OK
Oklahoma Senate Bill SB1170

Oklahoma 2022 Regular Session

Oklahoma Senate Bill SB1170 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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5353 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
5454
5555 2nd Session of the 58th Legislature (2022)
5656
5757 SENATE BILL 1170 By: Standridge
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6363 AS INTRODUCED
6464
6565 An Act relating to scholarships; creating the
6666 Religious Freedom Scholarship Program Act; providing
6767 short title; creating the Religious Freedom
6868 Scholarship Program; providing purpose; allowing
6969 certain parents and legal guardians to request a
7070 Religious Freedom Scholarship; providing eligibility
7171 criteria for students; establi shing requirements for
7272 scholarship award; requiring school districts to
7373 provide certain noti fication about the Religious
7474 Freedom Scholarship Program; requiring certain
7575 parents and legal guardians to assume certain
7676 financial responsibility; providing for notificatio n
7777 if certain acceptance is pending space availability;
7878 establishing eligibility criteria for private schools
7979 to participate in the Religious Freedom Scholarship
8080 Program; establishing compliance parameters for
8181 Religious Freedom Scholarship Program participants;
8282 providing for calculation of payment of Religious
8383 Freedom Scholarships; directing the State
8484 Superintendent to suspend participation of a private
8585 school under certain circumstances; providing for
8686 notification; allowi ng request of administrative
8787 hearing; providing for action by t he State Board of
8888 Education; providing immunity from liability for
8989 certain entities based on the use or award of certain
9090 funds; prohibiting the expansion of certain
9191 regulatory authority over pr ivate schools; providing
9292 for codification; providing an effecti ve date; and
9393 declaring an emergency.
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151151 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
152152 SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
153153 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 10-110 of Title 70, unless there
154154 is created a duplication in num bering, reads as follows:
155155 This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Religious
156156 Freedom Scholarship Program Act ".
157157 SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
158158 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 10-111 of Title 70, unless there
159159 is created a duplication in numbering, r eads as follows:
160160 A. There is hereby created the Religious Freedom Scholarship
161161 Program to provide a scholarship to a n eligible private school of
162162 choice for students who have concerns related to their free exercise
163163 of religion as provided for in subs ection B of this section.
164164 Scholarships shall be awarded beginning with the 2023-2024 school
165165 year.
166166 B. Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, the parent or
167167 legal guardian of a student enrolled in a public scho ol district in
168168 this state may exercise their parental option and request to have a
169169 Religious Freedom Scholarship awarded for the student to enroll in
170170 and attend a private school in accordance with this sect ion. A
171171 student shall be deemed eligible if :
172172 1. The parent or legal guard ian of the student objects to
173173 instruction or curriculum provided by the school district that he or
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225225 she believes is in opposition to his or her closely held religious
226226 beliefs; or
227227 2. The parent or legal guardian of the student objects to
228228 instruction or curriculum provided by the school district that he or
229229 she believes promotes anti-religious sentiment and is in opposition
230230 to his or her closely held religious beliefs.
231231 C. The parent or legal guardian of a public school student may
232232 exercise their parental option and request to have a Religious
233233 Freedom Scholarship awarded for the student to enroll in and attend
234234 a private school in accordance with this section, and the
235235 scholarship shall be awarded if:
236236 1. The student has spent the prior year in attendance at a
237237 public school in this state. For purposes of this section, "prior
238238 school year in attendance " means that the student was enrolled in
239239 and reported by a school district for funding purposes during the
240240 preceding school year; and
241241 2. The parent or legal guardian has obtained acceptance for
242242 admission of the student to a private school and has notified the
243243 State Department of Education of the request for a scholarship.
244244 Requests to participate in the program made after December 1 shall
245245 be granted, but funding for scholarships requested after Dec ember 1
246246 shall not be available until the beginning of the next school year.
247247 The request shall be through a comm unication directly to the State
248248 Department of Education in a manner that creates a written or
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300300 electronic record of the request and the date of r eceipt of the
301301 request. The State Department of Education shall notify the school
302302 district upon receipt of the r equest. For purposes of continuity of
303303 educational choice, the Religious Freedom Scholarship shall remain
304304 in force until the student returns to a public school, graduates
305305 from high school, or reaches the age of twenty -one (21), whichever
306306 comes first. At any time, the parent or legal guardian o f the
307307 student may remove the student from the private school and place the
308308 student in another private school or pla ce the student in a public
309309 school.
310310 D. School districts shall notify the parent or legal guardian
311311 of all enrolled students about Religious Freedom Scholarship Program
312312 information made available from the State Department of Education
313313 through a toll-free telephone number or website.
314314 E. Upon acceptance of a Religious Freedom Scholarship, the
315315 parent or legal guardian of a student shall assume full financial
316316 responsibility for the education of the student including but not
317317 limited to transportation to and from the private school .
318318 F. If the parent or legal guardian requests a Religious Freedom
319319 Scholarship and the student is accepted by the private s chool
320320 pending the availability of a sp ace for the student, the parent or
321321 legal guardian of the student shall notify the State Department of
322322 Education before entering the private school and before December 1
323323 to be eligible for the scholarship during the sch ool year when a
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375375 space becomes availabl e in the private school. If notification is
376376 made after December 1, payment of the scholarship shall not begin
377377 until the following school year.
378378 G. To be eligible to participate i n the Religious Freedom
379379 Scholarship Program, a private school shall notify the State
380380 Department of Education of its intent to parti cipate. The notice
381381 shall specify the grade levels and serv ices that the private school
382382 has available for students who are pa rticipating in the program.
383383 The State Department of Education shall approve a private sc hool as
384384 eligible to participate in the Religious Freedom Scholarship Program
385385 upon determination that the priva te school:
386386 1. Demonstrates fiscal soundness by having been in ope ration
387387 for one (1) school year or providing the State D epartment of
388388 Education with a written statement prepared by a certified public
389389 accountant confirming that the private school seeking to participate
390390 is insured and the owner or owners have sufficient ca pital or credit
391391 to operate the school for the upcoming year by serving the numbe r of
392392 students anticipated with e xpected revenues from tuition and other
393393 sources that may be reasonably expected. In lieu of a statemen t, a
394394 surety bond or letter of credit for the amount equal to the
395395 scholarship funds for any quart er may be filed with the Department;
396396 2. Meets state and local health and safet y laws and codes;
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448448 3. Will be academicall y accountable to the parent or legal
449449 guardian of the student for meeting the educational needs of the
450450 student;
451451 4. Employs or contracts with teachers wh o hold baccalaureate or
452452 higher degrees, have at least three (3) years of teaching experience
453453 in public or private schools or have special skills, knowledge or
454454 expertise that, in the judgment of the school administra tion,
455455 qualifies them to provide instructi on in subjects taught;
456456 5. Complies with all state laws relatin g to general regulation
457457 of private schools; and
458458 6. Adheres to the tenets of its published disci plinary
459459 procedures prior to the expulsion of an eligible student.
460460 H. 1. Religious Freedom Scholarship Program participants shall
461461 comply with the following:
462462 a. the parent or legal guardian of the student shall
463463 select the private school from those approved for
464464 eligibility pursuant to subsection F of this sectio n
465465 and apply for the admission of the stud ent,
466466 b. the parent or legal guardian of the student shall
467467 request the Religious Freedom Scholarship no later
468468 than December 1 of the school year during which the
469469 scholarship is requested,
470470 c. any student participating in the Religious Freedom
471471 Scholarship Program shall attend throughout the school
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523523 year, unless excused by the school for illness or
524524 other good cause, and shall comply fully wit h the code
525525 of conduct for the school,
526526 d. the parent or legal guardian of the stud ent shall
527527 fully comply with the parental involvement
528528 requirements of the private school, unless excused by
529529 the school for illness or o ther good cause, and
530530 e. upon issuance of a Religious Freedom Scholarship
531531 warrant, the parent or legal guardian to whom the
532532 warrant for tuition is made shall restri ctively
533533 endorse the warrant to the private school for deposit
534534 into the account of the private school. The parent or
535535 legal guardian of the stud ent may not designate any
536536 entity or individual assoc iated with the priva te
537537 school as the attorney in fact for the parent or legal
538538 guardian to endorse a warrant. A parent or legal
539539 guardian of a student who fails to comply with this
540540 subparagraph shall forfe it the scholarship.
541541 2. A Religious Freedom Scholarship Program participant who
542542 fails to comply with this subsect ion forfeits the scholarship.
543543 I. Provisions governing payment of a Religious Freedom
544544 Scholarship shall be as follows:
545545 1. The State Departme nt of Education shal l calculate the total
546546 cost of all scholarships for a ll eligible students in this state .
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598598 The State Department of Education shall then reserve or retain from
599599 the total amount appropriated to the State Board of Educat ion for
600600 State Aid purposes and any other revenue available for allocation
601601 for State Aid purposes the total cost for all scholarship paym ents;
602602 2. The maximum scholarship granted for an eligible student
603603 shall be a calculated amount equivalent to the total S tate Aid
604604 factors for the applicable schoo l year multiplied by the grade
605605 weight generated by t he student for the applicable school year. The
606606 maximum scholarship amount shall be calculated by the State Board of
607607 Education for each year the student is partici pating in the
608608 Religious Freedom Scholarship Program;
609609 3. The amount of the scholarship shall be the amount calculated
610610 in paragraph 2 of this subsection or the amount of tuition and fees
611611 for the private school, whichever is less, minus up to two and one -
612612 half percent (2 1/2%) of the scholars hip amount, which may be
613613 retained by the State Department of Education as a fee for
614614 administrative services rendered. The amount of the scholarship
615615 shall be prorated to reflect the number of days remaining in the
616616 current school year, if the scholarship is granted after the
617617 beginning of the schoo l year;
618618 4. The State Department of Education shall notify th e private
619619 school of the amount of the scholarship within ten (10) days after
620620 receiving the request for a scholarship, when the to tal State Aid
621621 factors have been determined for the current fiscal year. The
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673673 initial payment shall be made after the Department verifies
674674 admission acceptance and enrollment of the student. Quarterly
675675 payments shall be made upon verification of continued en rollment and
676676 attendance at the private school. Payment shall be m ade by the
677677 Department with an individual warrant made payable to the parent or
678678 legal guardian of the student and mailed by the Department to the
679679 private school that the parent or legal guard ian chooses. The
680680 parent or legal guardian shall restrictively end orse the warrant to
681681 the private school for deposit into the a ccount of the private
682682 school;
683683 5. The State Department of Education shall not be responsible
684684 for any additional costs associated with the education servic es
685685 incurred by the private school for the student including the cost of
686686 teachers, equipment, and materials;
687687 6. The State Department of Education shall establish a toll -
688688 free telephone number or website that provides parents or lega l
689689 guardians and private s chools with information about the program ;
690690 7. The State Department of Education shall require an annu al,
691691 notarized, sworn compliance statement by participating private
692692 schools certifying compliance with state laws and shall retain all
693693 records received fro m a participating private school; and
694694 8. The State Department of Education shall cross-check the list
695695 of participating scholarship students with the public school
696696 enrollments prior to each scholarship payment to avoid duplication.
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748748 J. 1. The State Superi ntendent of Public Instruction shall
749749 deny, suspend, or revoke the participation of a private school in
750750 the Religious Freedom Scholarship Program if it is determined that
751751 the private school has failed to comply with the provisions of this
752752 section. However, in instances in which the noncompliance is
753753 correctable within a reasonable amount of time and in whic h the
754754 health, safety, or welfare of the students is not threatened, the
755755 Superintendent may issue a notice of noncompliance which shall
756756 provide the private school with a time frame within which to provide
757757 evidence of compliance prior to taking action to sus pend or revoke
758758 participation in the Religious Freedom Scholarship Program.
759759 2. If the Superintendent intends to deny, suspend , or revoke
760760 the participation of a private school in the Religious Freedom
761761 Scholarship Program, the State Depart ment of Education shall notify
762762 the private school of the proposed action in writing by certified
763763 mail and regular mail to the private school 's address of record with
764764 the Department. The Department shall also notify the parents or
765765 legal guardians of studen ts granted a Religious Freedom Scholarship
766766 who are attending the private school. The notification shall
767767 include the reasons for the proposed action and notice of the
768768 timelines and proced ures set forth in this subsection.
769769 3. The private school that is adversely affect ed by the
770770 proposed action shall have fifteen (15) days from receipt of the
771771 notice of proposed action to file with the Department a request for
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823823 an administrative hearing pursu ant to the Administrative Procedures
824824 Act.
825825 4. Upon receipt of a request for a he aring, the State Board of
826826 Education shall commence a hearing within sixty (60) days after the
827827 receipt of the formal written request and enter an order within
828828 thirty (30) days after the hearing.
829829 5. The Board may immed iately suspend payment of Religious
830830 Freedom Scholarship funds if it is determined that there is probable
831831 cause to believe that there is an imminent threat to the health,
832832 safety, or welfare of the students or fraudulent activi ty on the
833833 part of the private school.
834834 K. No liability shall arise on the part of the state, the State
835835 Board of Education, the State Department of Education , or a school
836836 district based on the award or use of funds provided through the
837837 Religious Freedom Scholarship Program.
838838 L. The inclusion of private schools within options available to
839839 public school students in Oklahoma shall not expand the regulatory
840840 authority of the state or any school district to impose any
841841 additional regulation of private schools beyond those re asonably
842842 necessary to enforce the requirements expressly set forth in this
843843 section.
844844 SECTION 3. This act shall become effective July 1, 2022.
845845 SECTION 4. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
846846 of the public peace, health, or safety, an emergency is hereby
847847
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898898 declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
899899 be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
900900
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