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DENVER, CO - The House today passed a bill, sponsored by Assistant Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon, that aims to prevent discrimination in public schools based on disability, race, sexual orientation and other protected classes.
“Our legislation makes it clear that Colorado students deserve protections if they experience discrimination based on their skin color, sexual orientation and disability,” said Assistant Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver. “With the Trump Administration slashing funding for the federal Office of Civil Rights, it is crucial that Colorado strengthen civil rights protections to protect students. Students deserve a safe learning environment. This bill would help ensure that students who experience discrimination have a pathway to accountability and a remedy to ensure equal access to quality education.”
HB26-1141, which passed by a vote of 42-22, would prohibit public K-12 schools, higher education institutions and their employees from discriminating based on a protected class, like disability, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and national origin. The bill also adds pregnancy and prenatal status to the definition of “harassment and discrimination" in K-12 public schools.
The bill outlines discrimination in K-12 schools and higher education institutions as denying a person the full and equal enjoyment of a public accommodation when the school:
Excludes a student from participating in school programs or activities,
Denies educational services, benefits, or opportunities to a student without a legitimate, non-discriminatory basis and treats the student differently than a similar student, and
Fails to take prompt and effective steps to address a complaint that they have created a hostile environment based on a protected class.
The bill allows an impacted student or their family to file a discrimination complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Division. The division is also able to create rules specifically for how to address these types of complaints.
Higher education institutions, including community and technical colleges, would be required to establish a discrimination complaint process. They would also be required to designate a Title VI coordinator to ensure compliance with the bill and Title VI, educate students and employees about the complaint process, manage and respond to grievances and publish data on violations.
Since Trump started his second term, he has slashed the US Department of Education’s workforce by nearly 50 percent, including firing half of the staff in the Office for Civil Rights and closing seven of the 12 regional offices. The Office of Civil Rights leads investigations of discrimination at schools and higher education institutions across the country.
Assistant Majority Leader Bacon previously passed a law that clearly defines what is considered harassment and discrimination in Colorado’s K-12 public schools. She also passed a law in 2024 that ensures that schools and educators have trauma-informed resources to support youth against harassment and discrimination.