Gov. Kim Reynolds’ wide-ranging education bill that restricts school curriculum related to sexual orientation and gender identity made it out of a key committee in the Iowa House Thursday, but Republicans on the House Education Committee made some changes to what passed in the Senate.
The amended version of the bill (SF 496) leaves in the proposed ban on LGBTQ topics in K-6 instruction. It also says books throughout K-12 schools must be “age appropriate,” which means they must not portray sexual activity. However, the committee specified that only “graphic” descriptions of sex acts are banned.
It drops a Senate provision that would have required all school employees to immediately contact the family of any student who expresses a different gender.
But administrators would have to contact a parent if a teacher reports that a transgender student is asking for gender-affirming supports at school, such as using a different name or pronouns. Opponents have said that provision leaves students vulnerable to abuse or harassment if their families are unsupportive.
Education Committee Chair Skyler Wheeler, R-Hull, said he wanted to create a simple process to keep parents aware of what is going on with their kids at school.
“If an individual asks for an accommodation that is different from their biological sex, the teacher is to give that information to the administration and then they are done and out of the equation,” Wheeler said. “The administration is to alert the parents.”
The House committee removed from the bill the need to pass a civics test to graduate high school, and a requirement for school districts to publish a list all of the people who have contact with students.
Rep. Heather Matson, D-Ankeny, said she continues to oppose the bill after the changes. She said a section that requires parental consent for school health surveys, unless they are required by law, would leave educators less informed.
“Anytime you’re doing a survey you want to be getting as much data as possible,” Matson said. “And if you are requiring an opt-in that might not come, then inadvertently you may not be getting actually really good data.”
House Republicans have also tacked on other priorities to make sure they still have a chance to pass this year beyond this week's funnel deadline, when bills passed in one chamber must advance through a committee in the opposite chamber to remain viable for the session.
Those include rules allowing charter school students to participate in sports activities at their local public schools, and allowing students who experience bullying to switch schools within a district.
It also includes approval of online, out-of-state, provisional licensing programs for people who want to go into teaching as a second career, and a plan to make the number of parents equal to the number of teachers on the state board that oversees educators.
The bill advanced to the House floor out of the Education Committee on a 15-6 vote on party lines.
