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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4443 FILED ON: 2/21/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3980 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Carmine Lawrence Gentile |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act establishing LGBTQIA+ parent advisory councils in the Commonwealth. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex2/21/2025Liz MirandaSecond Suffolk2/26/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk3/5/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4443 FILED ON: 2/21/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3980 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Gentile of Sudbury, a petition (subject to Joint Rule 12) of Carmine Lawrence |
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| 19 | 19 | | Gentile, Liz Miranda and Samantha Montaño for legislation to establish LGBTQIA+ parent |
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| 20 | 20 | | advisory councils in public schools. Education. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act establishing LGBTQIA+ parent advisory councils in the Commonwealth. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2section 1D the following section: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 Section 1E. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the school |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4committee of any city, town, or school district shall establish a LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, or another identity on the Queer spectrum) |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6parent advisory council. Membership shall be offered to all parents who identify themselves as |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7LGBTQIA+ or have children who identify as LGBTQIA+, and other interested parties. |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8 The duties of the council shall include, but not be limited to: (i) advising the school |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9committee on matters that pertain to the education and safety of LGBTQIA+ students; (ii) |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10meeting regularly with school officials to participate in the planning, development and |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11evaluation of the school district’s programs; (iii) participating in the review of school |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12improvement plans under section 59C of chapter 71 and district improvement plans under 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13section 1I of chapter 69. Upon request from a parent advisory council, each school committee or |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14school council within that parent advisory council's district shall meet at least annually with the |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15council; provided, however, that if the parent advisory council advises a charter school the board |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16of the charter school shall, upon request from the parent advisory council, meet not less than |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17annually with the council. The parent advisory council shall establish by-laws regarding officers |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18and operational procedures. In the course of its duties under this section, the council shall receive |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19assistance from the school committee without charge, upon reasonable notice, and subject to the |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20availability of staff and resources. SECTION 2. The department of elementary and secondary |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21education shall adopt, promulgate, amend and rescind rules and regulations or formulate policies |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22and make recommendations as necessary to implement this act. SECTION 3. This act shall take |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23effect on January 1, 2027 |
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