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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
HOUSE BILL 1006 By: West (Rick)
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to schools; amending 70 O.S. 2021,
Section 1-111, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 153,
O.S.L. 2022 (70 O.S. Supp. 2 022, Section 1-111),
which relates to school days; requiring students be
given excused absences for participating in approved
4-H activities; subjecting excused absences to
certain policies; directing 4 -H educator to provide
proof of participati on upon request; requiring
student be given opportunity to make up missed
schoolwork; prohibiting class grades from being
adversely affected; providing exception for certain
absences; and providing an effective date .
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 1 -111, as
amended by Section 1, Chapter 153, O.S.L. 2022 (70 O.S. Supp. 2022,
Section 1-111), is amended to read as follows:
Section 1-111. A. Except as otherwise provi ded for by law, a
school day shall consist of not less than six (6) hours devoted to
school activities. A district board of education may elect to
extend the length of one (1) or more school days to more than six
(6) hours and reduce the number of school days as long as the total
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amount of classroom instruction time is not less than one thousand
eighty (1,080) hours per year as required pursuant to Section 1-109
of this title.
B. A school day for nursery, early childhood education,
kindergarten, and alter native education programs shall be as
otherwise defined by law or as defined by the State Board of
Education. Except as otherwise provided for in this subsection, not
more than one (1) school day shall be counted for attendance
purposes in any twenty -four-hour period. Two (2) school days, each
consisting of not less than six (6) hours, may be counted for
attendance purposes in any twenty-four-hour period only if one of
the school days is for the purpose of parent -teacher conferences
held as provided for i n Section 1-109 of this title.
C. Students Except as provided in subsection D of this section,
students absent from school in which they are regularly enrolled may
be considered as being in attendance if the reason for such absence
is to participate in scheduled school activities und er the direction
and supervision of a regula r member of the faculty or to participate
in an online course approved by the district board of education.
The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to provide for the
implementation of supplemental online courses which shall include ,
but not be limited to, provisions addressing the following:
1. Criteria for student admissions eligibility;
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2. A student admission process administered t hrough the
district of residence, which provides the ability for the stu dent to
enroll in individual courses;
3. A process by which students are not denied the opportunity
to enroll in educationally appropriate courses by school districts.
For the purposes of this section, "educationally appropriate" means
any instruction that is not substantially a repeat of a course or
portion of a course that the student has successfully completed,
regardless of the grade of the student, and regardless of whether a
course is similar to or identical to the instruction that is
currently offered in the school district;
4. Creation of a system which provides ongoing enrollment
access for students throughout the school year;
5. A grace period of fifteen (15) calendar days from the first
day of an online course for student withdrawal from an on line course
without academic penalty;
6. Mastery of competencies for course completion rather than
Carnegie units;
7. Student participation in extracurricular activities in
accordance with school district eligibility rules and policies and
any rules and policies of a private organization or associ ation
which provides the coordination, supervision, and regulation of the
interscholastic activities and contests of schools;
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8. Parent authorization for release of state test results to
online course providers, on a form developed by the State Department
of Education; and
9. A review process to identify and certify online course
providers and a uniform payment processing system.
D. Except as provided in paragraph 3 of this subsecti on,
students absent from scho ol in which they are regularly enrolled
shall be given an excused absence if the reason for such absence is
to participate in scheduled 4 -H activities or programs as approved
by the county 4-H educator. The number of excused a bsences allowed
pursuant to this subsection shall be subject to the attendance
policy of the school district board of education .
1. Upon request from a school principal or attendance office r,
a 4-H educator shall provide documentation as proof of student
participation in an activity or program sponsored by 4 -H.
2. Students shall be given the opportunity to make up any
schoolwork missed while they are participating in activities or
programs sponsored by 4-H. Students shall not have their class
grades adversely affected for lack of at tendance or participation
due to their participation in activities or programs sponsored by 4 -
H.
3. A school principal or his or her designee shall not credit a
student who participates in an activity or program sponsored by 4 -H
with an excused absence if the participation occurs during:
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a. the schedule established by the State Board of
Education for the administration of statewide student
assessments, or
b. any period of time for which the student has been
disciplined, suspend ed, or expelled, if the term s of
punishment would preclude the student from
participating in an educational field trip or
extracurricular activity.
E. Each district board of education shall adopt policies and
procedures that conform to rules for online co urses as adopted by
the State Board. Such policies shall include criteria for approval
of the course, the appropriateness of the course for a particular
student, authorization for full-time students to enroll in online
courses, and establishing fees or ch arges. No district shall be
liable for payment of any fees or charges for any online course for
a student who has not complied with the district's policies and
procedures. School districts shall not deny students the
opportunity to enroll in educationall y appropriate courses and shall
provide an admissions process which includes input from the student,
the parent or legal guardian of the student, and school faculty.
E. F. Districts shall require students enrolled in online
courses to participate in the O klahoma School Testing Program Act.
Students participating in online courses from a remote site will be
responsible for providing their own equipment and Internet acce ss,
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unless the district chooses to provide the equipment. Credit may
not be granted for such courses except u pon approval of the State
Board of Education and the district board of education.
F. G. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a student who
transfers from the d istrict in which the student resides to another
school district pursuant to the Education Open Tr ansfer Act from
enrolling in a full-time virtual education program offered by the
receiving school district. A student who enrolls pursuant to this
subsection shall be subject to the provisions of Section 8 -103.2 of
this title. The board of education of a school district with a
full-time virtual education program shall adopt a policy to
determine the number of transfer students the program has t he
capacity to accept in each grade level, as provided for in S ection
8-101.2 of this title.
G. H. Districts may provide students with opportunities for
blended instruction. "Blended instruction" shall mean a combination
of brick-and-mortar learning and virtual learning environm ents that
includes elements of a student 's control over place, pace, and path
of learning. A student in blended instruction may work on virtual
courses at home or at school in a blended flex lab but shall
participate in at least one unit or set of compete ncies as defined
by Section 11-103.6 of this title at a physical school building in a
traditional classroom setting which is the academic equivalent of
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one (1) hour per day for each instructional day in the school year
as defined by Section 1-109 of this title.
H. I. The school day for kindergarten may consist of six (6)
hours devoted to schoo l activities.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
59-1-5212 EK 11/15/22