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H7894AExtracurricular Activities

Education - Access for Congressionally Chartered Youth Development Organizations

This bill requires public schools to allow specific youth organizations, like the Scouts, access to students for recruitment.

Introduced71 Yea0 Nay4 Not voting
Population
Affected
35
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 27, 2026Committee House Education

Plain-English Summary

This bill requires public and charter schools to give specific, Congressionally chartered youth organizations, such as the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Boys and Girls Clubs, access to students for recruitment. Schools must provide at least one annual opportunity for these groups to distribute materials and use digital communication channels. Additionally, schools must allow representatives to speak to students for up to ten minutes during non-core class time. Parents and guardians must be notified in advance and have the right to opt their children out of the presentations. Schools are not required to offer this access to other groups.

For younger readers

This bill tells public schools that they must let groups like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Boys and Girls Clubs talk to students about joining their clubs. Once a year, these groups can put up displays or hand out flyers. They are also allowed to come into a classroom to talk to kids for up to 10 minutes. Before they come, the school has to let parents know, and parents can choose to not let their child listen to the presentation. The school doesn't have to let other types of clubs do this.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
public school studentsparents and guardiansschool administratorsyouth organizationsteachers
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

There is a potential First Amendment and Equal Protection risk. By requiring schools to grant specific access to named, Congressionally chartered groups while explicitly denying the requirement for equal access to other groups, the state may be engaging in viewpoint or speaker-based discrimination in a limited public forum. However, federal law (the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act) provides some legal precedent for this specific type of access.

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Promotes community service and civic engagement by supporting established youth organizations like the Boys and Girls Clubs that often provide safe, enriching after-school environments for disadvantaged youth.
  • Requires parental notification and an opt-out mechanism, respecting the rights of families to make decisions about their children's exposure to specific organizational messaging.
  • Limits classroom presentations to non-core subjects and restricts them to ten minutes, ensuring that essential public education instructional time is not significantly disrupted.
  • Explicitly denies equal access to non-qualifying groups, which could exclude LGBTQ+ youth organizations, secular clubs, or grassroots community groups from receiving the same recruitment opportunities as traditional organizations.
  • Specifies that qualifying organizations must promote "patriotism," which some progressives may view as forced nationalism or an exclusionary concept that alienates marginalized students.
  • Forces public schools to use their limited resources and digital communication channels to advertise for private, specific organizations, diverting focus and resources from public education.
For Conservatives
  • Supports organizations that explicitly promote traditional values, physical fitness, life skills, and patriotism, aligning with conservative educational priorities.
  • Empowers parents by mandating advance notification and providing a clear opt-out option, reinforcing parental rights over their children's education and exposure.
  • Grants special access to historically significant, Congressionally chartered groups like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, protecting them from being excluded by progressive school administrators.
  • Imposes an unfunded mandate on local school districts by forcing them to coordinate presentations, distribute materials, and manage parental notifications without providing state funding.
  • Grants protected access to organizations like the Girl Scouts and Boys and Girls Clubs, which some conservatives have criticized for adopting progressive social stances or partnering with left-leaning advocacy groups.
  • Allows school administrators to retain authority over school rules and discipline, which could potentially be used as a loophole by hostile administrators to heavily restrict the youth organizations' activities.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

2 versions
Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 31 additions

SECTION 1. Title 16 of the General Laws entitled "EDUCATION" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 16-117-1. Definitions. For purposes of this section:

(1) "Youth organization" means a national youth development organization chartered by Congress and listed in the following sections of Title 36 of the United States Code: §§30901("Boy Scouts of America"), 31101("Boys and Girls Clubs of America"), and 80301 ("Girl Scouts of the United States of America"); and which:

(i) Serves young people under twenty-one (21) years of age; and

(ii) Has an educational mission that develops life skills, leadership, workforce readiness, physical fitness and promotes community service, civic engagement, and patriotism. 16-117-2. Access to schools. Upon request of a youth organization, each public school district and each public charter school shall provide:

(1) Annual recruitment opportunity. At least one opportunity per school year for representatives of the youth organization to provide displays, brochures, flyers, on school property and the use of other existing digital communication channels for the purpose of student recruitment.

(2) Classroom presentation. A scheduled date and time allowing representatives of the youth organization to speak with students for up to ten (10) consecutive minutes during classroom time and provide informational materials; provided that:

(i) The presentation does not occur during instruction in a core curriculum subject; and

(ii) School operations and instructional time are not materially disrupted.

(3) Parent/guardian notification. Advance notice to parents or guardians describing:

(i) The scheduled presentation; and

(ii) The right of any parent or guardian to withhold consent for their child’s participation. 16-117-3. Equal access not required for non-qualifying groups. A school district or charter school shall not be required to provide the access described in § 16-117-2 to any entity not meeting the definition of a youth organization under § 16-117-1. 16-117-4. Construction. Nothing in this section shall be construed to:

(1) Interfere with school safety policies;

(2) Authorize youth organizations to conduct activities inconsistent with school rules; or

(3) Limit the authority of school administrators to maintain order or discipline.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.