# H.R. 2616 (119th): Parental Rights Over The Education and Care of Their Kids Act or the PROTECT Kids Act

Parental Rights Over The Education and Care of Their Kids Act or the PROTECT Kids Act This bill requires public elementary and middle schools, as a condition of receiving certain federal funds for elementary and secondary education, to obtain parental consent before changing a student's gender on school forms or changing a student's sex-based accommodations. Specifically, an elementary school or a school consisting of only grades 5-8 must obtain parental consent before changing a minor student's (1) gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form; or (2) sex-based accommodations, including locker rooms or bathrooms.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: capped at tier 2.
Lane: abuse_accountability. Category: justice_truth. Lane tag: general equity.
Lane: child_protection. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: defends_children. Category: children. Lane tag: command.
Lane: education. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: family_policy. Category: children. Lane tag: command.
Lane: federal_funding_conditions. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: parental_rights. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Cap: tier 2. The Design B factor of 0.5 applies to residual and exposure.
Review note: Same reasoning as S. 9 / H.R. 28: sex-based school policy (parental consent before changing a student's gender markers, pronouns, or sex-based accommodations). Tier 1 is reserved for the gravest matters (taking innocent life, sexual corruption of children), applied equally to all parties. This bill still scores in its protective direction, but only at tier 2; a nay on it is a grave compromise, not a disqualifier.
Stored polarity: good. A yea supports the bill. A nay is the penalized direction when the tag is scored as a protection. A yea on a credit tag is a credit.
Roll 183: On Motion to Recommit. Vote type: recommit.
Roll 184: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill directly restrains a named harm: schools altering a minor's gender designation or sex-based accommodations without parental consent. It strengthens parental authority over children's care and education, which fits the defends_children and family_policy lanes. The bill does not ban any lawful adult conduct, and the consent requirement is a procedural safeguard for parents, so the classification is good rather than mixed. The existing rule tag abuse_accountability does not fit this text, since the bill neither exposes abusers nor compels disclosure of abuse records; it should be reviewed and likely removed.
Theological note: The measure bears on parental authority over the upbringing of children and on the protection of minors from school-facilitated changes to their sex-based identity and accommodations without parental knowledge. Scripture places children under parental nurture and instruction, and it treats the integrity of created sexual difference as good, so the issue is directly relevant to family integrity and the care of minors.

## Recorded votes

Roll 183: On Motion to Recommit. Yea 207 · Nay 208 · Other 15.
Roll 184: On Passage. Yea 217 · Nay 198 · Other 15.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-2616-119/