OK
Oklahoma House Bill HB3123

Oklahoma 2024 Regular Session

Oklahoma House Bill HB3123 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 59th Legislature (202 4)
5656
5757 HOUSE BILL 3123 By: Williams
5858
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6363 AS INTRODUCED
6464
6565 An Act relating to student discipline; amending 70
6666 O.S. 2021, Sections 24-100.3 and 24-100.4, as amended
6767 by Section 6, Chapter 15, O.S. L. 2023 (70 O.S. Supp.
6868 2023, Section 24-100.4), which relate to the School
6969 Safety and Bullying Prevention Act ; adding defined
7070 terms; deleting student disciplinary limitations on
7171 State Board of Education ; allowing teacher or bus
7272 driver to exclude students for certain conduct;
7373 requiring excluded student to be supervised by the
7474 principal or designee ; providing for discip linary
7575 action; requiring certain notice of disciplinary
7676 action; establishing process for student to be
7777 readmitted to the classroom or bus; aut horizing
7878 transfer of student to alternative setting; directing
7979 school board of education to increase attention and
8080 resources to certain programs; providing additional
8181 disciplinary measures for older students; prescribing
8282 process for reporting certain student disciplinary
8383 actions in online student information system;
8484 mandating Board establish minimum requirements for
8585 school discipline policies; creating a n online
8686 reporting portal in the student information system;
8787 prohibiting establishment of a s tatewide uniform
8888 discipline policy; providing an effective date; and
8989 declaring an emergency.
9090
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9595 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
9696 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 24 -100.3, is
9797 amended to read as follows :
9898
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149149 Section 24-100.3 A. As used in the School Safety and Bull ying
150150 Prevention Act:
151151 1. "At school" means on school grounds, in school vehicles, at
152152 school-sponsored activities, or at school -sanctioned events;
153153 2. "Bullying" means any pattern of harassment, i ntimidation,
154154 threatening behavior, physical acts, verbal or e lectronic
155155 communication directed toward a student or group of students that
156156 results in or is reasonabl y perceived as being done with the intent
157157 to cause negative educational or physical results f or the targeted
158158 individual or group and is communicated in su ch a way as to disrupt
159159 or interfere with the school 's educational mission or the education
160160 of any student;
161161 2. "At school" means on school grounds, in school vehicles, at
162162 school-sponsored activities, or at school-sanctioned events;
163163 3. "Bus" means any vehicle used to transport students to and
164164 from school or school district events , whether intramural or
165165 extramural;
166166 4. "Bus driver" means any person employed on a full-time or
167167 part-time basis by the school district to operate a bus;
168168 5. "Disorderly conduct" means any pattern of behavior or
169169 isolated action committed to disrupt the normal proceedings or
170170 processes at school or to limit the ability of a teacher to provide
171171 instruction or other school servi ces to public school stud ents;
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223223 6. "Disruptive behavior" means a series of actions considered
224224 to be disorderly conduct, threatening behavior, or interference in
225225 the teaching or learning processes of others ;
226226 7. "Electronic communication " means the communication of any
227227 written, verbal, pictorial information or video content by means of
228228 an electronic device, including, but not limited to, a telephone, a
229229 mobile or cellular telephone or other wireless telecommunication
230230 device, or a computer;
231231 8. "Learning process" means the actions or ste ps required for
232232 an individual to acquire, comprehend, and commit to memory s pecific
233233 knowledge being taugh t by a teacher in the classroom;
234234 9. "Orderly educational process " means a teacher's lesson plan
235235 for the day, class period, or specified time for parti cular
236236 instruction;
237237 10. "Teaching process" means the actions or steps required for a
238238 teacher to perform in order for students to acquire, comprehend, and
239239 commit to memory specific knowledge; and
240240 4. 11. "Threatening behavior " means any pattern of behavior or
241241 isolated action, whether or not it is directed at another person,
242242 that a reasonable person would beli eve indicates potential for
243243 future harm to students, school personnel, or school property.
244244 B. Nothing in this act shall be construed to impose a speci fic
245245 liability on any school district.
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297297 SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Secti on 24-100.4, as
298298 amended by Section 6, Chapter 15, O.S.L. 2023 (70 O.S. Supp. 2023,
299299 Section 24-100.4), is amended to read as follows:
300300 Section 24-100.4 A. Each school district board of education
301301 shall adopt a policy fo r the discipline of all children attending
302302 public school in that district, and for the investigation of
303303 reported incidents of bullying. The policy shall provide options
304304 for the discipline of the students and shall define standards of
305305 conduct to which stud ents are expected to conform. The policy
306306 shall:
307307 1. Specifically address bullying by students at school and by
308308 electronic communication, if the communication is specifically
309309 directed at students or school personnel and concerns bullying at
310310 school;
311311 2. Contain a procedure for reporting an act of bullying to a
312312 school official or law enforcement agency, including a provision
313313 that permits a person to report an act anonymously. No formal
314314 disciplinary action shall be taken solely on the basis of an
315315 anonymous report;
316316 3. Contain a requirement that any school employee that has
317317 reliable information that would lead a reasonable person to suspect
318318 that a person is a target of bullying shall immediately report it to
319319 the principal or a designee of the principal;
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371371 4. Contain a statement of how the policy is to be publicized
372372 including a requirement that:
373373 a. an annual written notice of the policy be provided to
374374 parents, guardians, staff, volunteers and students,
375375 with age-appropriate language for students,
376376 b. notice of the policy be posted at various locations
377377 within each school site, including but not limited to
378378 cafeterias, school bulletin boards, and administration
379379 offices,
380380 c. the policy be posted on the Internet website for the
381381 school district and each school site that has an
382382 Internet website, and
383383 d. the policy be included in all student and employee
384384 handbooks;
385385 5. Require that appropriate school district personnel involved
386386 in investigating reports of bullying make a determination regarding
387387 whether the conduct is actually o ccurring;
388388 6. Contain a procedure for providing timely notification to the
389389 parents or guardians of a victim of documented and verified bullying
390390 and to the parents or guardians of the perpetrator of the documented
391391 and verified bullying;
392392 7. Identify by job title the school official responsible for
393393 enforcing the policy;
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445445 8. Contain procedures for reporting to law enforcement all
446446 documented and verified acts of bullying which may constitute
447447 criminal activity or reasonably have the potential to endanger
448448 school safety;
449449 9. Require training for administrators and school employees as
450450 developed and provided by the State Department of Education in
451451 preventing, identifying, responding to and reporting incidents of
452452 bullying. The training shall be completed the f irst year an
453453 administrator or school employee is employed by a school district,
454454 and then once every fifth academic year;
455455 10. Provide for an educational program as designed and
456456 developed by the State Depart ment of Education and in consultation
457457 with the Office of Juvenile Affairs for students a nd parents in
458458 preventing, identifying, responding to and reporting incidents of
459459 bullying;
460460 11. Establish a procedure for referral of a person who commits
461461 an act of bullying to a delinquency prevention and diversion pro gram
462462 administered by the Office of Juv enile Affairs;
463463 12. Address prevention by providing:
464464 a. consequences and remedial action for a person who
465465 commits an act of bullying,
466466 b. consequences and remedial actio n for a student found
467467 to have falsely accused a nother as a means of
468468 retaliation, reprisa l or as a means of bullying, and
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520520 c. a strategy for providing counseling or referral to
521521 appropriate services, including guidance, academic
522522 intervention, and other protec tion for students, both
523523 targets and perpetrato rs, and family members affected
524524 by bullying, as necessary;
525525 13. Establish a procedure for:
526526 a. the investigation, determination and documentation of
527527 all incidents of bullying reported to school
528528 officials,
529529 b. identifying the principal or a designee of the
530530 principal as the person responsible for inve stigating
531531 incidents of bullying,
532532 c. reporting the number of incidents of bullying, and
533533 d. determining the severity of the incidents and their
534534 potential to result in fut ure violence;
535535 14. Establish a procedure whereby, upon completing an
536536 investigation of bullying, a school may recommend that available
537537 community mental health care, substance ab use or other counseling
538538 options be provided to the student, if appropriate; and
539539 15. Establish a procedure whereby a sc hool may request the
540540 disclosure of any informatio n concerning students who have received
541541 mental health, substance abuse, or other care pu rsuant to paragraph
542542 14 of this subsection that indicates an explicit threat to t he
543543 safety of students or school personn el, provided the disclosure of
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595595 the information does not violate the requirements and provisions of
596596 the Family Educational Rights and Priv acy Act of 1974, the Health
597597 Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 , Section 2503
598598 of Title 12 of the Oklah oma Statutes, Section 1376 of Title 59 of
599599 the Oklahoma Statutes, or any other state or federal laws regarding
600600 the disclosure of confident ial information.
601601 B. In developing the policy, the district board of education
602602 shall make an effort to involve the tea chers, parents,
603603 administrators, school staff, scho ol volunteers, community
604604 representatives, local law enforcement agencies and students . The
605605 students, teachers, and parents or guardian of every child residing
606606 within a school district shall be notified by the district board of
607607 education of its adoption of the policy and shall receive a copy
608608 upon request. The school district policy shall be implemented in a
609609 manner that is ongoing throughout the school year and is integr ated
610610 with other violence prevention ef forts.
611611 C. The teacher of a child attending a publ ic school shall have
612612 the same right as a parent or guardian to control and discipline
613613 such child according to district policies during the time the child
614614 is in attendance or in transit to or from the schoo l or any other
615615 school function authorized by the sc hool district or classroom
616616 presided over by the teacher.
617617 D. Except concerning students on individualized education plans
618618 (IEP) pursuant to the Individuals with Disabil ities Education Act
619619
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669669
670670 (IDEA), P.L. No. 101-476, the State Board of Education shall not
671671 have authority to prescribe student disciplinary policies for school
672672 districts or to proscr ibe corporal punishment in the public schools.
673673 The State Board of Education sha ll not have authority to require
674674 school districts to file student disciplinary action re ports more
675675 often than once each year and shall not use disciplinary action
676676 reports in determining a school district's or school site's
677677 eligibility for program assistanc e including competitive grants
678678 1. A teacher or bus driver may exclude from his or her
679679 classroom or school bus any student who:
680680 a. is guilty of disorderly conduct ,
681681 b. in any manner interferes with an orderly educational
682682 process,
683683 c. behaves in a manner that obstructs the teaching or
684684 learning process of others in the classroom or on the
685685 bus,
686686 d. threatens, abuses, or otherwise intimidates or
687687 attempts to intimidate a school employee or a student ,
688688 e. willfully disobeys a school employee, or
689689 f. uses abusive or profane language directed at a school
690690 employee.
691691 2. Any student excluded pursuant to paragraph 1 of this
692692 subsection shall be placed under the supervision of the principal of
693693 the school or a designee. The excluded student may be admitted to
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745745 the classroom or school bus only when the principal, or a designee,
746746 provides written certification to the teacher or bus driver that the
747747 student may be readmitted and specifies the type of disciplinary
748748 action, if any, that was taken. If the principal finds that
749749 disciplinary action is warranted, he or she shall provide written
750750 and, if possible, telephonic n otice of the action to the parent,
751751 guardian, or custodian of the student. When a student is excluded
752752 from a classroom or a school bus twice in one semester, and after
753753 exhausting all reasonable methods of classroom discipline provided
754754 in the school discipline policy, the student may be readmitte d to
755755 the classroom or the school bus only after the principal and teacher
756756 or bus driver, and, if possible, the par ent, guardian, or custodian
757757 of the student have held a conference to discuss the disruptive
758758 behavior patterns of the student, and the teacher or bus driver and
759759 the principal agree on a course of discipline for the student and
760760 inform the parent, guardian, or custodian of the course of action.
761761 Thereafter, if the student's disruptive behavior persists, upon the
762762 request of the teacher or bus driver, the principal may, to the
763763 extent feasible, transfer the student to anothe r setting, including
764764 but not limited to, isolating students or placing them in
765765 alternative education programs or academies established pursuant to
766766 Section 1210.568 of this title. The district board of education
767767 shall increase attention and resources to its alternative education
768768 program or its cooperative alternative education program to expand
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820820 its capacity for alternative placements, subject to fundi ng, to
821821 correct the behaviors of students so they can return to a regular
822822 classroom without engaging in further disruptive beha vior.
823823 3. When a teacher in grades six through twelve, excluding an
824824 elementary school teacher, determines that the behavior of the
825825 student is disorderly conduct, i s interfering with an orderly
826826 educational process, or obstructs the teaching or learning proc ess
827827 of others in the classroom:
828828 a. the student may be excluded from the teacher's
829829 classroom and, if excluded, shall not re-enter the
830830 teacher's classroom for at lea st the remainder of the
831831 instructional day, and
832832 b. if the student is excluded pursuant to subp aragraph a
833833 of this paragraph:
834834 (1) the principal shall communicate wi th the teacher
835835 within twenty-four (24) hours of the student
836836 being excluded from the teacher 's classroom about
837837 the exclusion,
838838 (2) the teacher shall have twenty-four (24) hours to
839839 create an electronic report of the student being
840840 excluded and record the report in a web-based
841841 platform in the student information system
842842 created by paragraph 4 of subsection G of this
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894894 section, without any consequence to the teacher,
895895 and
896896 (3) if the student is remove d from a classroom a
897897 total of three times in one month for one or more
898898 of the behaviors listed in paragraph 1 of this
899899 subsection, the student shall receive , as
900900 determined by the principal, an in-school
901901 suspension, an out-of-school suspension, or may
902902 be considered for placement in an alternati ve
903903 education program or a cooperative education
904904 program if available.
905905 E. The board of education of each school district i n this state
906906 shall have the option of adopting a dress code for s tudents enrolled
907907 in the school district. The board of education of a school district
908908 shall also have the o ption of adopting a dress code whic h includes
909909 school uniforms.
910910 F. The board of education of each school district in this state
911911 shall have the option of adopting a procedure that requires students
912912 to perform campus-site service for violating the district 's policy.
913913 G. The State Board of E ducation shall:
914914 1. Promulgate rules for periodical ly monitoring school
915915 districts for compliance with this section, establishing minimum
916916 requirements for school district disciplin e policies, and providing
917917 sanctions for noncompliance with this section;
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969969 2. Establish and maintain a central repository for the
970970 collection of information regarding documented and verified
971971 incidents of bullying; and
972972 3. Publish a report annually on the State Department of
973973 Education website regar ding the number of documented and verified
974974 incidents of bullying in the public s chools in the state; and
975975 4. Create a web-based platform in the student information
976976 system for teachers to file reports of student incidents described
977977 in division (2) of subparagraph b of paragraph 3 of subsection D of
978978 this section.
979979 H. Rules promulgated in accordance with this section shall not
980980 establish a uniform discipline policy fo r the entire state.
981981 SECTION 3. This act shall become effective July 1, 2024.
982982 SECTION 4. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
983983 of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
984984 declared to exist, b y reason whereof this act shall take effect and
985985 be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
986986
987987 59-2-9247 EK 01/08/24