HB 1141: Discriminatory Practices in Public Schools - Colorado

Final Act → Signed Act · 3 edits · Jun 3, 2026

MINOR

This bill was finalized and signed into law, transitioning from a draft state for legislative signatures to an enacted act. The text includes minor formatting corrections, such as fixing a typo in the page header and adjusting spacing in legal definitions, while retaining the core policy of prohibiting discrimination in public schools based on protected classes.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains unchanged; it continues to apply to discriminatory practices in public schools and institutions of higher education.

TECHNICAL

Corrected a typo in the page header where 'HOUSE' was misspelled as 'H OUSE'.

Adjusted spacing and capitalization in the legal definitions of harassment and Title VI coordinator duties to ensure proper formatting in the final statute.

Added the Governor's signature and approval date, officially enacting the legislation.

Rerevised → Final Act · 8 edits · May 29, 2026

MODERATE

This bill expands protections against discrimination in Colorado schools by adding pregnancy and parental status to the list of protected classes and clarifying that discrimination does not require severe or pervasive conduct to be unlawful. It also establishes new requirements for higher education institutions to designate a Title VI coordinator, create grievance procedures, and publicly report aggregated data on discrimination complaints. Additionally, the bill clarifies that state law governs conflicts between state and federal non-discrimination laws in educational settings.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include pregnancy and parental status as protected classes for discrimination claims in public schools and higher education institutions. It also explicitly applies to institutions of higher education, which were previously less clearly defined in this context.

DEFINITION

Added 'pregnancy' and 'parental status' to the list of protected classes for discrimination claims in schools.

Clarified that conduct or communication need not be severe or pervasive to constitute harassment or discrimination.

REQUIREMENT

Required institutions of higher education to designate a Title VI coordinator responsible for compliance, grievance procedures, and data tracking.

Mandated that higher education institutions establish grievance procedures for Title VI violations and make them publicly accessible.

Required institutions to aggregate and publicly report data on alleged Title VI violations without including personally identifying information.

Required Title VI coordinators to provide training to employees about Title VI compliance.

Added specific duties for the Title VI coordinator, including responding to complaints with disparate impact and enforcing grievance procedures.

ENFORCEMENT

Clarified that the Commission may consider federal non-discrimination law as persuasive but non-binding authority, with state law governing conflicts.

Revised → Rerevised · 3 edits · May 13, 2026

MINOR

The bill text was updated to reflect its status as 'Rerevised' rather than 'Revised,' incorporating all amendments adopted in the Second House. Additionally, a specific provision regarding the failure to address hostile environments based on protected classes was removed from the document.

TECHNICAL

Removed a multi-line clause detailing the legal standard for failing to eliminate a hostile environment based on protected classes.

Updated the document header to change the status from 'REVISED' to 'REREVISED' and adjusted the explanatory text regarding the inclusion of amendments.

Added a new line indicating the bill was read unamended in the Senate on May 13, 2026.

Reengrossed → Revised · 3 edits · May 11, 2026

MINOR

The bill was updated from its 'Reengrossed' version to a 'Revised' version, reflecting amendments adopted during the second reading in the Senate. The changes include a minor formatting adjustment to the title page, an addition of a new committee assignment for the Senate, and a specific modification to the definition of a hostile environment by removing the word 'constructive' from the notice requirement. This change means an educational institution is now only liable if it has actual, direct knowledge of a hostile environment, rather than constructive knowledge (which implies knowledge that should have been known).

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on civil rights violations in public schools, but the enforcement threshold for liability was narrowed by requiring actual notice instead of constructive notice.

REQUIREMENT

The definition of a hostile environment was changed to require 'actual notice' instead of 'actual or constructive notice,' meaning institutions are no longer liable if they should have known about harassment but did not have direct knowledge of it.

TECHNICAL

The Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs committee was added to the list of reviewing committees.

The title page was updated to reflect that the version includes amendments adopted on second reading in the second house.

Engrossed → Reengrossed · 3 edits · May 7, 2026

MINOR

The bill title was updated from 'Engrossed' to 'Reengrossed' to reflect that it now includes all amendments adopted during the House of Introduction. Additionally, a new sponsor, Boesenecker, was added to the list of House sponsors, and a specific summary date of May 7, 2026, was inserted for the reengrossed version.

TECHNICAL

The bill status header was changed from 'Engrossed' to 'Reengrossed' to indicate the inclusion of all amendments adopted in the House of Introduction.

A specific date, May 7, 2026, was added to the summary section regarding the availability of the reengrossed bill summary.

The sponsor list was updated to include Boesenecker alongside the existing sponsors.

Introduced → Engrossed · 4 edits · May 6, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was reengrossed to change the legal framework from a specific 'Part 11' for public schools to a broader application under the existing 'Places of Public Accommodation' statute. This shift expands the bill's scope to cover discrimination in educational institutions more comprehensively by aligning it with general civil rights laws rather than creating a separate, isolated section. The amendment also clarifies the definition of harassment to include hostile environments and grants the Civil Rights Commission authority to adopt specific rules for handling complaints against schools.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a standalone section for public schools to being integrated into the general 'Places of Public Accommodation' statute, thereby applying broader public accommodation standards to educational settings.

SCOPE

The bill was moved from creating a new 'Part 11' in the statutes to adding a subsection to the existing 'Discrimination in places of public accommodation' section, expanding its legal basis.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'harassment' was updated to explicitly include hostile environments and requires institutions to take prompt steps to eliminate such environments.

ENFORCEMENT

New authority was granted to the Civil Rights Commission to adopt specific rules for complaints involving educational institutions.

ELIGIBILITY

The criteria for discrimination now explicitly reference protected classes defined in the broader public accommodation statute, ensuring consistency across different types of public spaces.

Discriminatory Practices in Public Schools

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