Parental rights in education bill raises concern of nurses' ability to treat students

Feb. 14—CHEYENNE — Parental rights in education could be solidified into Wyoming statute, but aspects of the proposed legislation in the Wyoming Senate has raised concern over liability of school nurses in treating students.

Senate File 9, "Parental rights in education," was advanced by the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday by a vote of 4-1, with a no vote from Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie. If passed into law, the bill would require school districts to inform parents of any concern or complaint related to their student, including the student's physical, mental and emotional well-being.

Sen. Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, described the bill as setting the "bare minimum" of guidance to school districts regarding parents' involvement in their student's education. Public testimony on the bill revealed concern over a school nurse's ability to treat an injured child, from a simple scraped knee to a serious medical emergency.

National Association of School Nurses Wyoming Director Janet Farmer said language in the bill suggests the parent would have to be notified before a nurse could provide a child with any health care services, including giving them a simple Band-Aid. In a scenario where a student falls on the playground and hits their head, Farmer said she would likely risk her job by treating the child before the parents were notified, the way the bill is written.

"As a nurse, I would probably treat them first, and then I'm in a very liable situation of putting my nursing license — which guides my practice — on the line," Farmer said. "My duty is to provide immediate care."

Biteman remarked that Farmer was looking too much in the weeds, and that the definition of "first aid" is common enough that it didn't need specific definition in legislation.

"Words have common definitions — first aid is first aid," Biteman said.

Rothfuss said Farmer's testimony echoed his own concerns about the bill throughout the interim session, which is the confusion it can create about whether a nurse needed permission from a parent for every health care service.

"Common sense rules the day here," Rothfuss said, in response to Biteman's remarks. "Either we want total control over everything as parents, or we have faith that the right choice is going to be made by professionals."

Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Scott, R — Casper, proposed an amendment to the bill that said, "Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing school personnel from rendering first aid to a student or summoning emergency responders in case of sudden need."

Scott said this was a precaution in case there was any confusion related to a person's ability "to use common sense" in these types of situations. Farmer told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle that Scott's amendment "certainly helps better define the services" provided by the school, but still left some room for interpretation.

"There are a lot of services that maybe don't fall under either one of those umbrellas," Farmer told the WTE. "(But) it's better than it was."

Wyoming School Boards Association Executive Director Brian Farmer, who said he originally didn't plan on testifying, highlighted the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). This section of federal law already requires parental notice and contains an option for parents to opt their student out of "any non-emergency, invasive physical examination or screening" by a school board, with an exception of protecting the immediate health and safety of the student.

The PPRA also requires parental consent before asking students to participate in a survey involving a variety of areas, including mental or psychological problems, sexual behavior or attitudes, and self-incriminating behavior.

School districts, to the best of his knowledge, Brian Farmer said, are already in compliance with FERPA or they would risk losing federal funding. Biteman asked him if federal law covered providing mental health services, to which Brian Farmer responded he was not an expert in that area.

"When you get to counseling services, that is generally not an area under the pupil protection act," he said.

Biteman said this was a loophole in federal law that lawmakers were targeting with this bill.

"Something needs to be done to address this," Biteman said.

In their walk-through of the bill, Biteman added an amendment that provided an opt-in option for parents on the list of health care services for their students, which was supported by a 3-2 vote.

Janet Farmer told the WTE that an opt-in of health care services provided by the school would make the situation "significantly more difficult." This amendment would require schools to create a more inclusive list of health care services for the parents to opt their child into.

"If there's something that falls outside of that opt-in, and we don't have permission, where does that place school district personnel if they do provide that service?" she said.

Hannah Shields is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's state government reporter. She can be reached at 307-633-3167 or hshields@wyomingnews.com. You can follow her on X @happyfeet004.