House Study Bill 218 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION BILL BY CHAIRPERSON WHEELER) A BILL FOR An Act relating to students who attend a course in religious 1 instruction that is provided by a private organization, 2 including by modifying provisions related to compulsory 3 education and chronic absenteeism and allowing school 4 districts, charter schools, and innovation zone schools to 5 adopt policies related to awarding academic credit for the 6 completion of a course in religious instruction. 7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 8 TLSB 2137YC (5) 91 jda/jh
H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 256E.7, subsection 2, Code 2025, is 1 amended by adding the following new paragraph: 2 NEW PARAGRAPH . 0r. Be subject to and comply with the 3 requirements of section 279.87 related to the adoption of 4 policies related to awarding students academic credit for the 5 completion of a course in religious instruction in the same 6 manner as a school district. 7 Sec. 2. Section 256F.4, subsection 2, Code 2025, is amended 8 by adding the following new paragraph: 9 NEW PARAGRAPH . r. Be subject to and comply with the 10 requirements of section 279.87 related to the adoption of 11 policies related to awarding students academic credit for the 12 completion of a course in religious instruction in the same 13 manner as a school district. 14 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 279.87 Academic credit for completion 15 of courses in religious instruction. 16 1. The board of directors of a school district may adopt 17 a policy related to awarding students academic credit for 18 the completion of a course in religious instruction that is 19 provided by a private organization pursuant to section 299.1D. 20 2. a. A policy adopted by the board of directors of a 21 school district pursuant to subsection 1 must prohibit the 22 school district from considering the religious content included 23 in the course in religious instruction, and the denominational 24 affiliation of the course in religious instruction, when 25 determining whether the course in religious instruction meets 26 the education program requirement pertaining to any unit under 27 section 256.11, subsection 5. 28 b. A policy adopted by the board of directors of a school 29 district pursuant to subsection 1 must require the school 30 district to do all of the following when determining whether 31 the course in religious instruction meets the education program 32 requirement pertaining to any unit under section 256.11, 33 subsection 5: 34 (1) Consider the number of hours of classroom instruction 35 -1- LSB 2137YC (5) 91 jda/jh 1/ 6
H.F. _____ time provided to the student under the course in religious 1 instruction, the methods of assessment used in the course in 2 religious instruction, and the qualifications of the instructor 3 who provided instruction under the course in religious 4 instruction. 5 (2) Review the syllabus associated with the course in 6 religious instruction and any materials provided to the student 7 as part of the course in religious instruction. 8 Sec. 4. Section 299.1, subsection 4, paragraph b, Code 2025, 9 is amended by adding the following new subparagraph: 10 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (7) While attending a course in religious 11 instruction pursuant to section 299.1D. 12 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 299.1D Absences related to courses in 13 religious instruction. 14 1. Section 299.1 shall not apply to a child while the child 15 is attending a course in religious instruction that is provided 16 by a private organization if all of the following requirements 17 are satisfied: 18 a. The childs parent, guardian, or legal or actual 19 custodian of the child, if the child is not an emancipated 20 minor, or the child, if the child is an emancipated minor, 21 must submit a notification to the public school or accredited 22 nonpublic school informing the school that the child will 23 attend a course in religious instruction during the school day. 24 b. The course in religious instruction must not require the 25 child to be absent from school for more than five hours per 26 week. 27 c. The private organization that provides the course in 28 religious instruction must maintain attendance records and must 29 make the attendance records available to the school district 30 or accredited nonpublic school to verify when the child is 31 attending a course in religious instruction. 32 d. Transportation related to the course in religious 33 instruction must be provided by the private organization, the 34 childs parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian, or the 35 -2- LSB 2137YC (5) 91 jda/jh 2/ 6
H.F. _____ child. 1 e. The private organization must make provisions for and 2 assume liability for the child while the child is attending the 3 course in religious instruction. 4 f. The school district or accredited nonpublic school 5 must not expend any moneys related to the course in religious 6 instruction, not including de minimis administrative costs 7 associated with processing notifications received under 8 subsection 1 and tracking the childs attendance to ensure 9 compliance with this section. 10 g. The course in religious instruction must not be held 11 on school district property unless authorized by the board of 12 directors of the school district pursuant to section 297.9. 13 h. The child must agree to make up any school work that the 14 child does not complete while attending the course in religious 15 instruction. 16 2. Each school district and each accredited nonpublic 17 school shall, upon the request of a childs parent, guardian, 18 or legal or actual custodian, if the child is not an 19 emancipated minor, or the child, if the child is an emancipated 20 minor, excuse the child from attendance for at least one hour 21 per week, but for not more than five hours per week, so that the 22 child can attend a course in religious instruction if all of 23 the requirements under subsection 1 are satisfied. 24 3. A childs parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian 25 of the child, if the child is not an emancipated minor, or the 26 child, if the child is an emancipated minor, who alleges that 27 a school district has violated this section may bring a civil 28 action for injunctive relief and actual damages against the 29 school district. If the childs parent, guardian, or legal or 30 actual custodian, or the child, is the prevailing party in a 31 civil action instituted pursuant to this subsection, the court 32 shall award reasonable court costs and attorney fees to the 33 childs parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian, or the 34 child, as applicable. 35 -3- LSB 2137YC (5) 91 jda/jh 3/ 6
H.F. _____ Sec. 6. Section 299.2, Code 2025, is amended by adding the 1 following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 7. While attending a course in religious 3 instruction pursuant to section 299.1D. 4 Sec. 7. Section 299.12, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 5 2025, is amended to read as follows: 6 a. Chronically absent means any absence from school for 7 more than ten percent of the days or hours in the grading 8 period established by a public school ; provided, however, that 9 an absence from school that is related to attending a course 10 in religious instruction pursuant to section 299.1D shall not 11 count toward this amount . 12 EXPLANATION 13 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 14 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 15 This bill relates to students who attend a course 16 in religious instruction that is provided by a private 17 organization, including by modifying provisions related to 18 compulsory education and chronic absenteeism and allowing 19 school districts, charter schools, and innovation zone schools 20 to adopt policies related to awarding academic credit for the 21 completion of a course in religious instruction. 22 Under current law, the parent, guardian, or legal or actual 23 custodian of a child who is of compulsory attendance age is 24 required to cause the child to attend some public school or an 25 accredited nonpublic school, or place the child under competent 26 private instruction or independent private instruction, during 27 a school year. Current law establishes certain exceptions to 28 this general rule. The bill adds to this list of exceptions 29 children who are attending a course in religious instruction 30 that is provided by a private organization and that satisfies 31 certain specified requirements, including requirements related 32 to notification, number of absences, maintenance of attendance 33 records, transportation, assumption of liability, expenditure 34 of moneys, location of instruction, and completion of school 35 -4- LSB 2137YC (5) 91 jda/jh 4/ 6
H.F. _____ work. The bill requires schools to, upon the request of the 1 child or the childs parent, guardian, or legal or actual 2 custodian, as applicable, excuse the child from attendance for 3 at least one hour per week, but for not more than five hours 4 per week, so that the child can attend a course in religious 5 instruction if all of the bills requirements are satisfied. 6 The bill also requires schools to incorporate provisions 7 related to attending courses in religious instruction into 8 policies related to chronic absenteeism. Absences associated 9 with attending a course in religious instruction are not 10 counted toward truancy or enforcement mechanisms associated 11 with chronic absenteeism. 12 The bill allows parents, guardians, legal or actual 13 custodians, and children who allege that a school district 14 has violated the bills provisions to bring a civil action 15 for injunctive relief and actual damages against the school 16 district. If the childs parent, guardian, or legal or actual 17 custodian, or the child, is the prevailing party in such a 18 civil action, the court is required to award reasonable court 19 costs and attorney fees to the childs parent, guardian, or 20 legal or actual custodian, or the child, as applicable. 21 The bill allows school districts, charter schools, and 22 innovation zone schools to adopt policies related to awarding 23 students academic credit for the completion of a course in 24 religious instruction that is provided in accordance with 25 the bills provisions. The bill establishes prohibitions 26 and requirements related to the schools practices under the 27 policy, if adopted, including prohibiting the school from 28 considering the religious content included in the course in 29 religious instruction when determining whether the course meets 30 the education program requirement pertaining to any unit under 31 Code section 256.11(5) (high school educational standards), 32 and requiring the school to consider the number of hours of 33 classroom instruction time provided to the student under the 34 course, the methods of assessment used in the course, and the 35 -5- LSB 2137YC (5) 91 jda/jh 5/ 6
H.F. _____ qualifications of the instructor who provided instruction under 1 the course, and to review the syllabus associated with the 2 course, when determining whether the course meets the education 3 program requirement pertaining to any unit under Code section 4 256.11(5). 5 -6- LSB 2137YC (5) 91 jda/jh 6/ 6