Wyoming educational religious freedom act.

25LSO-0727
2025
STATE OF WYOMING
25LSO-0727
Numbered
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0335

Wyoming educational religious freedom act.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Brady

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to public education; prohibiting sectarian instruction and practices in public institutions; providing definitions; specifying prohibited practices; creating a complaint process; specifying duties of the state board of education; requiring modification of accreditation status as specified; providing enforcement; providing penalties; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S. 21
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9
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301 through 21
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9
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306 are created to read:

ARTICLE 3
WYOMING EDUCATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT

21
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9
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301.

Wyoming educational religious freedom act.

This act may be cited as the "Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act."

21
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9
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302.

Legislative findings.

(a)

The Wyoming legislature finds that:

(i)

Article 1, section 19 and article 7, section 12 of the Wyoming constitution prohibit sectarian instruction in public schools;

(ii)

Certain educational frameworks and practices constitute sectarian instruction through:

(A)

Establishment of comprehensive belief systems;

(B)

Implementation of mandatory ritual
‑
like practices;

(C)

Imposition of specific moral ethical frameworks;

(D)

Creation of hierarchical authority structures for moral guidance;

(E)

Required acceptance and practice of specific worldviews;

(F)

Mandatory participation in belief
‑
based activities.

(iii)

The state has the following compelling government interests:

(A)

Protecting students' rights of conscience;

(B)

Maintaining religious neutrality in public education;

(C)

Ensuring parents' rights in directing their children's education;

(D)

Preservice academic freedom while preventing compelling speech;

(E)

Upholding the Wyoming constitution prohibiting sectarian instruction in public schools;

(F)

Protecting the freedom of religion provided by the first amendment to the United States constitution;

(G)

Maintaining educational quality;

(H)

Respecting diverse community values.

(iv)

The Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act is narrowly tailored to achieve the compelling government interests outlined in paragraph (iii) of this subsection.

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9
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303.

Definitions.

(a)

"Educational institution" means:

(i)

Any public school;

(ii)

Any public school district;

(iii)

Any program or activity receiving state educational funds;

(iv)

Any entity providing educational services under contract with the state.

(b)

"Sectarian" includes any pedagogical framework, practice or instruction that:

(i)

Mandates specific beliefs about human development, identity or social interaction;

(ii)

Requires participation in activities involving emotional or personal disclosure;

(iii)

Enforces particular viewpoints about power structures, privilege or group identity;

(iv)

Establishes predetermined moral frameworks about social or cultural dynamics;

(v)

Requires acceptance of specific theories about systemic or institution structures;

(vi)

Mandates participation in exercises focused on identity exploration or recognition;

(vii)

Implements compulsory training or activities regarding cultural competency or bias;

(viii)

Requires adherence to prescribed methods of discussing or analyzing group identity;

(ix)

Establishes specific frameworks for emotional processing or social interaction;

(x)

Mandates acceptance of particular historical interpretations based on group identity.

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9
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304.

Prohibited practices; authorized practices.

(a)

No educational institution shall implement or incorporate curricula, instruction, training or programming that:

(i)

Requires students to:

(A)

Participate in mandatory emotional disclosure or processing activities;

(B)

Accept specific beliefs about power dynamics or privilege;

(C)

Engage in compulsory identity exploration or recognition;

(D)

Adopt particular viewpoints about social or cultural structure;

(E)

Follow prescribed methods for discussing group identity;

(F)

Accept specific historical interpretations based on group identity;

(G)

Participate in mandatory cultural competency or bias recognition activities.

(ii)

Establishes or enforces:

(A)

Equity
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based or identity
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based grading systems;

(B)

Mandatory identity
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focused group work;

(C)

Required cultural celebration of activities;

(D)

Compulsory privilege or bias recognition exercises;

(E)

Prescribed protocols for discussing group identity;

(F)

Required acceptance of specific power dynamic analysis.

(iii)

Integrates into academic subjects:

(A)

Mandatory emotional processing activities;

(B)

Required identity
‑
based analysis;

(C)

Compulsory cultural competency exercises;

(D)

Prescribed social justice framework;

(E)

Required equity
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based learning methods.

(b)

Nothing in the Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act shall be interpreted to prohibit:

(i)

An educational institution from providing academic instruction about historical or scientific concepts;

(ii)

A student from voluntarily participating in discussions or activities;

(iii)

An educational institution from using educational materials that reference diverse viewpoints or perspectives.

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9
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305.

Responsibilities of educational institutions.

(a)

Educational institutions shall perform the following duties:

(i)

Establish written policies and procedures to:

(A)

Annually review and evaluate curriculum, materials and instructional practices for sectarian content including:

(I)

Instructional materials including physical and digital textbooks, interactive digital platforms, educational software and applications, online learning management systems and streaming media content;

(II)

Supplementary materials including worksheets, handouts, digital supplemental content, third
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party educational resources, educational websites and platforms and virtual or augmented reality content;

(III)

Teacher resources including lesson plans, guides, instructional support materials, classroom management tools, assessment guidelines and digital teaching platforms;

(IV)

Assessment materials including tests, quizzes, performance evaluations, digital assessment platforms, progress monitoring tools and data collection systems;

(V)

Professional development materials including training materials, continuing education resources, online professional learning platforms, coaching and mentoring materials and educational research materials.

(B)

Ensure all curriculum materials do not:

(I)

Mandate acceptance of specific belief systems;

(II)

Require participation in sectarian practices;

(III)

Enforce particular worldviews;

(IV)

Implement compulsory identity
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based activities.

(ii)

Implement corrective action plans imposed by the state board of education pursuant to W.S. 21
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9
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306.

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9
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306.

Responsibilities of the state board of education; complaint process; penalties for violation.

(a)

The state board of education shall:

(i)

Establish standards for educational institutions to identify violations of W.S. 21
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9
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304;

(ii)

Establish procedures for educational institutions to annually submit compliance reports to the state board for review;

(iii)

Review educational institutions' policies and procedures established under W.S. 21
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9
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305(a)(i);

(iv)

Issue guidance to educational institutions to ensure compliance with the Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act.

(b)

The state board of education shall establish procedures to investigate complaints of noncompliance by educational institutions with the Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act. The process shall include written notice to educational institutions of non
‑
compliance with the Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act and

imposition of corrective action plans which shall include the following penalties:

(i)

For an educational institution's first violation the educational institution shall submit a corrective action plan to the state board of education within thirty (30) days of issuance of the state board's decision, complete mandatory compliance training, provide a monthly progress report to the state board of education for a twelve (12) month period and be subject to a twelve (12) month monitoring period by the state board of education;

(ii)

If an educational institution violates the Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act during the twelve (12) month monitoring period imposed under paragraph (i) of this subsection, the educational institution shall:

(A)

Be subject to a change in accreditation status to accredited with follow
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up by the state board of education pursuant to W.S. 21
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2
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304(a)(ii) and (b)(ii);

(B)

Be subject to weekly compliance monitoring and reporting by the state board of education;

(C)

Submit curriculum all curriculum materials to the department of education for review. The department of education shall complete the review within forty
‑
five (45) days of receipt of the material and submit written findings and recommendations to the school district board of trustees and the state board of education;

(D)

Submit an administrative improvement plan to the state board of education; and

(E)

Be subject to an additional twelve (12) months of monitoring by the state board of education.

(iii)

If an educational institution violates the Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act twice during the twelve (12) month monitoring period imposed under paragraph (i) of this subsection, the educational institution shall:

(A)

Be subject to a change in accreditation status to non
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accredited by the state board of education pursuant to W.S. 21
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2
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304(a)(ii) and (b)(ii);

(B)

Be subject to oversight and corrective measures, including but not limited to a comprehensive program review, by the state department of education and state board of education; and

(C)

Undergo leadership restructuring as required by the state department of education and state board of education.

(iv)

Immediate action by the state board of education to change the educational institution's accreditation status to nonaccredited pursuant to W.S. 21
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2
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304(a)(ii) and (b)(ii), for any educational institution that commits any of the following:

(A)

Willfully violates the Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act affecting at least twenty percent (20%) of the students enrolled in the educational institution for not less than ninety (90) days;

(B)

Deliberately conceals violations of the Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act for not less than one hundred eighty (180) days;

(C)

Engages in retaliation against the person that alleged violation of the Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act;

(D)

Continued violation of the Wyoming Educational Freedom Act for at least sixty (60) days following receipt of the notice provided pursuant to subsection (b) of this section;

(E)

Intentional falsification of compliance reports submitted to the state board of education;

(F)

Sustained non
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cooperation with investigations conducted by the state board of education for not less than ninety (90) calendar days.

(c)

Any parent or guardian of a student enrolled in an educational institution may:

(i)

File a complaint and request a hearing with the state board of education alleging an educational institution violated the Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act;

(ii)

Request the state board of education review educational materials of an educational institution for compliance with the Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act.

Section 2
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This act is effective July 1, 2026
.

(END)

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HB0335