Non-Legal Name Changes

Colorado Youth Advisory Council Review Committee. Section 1 of the bill:

• Requires public schools and institute charter schools (school) to use a student's preferred name, if a preferred name is requested by the student; and
• Deems a school's refusal to use a student's preferred name a form of discrimination.

Section 2 of the bill:

• Creates the non-legal name changes in schools task force (task force) in the department of education (department) consisting of 9 members appointed by the department to examine existing school policies and provide recommendations to schools on how to best implement student non-legal name change policies;
• Requires the department to appoint members to the task force by June 30, 2024;
• Requires the task force to submit a report to the department detailing the recommended policy guidelines by January 1, 2025;
• Requires the department to publish the report on its website and submit the report to the superintendent of each school district and chief administrator of each institute charter school by February 1, 2025;
• Requires a school to implement the task force's policy recommendations by July 1, 2025; and
• Repeals the task force, effective July 1, 2026.

The bill requires each school board of education and pilot schools to adopt written policies prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender expression which includes the use of a student's chosen name. The written policy must specify that it is discriminatory to knowingly or intentionally use a name other than a student's chosen name.

The bill specifies that for purposes of anti-discrimination laws, discrimination based on gender expression includes the use of an individual's chosen name.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)