Woodland School Board member Trish Huddleston joined a lawsuit filed Thursday in Thurston County Superior Court over a state law that plaintiffs argue is unconstitutional and violates parents’ rights.
Huddleston wrote in an email that she is participating as an individual, not a representative of Woodland School District. She directed all other questions to her legal team.
Along with Huddleston, the plaintiffs include two parents of Olympia School District students; the parent of a Tumwater School District student; and school board members from Kennewick, Deer Park, Lynden and Darrington school districts.
Joel Ard, the sole attorney at Ard Law Group, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Citizen Action Defense Fund, a Washington nonprofit that files lawsuits against state laws it views as unconstitutional.
The lawsuit concerns House Bill 1296, which the state Legislature passed into law in May. The bill outlines a complaint process and potential consequences for school districts that do not comply with state policies and rewrites many sections of Initiative 2081, known as the parents’ bill of rights.
Huddleston spoke against the bill, along with several others, in a March school board meeting.
The three parents say in the complaint that HB 1296 left them unable to opt their children out of instruction related to gender and sexuality that conflicted with their personal beliefs.
The lawsuit argues that this violates their First Amendment right to freedom of religion, as well as the Fourteenth Amendment, which prevents states from making laws that conflict with federally recognized rights.
It also argues that the bill violates the Washington State Constitution by covering multiple subjects in one piece of legislation and by requiring school districts to adopt policies that allow employees to withhold information about students from their parents.
Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, HB 1296 requires school districts to adopt model policies on discrimination, sexual harassment, treatment of transgender students and bullying.
This includes a policy on gender inclusivity that was heavily debated in Woodland. The model procedure instructs schools to consult with students before involving their parents in discussions about their gender identity, as outing a student whose parents are not supportive could put them in danger.
The Woodland School Board voted in 2024 to instead require staff to tell parents if a student wishes to change their gender presentation, though the policy also states that staff should not go out of their way to do so.
The lawsuit states that the mandated policies also go against executive orders issued in January that ban any organization that receives federal funds from promoting “gender ideology,” which they describe as acknowledging more than two genders or accepting the existence of transgender individuals.
Washington State Superintendent Chris Reykdal published a statement in April saying that schools have a responsibility to protect transgender and gender-expansive students from discrimination, and that his office will not recognize the new requirements from the executive orders until Congress or the federal courts officially change the law.
“Unless, and until that happens, we will be following Washington state’s laws, not a president’s political leanings expressed through unlawful orders,” he wrote.
Initiative 2081 is a Republican-backed citizen initiative passed in 2024 that outlines what information parents of public school students can access.
These include instructional materials and student records.
The initiative defines student records as including medical records and records of mental health counseling.
HB 1296 removes that language and refers to existing state law on disclosing medical information, which sometimes requires medical professionals to get a minor’s permission before sharing information with their parents.
It also removes a requirement that schools provide prior notification of any nonemergency medical services, and notify parents when medical services could cause a financial impact or require follow-up care.
Huddleston said at a March school board meeting that she did not think schools should provide medical services to students, especially if it requires follow-up care, which she interpreted as referrals to abortion clinics or gender-affirming treatment.
The lawsuit states that these changes violate the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, which outlines the educational records parents should have access to. However, FERPA includes a section saying that state law can sometimes overrule those rights.
