SB157ENROLLED
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SB157
8PECFH2-2
By Senators Orr, Chesteen, Price, Williams, Waggoner, Hovey,
Sessions, Melson, Weaver, Givhan, Allen, Butler
RFD: Education Policy
First Read: 27-Feb-24
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First Read: 27-Feb-24
Enrolled, An Act,
Relating to public education employees; to authorize a
teacher to exclude students from the classroom in certain
circumstances; to authorize the placement of an excluded
student under the control of a principal; to provide
procedures relating to the return of an excluded student to
the classroom; to authorize a school principal to suspend or
recommend for alternative school a student who is excluded
from the classroom three times in one month in certain
circumstances; to require each local board of education to
adopt a process for a teacher to appeal a principal's decision
relating to a student's return to the classroom; to provide
immunity to education employees for civil and criminal actions
related to the performance of their duties; to authorize, and
in certain circumstances, require, the Educators' Liability
Trust Fund reimburse certain expenses for certain legal fees
incurred by education employees; to require the Educators'
Liability Trust Fund to provide an annual report; to create a
rebuttable presumption that teachers take necessary actions
relating to classroom maintenance; and to require the State
Board of Education to adopt a model policy and each local
board of education to adopt a policy.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as
the Teachers' Bill of Rights.
Section 2. For the purposes of this act, the following
terms have the following meanings:
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terms have the following meanings:
(1) DISORDERLY CONDUCT. Any conduct that intentionally:
(i) disrupts, disturbs, or interferes with the teaching of
students; or (ii) disturbs the peace, order, or discipline at
any school.
(2) EDUCATION EMPLOYEE. Any of the following
individuals:
a. A certified or noncertified employee of the State
Department of Education or any local board of education.
b. An employee of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and
Blind.
c. An employee of the Alabama School of Fine Arts.
d. An employee of the Alabama School of Mathematics and
Science.
e. An employee of the Alabama School of Cyber
Technology and Engineering.
f. An employee of a public charter school.
(3) PRINCIPAL. The principal, assistant principal, vice
principal, or administrative head of a school, or his or her
designee.
(4) SCHOOL. A public K-12 school.
(5) TEACHER. A professional educator who has a direct
instructional or counseling relationship with students and who
spends the majority of his or her time in this capacity.
Section 3. (a) Beginning with the 2024-2025 school
year, a teacher may exclude from his or her classroom any
student who does any of the following:
(1) Engages in disorderly conduct.
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(1) Engages in disorderly conduct.
(2) Behaves in a manner that obstructs the teaching or
learning process of others in the classroom.
(3) Threatens, abuses, intimidates, or attempts to
intimidate an education employee or another student.
(4) Willfully disobeys an education employee.
(5) Uses abusive or profane language directed at an
education employee.
(b)(1) Any student excluded from the classroom pursuant
to subsection (a) shall be placed under the control of the
school principal or his or her designee, provided that the
excluding teacher has followed his or her own approved
classroom management plan. The excluded student may be
readmitted to the classroom only after the principal, or his
or her designee, provides written certification to the
classroom teacher that the student may be readmitted and
specifies the type of disciplinary action, if any, that was
taken.
(2) If the principal, or his or her designee, finds
that disciplinary action is warranted, he or she shall provide
written and, if possible, telephonic notice of the action to
the student's parent or guardian.
(c) If a student is excluded from the classroom
pursuant to subsection (a) two times in one semester and all
other reasonable means of classroom discipline have been
exhausted, the student may be readmitted to the classroom only
if all of the following are satisfied:
(1) The principal, teacher, and, if possible, the
student's parent or guardian have held a conference to discuss
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student's parent or guardian have held a conference to discuss
the student's disruptive behavior patterns.
(2) The principal informs the teacher of any course of
discipline for the student going forward.
(3) The student's parent or guardian has been informed
of the course of discipline.
(d) Following a student's readmittance to the classroom
pursuant to subsection (c), if the student's disruptive
behavior persists, upon the teacher's request, the principal
shall mete out the maximum discipline provided for by the
student code of conduct for the infraction, including, but not
limited to, transfer to an alternative school that is approved
by the local superintendent of education.
(e)(1) If the student removed from the classroom
pursuant to subsection (a) is in grades six through 12 and is
removed for his or her disorderly conduct, interference with
an orderly educational process, or obstruction of the teaching
or learning process of others in the classroom, the student
may not be readmitted to the referring teacher's classroom for
at least the remainder of the school day. The principal must
communicate with the teacher regarding the student before he
or she may be readmitted to the classroom.
(2) A student who is excluded for the remainder of a
school day pursuant to this subsection for a total of three
times in one 30-day period shall receive, as determined by the
principal, in-school or out-of-school suspension, or may be
recommended for placement in an alternative school, if one is
available within the school district.
(f) Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, each
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(f) Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, each
local board of education shall adopt a policy establishing an
appeal process that allows a teacher to appeal to the local
board of education in both of the following scenarios:
(1) If a principal refuses to allow a student to be
excluded from the classroom pursuant to this section.
(2) If a teacher believes the school principal has
prematurely ended the exclusion of a student from the
classroom pursuant to this section.
(g) Each local board of education shall require each
school to collect data related to any disciplinary action
taken pursuant to this section. Each local board of education
shall compile a report of the data collected from each school
to the State Department of Education. The State Department of
Education shall compile a report of the data collected from
each local board of education and provide it to the
Legislature no later than the first day of each regular
legislative session.
Section 4. (a) An education employee may not be held
civilly or criminally liable for his or her actions while
addressing student behavior that could lead to exclusion
pursuant to Section 3, if those actions are carried out in
conformity with rules of the State Board of Education or
policies of the local board of education where he or she is
employed, except in the following cases:
(1) The education employee engages in excessive force
or cruel and unusual punishment.
(2) The education employee acts willfully, maliciously,
fraudulently, in bad faith, beyond his or her authority, or
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fraudulently, in bad faith, beyond his or her authority, or
under a mistaken interpretation of the law.
(3) The education employee violates the United States
Constitution, the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, or the laws
of this state.
(b)(1) The Educators' Liability Trust Fund may
reimburse reasonable expenses for legal services for an
education employee if he or she is charged with civil or
criminal actions arising out of and in the course of the
performance of his or her assigned duties and responsibilities
under terms and conditions established by the Department of
Finance consistent with this act.
(2) No later than the first legislative day of each
regular session of the Legislature, the Educators' Liability
Trust Fund shall provide a report detailing expenditures made
during the preceding year pursuant to this act, including a
breakdown of expenditures by employing school district, to the
State Superintendent of Education, the Chair of the House of
Representatives Ways and Means Education Committee, and the
Chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee.
(c)(1) If an education employee charged with civil or
criminal actions arising out of and in the course of the
performance of his or her assigned duties and responsibilities
under this act successfully defends himself or herself, the
Educators' Liability Trust Fund shall provide for
reimbursement of reasonable expenses for his or her legal
services.
(2) If the Educators' Liability Trust Fund does not pay
a claim for reimbursement pursuant to this subsection,
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a claim for reimbursement pursuant to this subsection,
reimbursement may be made by the employing local board of
education at its sole discretion.
(d)(1) In cases in which a teacher faces legal action,
disciplinary action, or professional sanctions for an action
taken based on his or her classroom management plan that was
approved by the school principal, there is a rebuttable
presumption that the teacher was taking necessary actions to
restore or maintain the safety or instructional atmosphere of
his or her classroom.
(2) Principals shall review and act upon classroom
management plans promptly. Each classroom management plan
shall be approved by the principal before the tenth day of
instruction for students during each academic year.
(e) This section shall not be construed to eliminate,
alter, or otherwise modify any other immunity regarding
officers, employees, or agents of the state established under
the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, and the laws of this
state.
(f) A teacher may not be reprimanded or otherwise be
subjected to disciplinary action by his or her principal, a
local board of education, or the State Board of Education for
any action taken pursuant to this act if his or her actions
are found to be legal and in conformance with the policy of
the local board of education or the State Board of Education.
Section 5. Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year,
the State Board of Education shall adopt a model policy that
reflects the requirements of this act. Each local board of
education may adopt and implement the model policy, or may
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education may adopt and implement the model policy, or may
adopt and implement another policy, provided that each local
board of education shall adopt policies that meet the minimum
requirements of this act.
Section 6. (a) Nothing in this act shall be construed
to infringe on any right provided to a student pursuant to the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990, provided that student information related to this
act shall be included as necessary into any and all
Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), behavioral intervention
plans, and other similar documents.
(b) Principals and other relevant administrators shall
carry out this act in a manner that complies with the laws
listed in subsection (a), including, but not limited to: (i)
promptly carrying out manifestation determinations after
misconduct; (ii) meting out discipline in accordance with the
student code of conduct where misconduct is not determined to
be a manifestation of disability; (iii) performing functional
behavior assessments and adjusting behavior intervention plans
as needed in a timely manner; and (iv) performing any other
duties and responsibilities provided by those laws.
Section 7. This act shall become effective on June 1,
2024.
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2024.
________________________________________________
President and Presiding Officer of the Senate
________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Representatives
SB157
Senate 04-Apr-24
I hereby certify that the within Act originated in and passed
the Senate, as amended.
Patrick Harris,
Secretary.
House of Representatives
Amended and passed: 07-May-24
Senate concurred in House amendment 07-May-24
By: Senator Orr
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