,” the model policy reads.
The plaintiffs include school board members from Kennwick, Deer Park, Lynden, Darrington and Woodland, and parents from Olympia and Tumwater. One board member, Gabe Galbraith from Kennewick, is running for state Senate as a Republican against incumbent Republican Sen. Nikki Torres, of Pasco.
<div class="halfwidth "> <a href="https://washingtonstatestandard.com/subscribe"> <div class="subscribeShortcodeContainer"> <div class="subscribeTextContainer"> <i></i> <p>GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.</p> </div> <div class="subscribeButtonContainer"> SUBSCRIBE </div> </div> </a> </div> <p>Jackson Maynard, a lawyer working alongside Ard, said they are “currently reviewing the Court’s decision and exploring all available legal options moving forward.”</p><p>“While we are disappointed in the Court’s ruling on the merits, the concerns at the heart of this lawsuit have not gone away: parents across Washington remain deeply concerned about government policies that limit transparency and interfere with the parent-child relationship,” Maynard said in a statement.</p><p>The state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction said that it was “pleased by today’s decision to uphold the law,” which “balances parents’ rights with protections for students.”</p><p>Let’s Go Washington is pushing the initiative that will be <a href="https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/01/09/wa-democrats-wont-hold-hearings-on-parental-rights-trans-athlete-initiatives/">on the ballot</a> this year to overturn the law. In 2024, the group spearheaded the campaign for the original measure, Initiative 2081, which House Bill 1296 altered.</p><p><em>This story was updated with comment from Jackson Maynard.</em></p><style> figure, .tipContainer, .socContainer, .subscribeShortcodeContainer, .donateContainer {display:none !important;} .youtubeContainer { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 30px; height: 0; overflow: hidden; margin-bottom:12px; } .youtubeContainer iframe, .video-container object, .video-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100% !important; height: 100%; margin: 12px 0px !important; } .newsroomSidebar {width:35%;max-width:35%;padding:10px;border-top:solid 2px black;background-color:#d3d3d3;float:right;margin-left:50px;} .snrsInfoboxSubContainer {padding:10px;border-top:solid 2px black;background-color:#d3d3d3;} .halfwidth {float:right;width:50%;max-width:50%;} .indent2Container {margin-left: 1em;margin-bottom:1em; border-left: solid 1px black;padding-left: 2em;} @media only screen and (max-width: 600px) {.newsroomSidebar {max-width:95%;width:95%;margin-left:4%} .halfwidth {float:none;width:100%;max-width:100%;} }</style> <p><a href="https://washingtonstatestandard.com">Washington State Standard</a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>.</p>