State Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, takes a question about his amendment to SB 154 from state Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam.

CHARLESTON — An attempt to offer an amendment to provide teachers a process through existing grievance procedures before having civil action taken in the courts to a bill that would penalize teachers who do not report students expressing transgender tendencies was rejected Tuesday.

Senate Bill 154, prohibiting sexual orientation instruction in public schools, was on second reading and amendment stage Tuesday. The bill will be up for passage today in the state Senate.

SB 154 aims to restrict instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. Among other provisions, it prohibits public school employees from knowingly providing false or misleading information to parents and/or guardians regarding a student’s gender identity or intention to transition.

The bill mandates that school employees report student requests for accommodations when affirming a gender identity different from their biological sex to school administrators, who must then inform the student’s parents. An aggrieved party can file a complaint with the school, and if unsatisfied, appeal to the board of education, and subsequently file a lawsuit in civil court to seek statutory damages, compensatory damages, injunctive relief, court costs, and attorney fees.

The bill establishes an administrative process for addressing violations, including a complaint procedure, school investigation, and potential sanctions against teachers. These sanctions include a written warning for the first offense, a 30-day suspension without pay for the second offense, and a recommendation for termination for the third offense.

State Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, offered an amendment to the bill to allow teachers under this law to file a complaint with the Public Employee Grievance Board if a county Board of Education chooses not to abide by the three-step sanction process. The amendment failed by voice vote.

“What the bill does is that it sets up a process by which a teacher can be reprimanded or even fired should they violate the provisions of this section,” he said. “It then allows for no remedy should a Board of Education fail to adhere to those steps.”

Weld said the only recourse for a teacher who believes they have been wronged is the circuit court, which could be costly to county school systems and plaintiffs.

“We would be adding legal costs to a county board of education — through their own fault because they didn’t follow the guidelines that we set forth here — to defend an action in circuit court,” he said.

State Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, argued against Weld’s amendment. He believes that teachers would use the public employee grievance process in order to delay being held accountable for violating the provisions of SB 154.

“This bill contemplates that somebody in the school system who has some sort of supervision over this child is seeing that this child is really struggling with a significant problem — the student doesn’t understand apparently what biological sex they are — that’s not communicated to a parent,” Tarr said. “I believe that, should the gentleman’s amendment be accepted, every single time it would happen it would go into a grievance process.”

State Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Amy Grady, R-Mason, is an elementary school teacher and the lead sponsor of the bill. She urged rejection of Weld’s amendment.

“I’m going to stand and oppose the gentleman’s amendment,” Grady said. “I feel that we went too far in the weeds with this amendment and so I’m asking everybody for a no vote.”

Closing debate on the amendment, Weld called on his fellow senators to consider the cost and the bureaucratic mess being created in the current version of the bill. He said his amendment doesn’t take away from the core goal of the bill.

“My amendment has nothing to do with whether or not somebody should be teaching (transgender) stuff or allowing them to do so,” Weld said. “It has nothing to do with any of that. My amendment is merely about not wasting taxpayer dollars, not wasting resources of the Board of Education and going to the Circuit Court. My amendment is about finding a quicker resolution for these kinds of issues.”