Travis Couture: Washington schools are letting kids slip away — and keeping it a secret from parents

Imagine sending your child to school, thinking they’re safe in class, only to find out later they walked right out the front doors — no call home, no permission from you, no questions asked.

Under a little-known policy quietly adopted by many Washington school districts, students as young as 13 can now excuse themselves from school for certain “confidential services” — including mental health treatment, drug and alcohol counseling, STD testing, and even medical procedures. All they have to do is write a note. Teachers accept it, the absence is excused, and your child is free to leave campus, unsupervised.

You won’t be notified. The school won’t ask where they’re going. And under Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA) guidance, you don’t even have the right to know.

This policy, known as Procedure 3122P, states: “Students fourteen years old or older who are absent from school due to testing or treatment for a sexually transmitted disease will notify the school of their absence with a note of explanation, which will be kept confidential. Students thirteen years and older may do the same for mental health, drug or alcohol treatment; and all students have that right for family planning and abortion.”

No doctor’s note. No verification. Just a self-written excuse from a child, and they’re free to leave.

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A policy that isolates kids from their families

Think about what this actually means. A young teen can leave school, alone, for medical treatments ranging from psychiatric drugs to gender transition services, from addiction counseling to emergency contraception. No one checks in. No one ensures they’re safe. Parents are completely shut out.

Public schools are supposed to act in loco parents — in place of parents — while children are under their care. But this policy turns that responsibility into a legal loophole. Instead of safeguarding kids, it isolates them from their families. Instead of keeping them accounted for, it sends them out the door with no oversight and no accountability for what happens next.

If that child gets hurt, lost, or worse, wandering the streets alone, does the school bear liability? If a predator takes advantage of a vulnerable teenager leaving campus under the guise of “seeking treatment,” does anyone answer for it? If a child is pressured into taking medication or undergoing a procedure they don’t fully understand, who takes responsibility for the outcome?

The answer, disturbingly, is no one.

Reckless policies put kids’ safety at risk

For decades, mental health laws were designed to help kids in crisis — providing talk therapy, addiction treatment, and support for those truly in need.

But today, “mental health treatment” has expanded far beyond its original intent. Now, it includes psychiatric medications, gender-affirming hormones, and potentially irreversible medical interventions. What was once about helping struggling teens has morphed into a system that fast-tracks life-altering decisions—all without parental knowledge or consent.

Policies like this aren’t just reckless. They fly in the face of what Washington voters just overwhelmingly supported with I-2081, the Parental Bill of Rights Initiative. Parents fought for transparency. They demanded a say in their child’s education and medical decisions. And now, behind closed doors, school bureaucrats are working to strip those rights away — again.

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Removing parents from the equation

This isn’t about protecting kids. It’s about cutting parents out.

Many school boards have already adopted this policy, and others are being quietly pressured to follow suit. Parents need to act now. Search your school district’s policies to see if Procedure 3122P has been implemented. If it has, demand its repeal. If it hasn’t, make sure it never is.

For too long, schools have operated as if they—not parents—know what’s best for kids. But parents are waking up. And they aren’t backing down.

State Representative Travis Couture, R-Allyn, is the Assistant Minority Floor Leader, the ranking minority member of the House Appropriations Committee, and a member of the House Education Committee.