H-1444.2  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 1812

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      54th Legislature     1995 Regular Session

By Representatives Backlund, Hymes, Chappell, McMorris, Sherstad, McMahan, Carrell, Thompson, Beeksma and Johnson

Read first time 02/09/95.  Referred to Committee on Education.

Allowing students to incorporate religious and philosophical beliefs into their class work.

    AN ACT Relating to allowing students to incorporate religious and philosophical beliefs in school-related activities; and adding a new section to chapter 28A.600 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.600 RCW to read as follows:

    The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Article I, section 5 and section 11 of the Washington state Constitution guarantee that students retain their rights of free speech and free exercise of religion, notwithstanding the student's enrollment and attendance in a common school.  These rights include, but are not limited to, the right of an individual student to freely express and incorporate the student's personal beliefs and opinions where relevant or appropriate in any and all class work, home work, evaluations or tests, extracurricular activities, or other activities under the sponsorship or auspices of the school district, without retribution, negative consequence, or penalty to the standing, evaluation, or privilege of the individual student.  Nothing in this section is intended to limit any scholastic debate or dialogue in the educational environment.  The exercise of these rights shall not be subject to censorship or otherwise impaired by any employee, officer, agent, or contractor of the school district.

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