The House has voted 66-1 in favor of “parental rights” legislation, SB 1293a, sending the Senate-passed bill to the governor’s desk. There was no debate. The bill declares that “who object to any learning material or activity on the basis that it harms the child or impairs the parents' firmly held beliefs, values or principles, may withdraw their child from the activity, class or program in which the material is used.” The measure also grants parents the right to request “reasonable accommodation,” in that, “the school shall make its best effort to enable a parent or guardian to exercise their rights without substantial impact to staff and resources, including employee working conditions, safety and supervision on school premises for school activities and the efficient allocation of expenditures, while balancing the parental rights of parents and guardians, the educational needs of other students, the academic and behavioral impacts to a classroom, a teacher's workload and the assurance of the safe and efficient operations of the school.”

SB 1293a now heads to Gov. Butch Otter. The lone "no" vote was from Rep. Hy Kloc, D-Boise.