2025
STATE OF WYOMING
25LSO-07271HB0335
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0335
Wyoming educational religious freedom act.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Brady
A BILL
for
1 AN ACT relating to public education; prohibiting sectarian
2 instruction and practices in public institutions; providing
3 definitions; specifying prohibited practices; creating a
4 complaint process; specifying duties of the state board of
5 education; requiring modification of accreditation status
6 as specified; providing enforcement; providing penalties;
7 and providing for an effective date.
8
9
10
11. W.S. 21-9-301 through 21-9-306 are created
12 to read:
13
14 ARTICLE 3
15 WYOMING EDUCATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT
16 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-07272HB03351
2
3 This act may be cited as the "Wyoming Educational Religious
4 Freedom Act."
5
6
7
8 (a) The Wyoming legislature finds that:
9
10 (i) Article 1, section 19 and article 7, section
11 12 of the Wyoming constitution prohibit sectarian
12 instruction in public schools;
13
14 (ii) Certain educational frameworks and
15 practices constitute sectarian instruction through:
16
17 (A) Establishment of comprehensive belief
18 systems;
19
20 (B) Implementation of mandatory ritual-like
21 practices;
22 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-07273HB03351 (C) Imposition of specific moral ethical
2 frameworks;
3
4 (D) Creation of hierarchical authority
5 structures for moral guidance;
6
7 (E) Required acceptance and practice of
8 specific worldviews;
9
10 (F) Mandatory participation in belief-based
11 activities.
12
13 (iii) The state has the following compelling
14 government interests:
15
16 (A) Protecting students' rights of
17 conscience;
18
19 (B) Maintaining religious neutrality in
20 public education;
21
22 (C) Ensuring parents' rights in directing
23 their children's education; 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-07274HB03351
2 (D) Preservice academic freedom while
3 preventing compelling speech;
4
5 (E) Upholding the Wyoming constitution
6 prohibiting sectarian instruction in public schools;
7
8 (F) Protecting the freedom of religion
9 provided by the first amendment to the United States
10 constitution;
11
12 (G) Maintaining educational quality;
13
14 (H) Respecting diverse community values.
15
16 (iv) The Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom
17 Act is narrowly tailored to achieve the compelling
18 government interests outlined in paragraph (iii) of this
19 subsection.
20
21
22
23 (a) "Educational institution" means: 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-07275HB0335
1
2 (i) Any public school;
3
4 (ii) Any public school district;
5
6 (iii) Any program or activity receiving state
7 educational funds;
8
9 (iv) Any entity providing educational services
10 under contract with the state.
11
12 (b) "Sectarian" includes any pedagogical framework,
13 practice or instruction that:
14
15 (i) Mandates specific beliefs about human
16 development, identity or social interaction;
17
18 (ii) Requires participation in activities
19 involving emotional or personal disclosure;
20
21 (iii) Enforces particular viewpoints about power
22 structures, privilege or group identity;
23 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-07276HB03351 (iv) Establishes predetermined moral frameworks
2 about social or cultural dynamics;
3
4 (v) Requires acceptance of specific theories
5 about systemic or institution structures;
6
7 (vi) Mandates participation in exercises focused
8 on identity exploration or recognition;
9
10 (vii) Implements compulsory training or
11 activities regarding cultural competency or bias;
12
13 (viii) Requires adherence to prescribed methods
14 of discussing or analyzing group identity;
15
16 (ix) Establishes specific frameworks for
17 emotional processing or social interaction;
18
19 (x) Mandates acceptance of particular historical
20 interpretations based on group identity.
21
22
23 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-07277HB03351 (a) No educational institution shall implement or
2 incorporate curricula, instruction, training or programming
3 that:
4
5 (i) Requires students to:
6
7 (A) Participate in mandatory emotional
8 disclosure or processing activities;
9
10 (B) Accept specific beliefs about power
11 dynamics or privilege;
12
13 (C) Engage in compulsory identity
14 exploration or recognition;
15
16 (D) Adopt particular viewpoints about
17 social or cultural structure;
18
19 (E) Follow prescribed methods for
20 discussing group identity;
21
22 (F) Accept specific historical
23 interpretations based on group identity; 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-07278HB0335
1
2 (G) Participate in mandatory cultural
3 competency or bias recognition activities.
4
5 (ii) Establishes or enforces:
6
7 (A) Equity-based or identity-based grading
8 systems;
9
10 (B) Mandatory identity-focused group work;
11
12 (C) Required cultural celebration of
13 activities;
14
15 (D) Compulsory privilege or bias
16 recognition exercises;
17
18 (E) Prescribed protocols for discussing
19 group identity;
20
21 (F) Required acceptance of specific power
22 dynamic analysis.
23 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-07279HB03351 (iii) Integrates into academic subjects:
2
3 (A) Mandatory emotional processing
4 activities;
5
6 (B) Required identity-based analysis;
7
8 (C) Compulsory cultural competency
9 exercises;
10
11 (D) Prescribed social justice framework;
12
13 (E) Required equity-based learning methods.
14
15 (b) Nothing in the Wyoming Educational Religious
16 Freedom Act shall be interpreted to prohibit:
17
18 (i) An educational institution from providing
19 academic instruction about historical or scientific
20 concepts;
21
22 (ii) A student from voluntarily participating in
23 discussions or activities; 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-072710HB0335
1
2 (iii) An educational institution from using
3 educational materials that reference diverse viewpoints or
4 perspectives.
5
6
7
8
9 (a) Educational institutions shall perform the
10 following duties:
11
12 (i) Establish written policies and procedures
13 to:
14
15 (A) Annually review and evaluate
16 curriculum, materials and instructional practices for
17 sectarian content including:
18
19 (I) Instructional materials including
20 physical and digital textbooks, interactive digital
21 platforms, educational software and applications, online
22 learning management systems and streaming media content;
23 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-072711HB03351 (II) Supplementary materials including
2 worksheets, handouts, digital supplemental content,
3 third-party educational resources, educational websites and
4 platforms and virtual or augmented reality content;
5
6 (III) Teacher resources including
7 lesson plans, guides, instructional support materials,
8 classroom management tools, assessment guidelines and
9 digital teaching platforms;
10
11 (IV) Assessment materials including
12 tests, quizzes, performance evaluations, digital assessment
13 platforms, progress monitoring tools and data collection
14 systems;
15
16 (V) Professional development materials
17 including training materials, continuing education
18 resources, online professional learning platforms, coaching
19 and mentoring materials and educational research materials.
20
21 (B) Ensure all curriculum materials do not:
22 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-072712HB03351 (I) Mandate acceptance of specific
2 belief systems;
3
4 (II) Require participation in
5 sectarian practices;
6
7 (III) Enforce particular worldviews;
8
9 (IV) Implement compulsory
10 identity-based activities.
11
12 (ii) Implement corrective action plans imposed
13 by the state board of education pursuant to W.S. 21-9-306.
14
15
16
17
18 (a) The state board of education shall:
19
20 (i) Establish standards for educational
21 institutions to identify violations of W.S. 21-9-304;
22 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-072713HB03351 (ii) Establish procedures for educational
2 institutions to annually submit compliance reports to the
3 state board for review;
4
5 (iii) Review educational institutions' policies
6 and procedures established under W.S. 21-9-305(a)(i);
7
8 (iv) Issue guidance to educational institutions
9 to ensure compliance with the Wyoming Educational Religious
10 Freedom Act.
11
12 (b) The state board of education shall establish
13 procedures to investigate complaints of noncompliance by
14 educational institutions with the Wyoming Educational
15 Religious Freedom Act. The process shall include written
16 notice to educational institutions of non-compliance with
17 the Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act and
18 imposition of corrective action plans which shall include
19 the following penalties:
20
21 (i) For an educational institution's first
22 violation the educational institution shall submit a
23 corrective action plan to the state board of education 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-072714HB0335
1 within thirty (30) days of issuance of the state board's
2 decision, complete mandatory compliance training, provide a
3 monthly progress report to the state board of education for
4 a twelve (12) month period and be subject to a twelve (12)
5 month monitoring period by the state board of education;
6
7 (ii) If an educational institution violates the
8 Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act during the twelve
9 (12) month monitoring period imposed under paragraph (i) of
10 this subsection, the educational institution shall:
11
12 (A) Be subject to a change in accreditation
13 status to accredited with follow-up by the state board of
14 education pursuant to W.S. 21-2-304(a)(ii) and (b)(ii);
15
16 (B) Be subject to weekly compliance
17 monitoring and reporting by the state board of education;
18
19 (C) Submit curriculum all curriculum
20 materials to the department of education for review. The
21 department of education shall complete the review within
22 forty-five (45) days of receipt of the material and submit 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-072715HB0335
1 written findings and recommendations to the school district
2 board of trustees and the state board of education;
3
4 (D) Submit an administrative improvement
5 plan to the state board of education; and
6
7 (E) Be subject to an additional twelve (12)
8 months of monitoring by the state board of education.
9
10 (iii) If an educational institution violates the
11 Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act twice during the
12 twelve (12) month monitoring period imposed under paragraph
13 (i) of this subsection, the educational institution shall:
14
15 (A) Be subject to a change in accreditation
16 status to non-accredited by the state board of education
17 pursuant to W.S. 21-2-304(a)(ii) and (b)(ii);
18
19 (B) Be subject to oversight and corrective
20 measures, including but not limited to a comprehensive
21 program review, by the state department of education and
22 state board of education; and
23 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-072716HB03351 (C) Undergo leadership restructuring as
2 required by the state department of education and state
3 board of education.
4
5 (iv) Immediate action by the state board of
6 education to change the educational institution's
7 accreditation status to nonaccredited pursuant to W.S.
8 21-2-304(a)(ii) and (b)(ii), for any educational
9 institution that commits any of the following:
10
11 (A) Willfully violates the Wyoming
12 Educational Religious Freedom Act affecting at least twenty
13 percent (20%) of the students enrolled in the educational
14 institution for not less than ninety (90) days;
15
16 (B) Deliberately conceals violations of the
17 Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom Act for not less than
18 one hundred eighty (180) days;
19
20 (C) Engages in retaliation against the
21 person that alleged violation of the Wyoming Educational
22 Religious Freedom Act;
23 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-072717HB03351 (D) Continued violation of the Wyoming
2 Educational Freedom Act for at least sixty (60) days
3 following receipt of the notice provided pursuant to
4 subsection (b) of this section;
5
6 (E) Intentional falsification of compliance
7 reports submitted to the state board of education;
8
9 (F) Sustained non-cooperation with
10 investigations conducted by the state board of education
11 for not less than ninety (90) calendar days.
12
13 (c) Any parent or guardian of a student enrolled in
14 an educational institution may:
15
16 (i) File a complaint and request a hearing with
17 the state board of education alleging an educational
18 institution violated the Wyoming Educational Religious
19 Freedom Act;
20
21 (ii) Request the state board of education review
22 educational materials of an educational institution for 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-072718HB0335
1 compliance with the Wyoming Educational Religious Freedom
2 Act.
3
4. This act is effective July 1, 2026.
5
6 (END)