Rhode Island 2025 Regular Session

Rhode Island Senate Bill S0396 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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5	5	2025 -- S 0396
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7	7	LC001967
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9	9	S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D
10	10	IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
11	11	JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025
12	12	____________
13	13
14	14	A N A C T
15	15	RELATING TO EDUCATION -- RIGHTS OF PARENTS AND GUARDIAN S IN PUBLIC
16	16	EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCT ION ACT
17	17	Introduced By: Senators E Morgan, Rogers, de la Cruz, Paolino, and Raptakis
18	18	Date Introduced: February 26, 2025
19	19	Referred To: Senate Education
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22	22	It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
23	23	SECTION 1. Title 16 of the General Laws entitled "EDUCATION" is hereby amended by 1
24	24	adding thereto the following chapter: 2
25	25	CHAPTER 117 3
26	26	RIGHTS OF PARENTS AND GUARDIANS IN PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTION 4
27	27	ACT 5
28	28	16-117-1. Short title. 6
29	29	This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Rights of Parents and Guardians in 7
30	30	Public Educational Instruction Act." 8
31	31	16-117-2. Legislative purpose. 9
32	32	It is the purpose of this chapter to enable parents and guardians to have a voice in the 10
33	33	materials taught to their kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) children. 11
34	34	16-117-3. Definitions. 12
35	35	As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings 13
36	36	unless the context shall clearly indicate another or different meaning or intent: 14
37	37	(1) "Lesson plan" means the daily, weekly, or other routinely produced guide, description 15
38	38	or outline of the instruction to be provided by a teacher to students at school. 16
39	39	(2) "Objects to any learning material or activity on the basis that the material or activity is 17
40	40	harmful" means objecting to the material or activity because of sexual content, violent content or 18
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43	43	LC001967 - Page 2 of 7
44	44	profane or vulgar language. 1
45	45	(3) "Procedures or processes" means procedures or processes that may vary by subject, 2
46	46	area or grade. 3
47	47	(4) "Public educational institution" means any of the following: 4
48	48	(i) A school district, including its schools; or 5
49	49	(ii) A charter school. 6
50	50	(5) "Used for student instruction" means: 7
51	51	(i) Assigned, distributed or otherwise presented to students in any course for which students 8
52	52	receive academic credit or in any educational capacity in which the school requires the student 9
53	53	body to participate or in which a majority of students, in a given grade level, participate; and 10
54	54	(ii) Includes learning materials or activities from which students are required to choose one 11
55	55	or more from a selection of materials that is restricted to specific titles. 12
56	56	16-117-4. Publication and posting by municipality. 13
57	57	(a) Every municipality shall publish or prominently place on the municipal website, at least 14
58	58	annually, a directory summarizing the subject matter of all currently applicable ordinances, codes 15
59	59	and substantive policy statements. The municipality shall keep copies of the directory and all 16
60	60	substantive policy statements at one location. The directory, ordinances, codes and substantive 17
61	61	policy statements and any materials incorporated by reference in the documents shall be open to 18
62	62	public inspection at the office of the municipality or posted on the municipal website. 19
63	63	(b) The municipality may post on its website links to the website of each school that posts 20
64	64	materials pursuant to this chapter and that is located within the municipality 21
65	65	16-117-5. Parents' and guardians' rights in educational materials. 22
66	66	(a) A parent or guardian of a student in a public educational institution has the right to 23
67	67	review learning materials and activities in advance. A parent or guardian who objects to any 24
68	68	learning material or activity on the basis that the material or activity is harmful may request to 25
69	69	withdraw their student from the activity or from the class or program in which the material is used 26
70	70	and request an alternative assignment. 27
71	71	(b) To ensure a parent's or guardian’s right to review learning materials and activities as 28
72	72	described in subsection (a) of this section, beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, each school 29
73	73	committee or school district governing board and charter school governing body shall ensure that 30
74	74	each school under its authority prominently discloses on a publicly accessible portion of its website 31
75	75	all of the following: 32
76	76	(1) The procedures or processes in effect at the school for a parent or guardian to access in 33
77	77	advance to review the current learning materials and activities used for student instruction at the 34
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80	80	LC001967 - Page 3 of 7
81	81	school; 1
82	82	(2) The procedures or processes in effect for the school principal or other staff to document, 2
83	83	review or approve lesson plans or the learning materials and activities used for student instruction 3
84	84	or teacher training at the school and any change in those procedures or processes from the prior 4
85	85	year; 5
86	86	(3) A listing of the learning materials and activities used for instruction at the school in the 6
87	87	current year, including the following, organized, at a minimum, by subject area and grade: 7
88	88	(i) Textbooks, articles and other required reading materials; 8
89	89	(ii) Videos and audio recordings; 9
90	90	(iii) Digital materials; 10
91	91	(iv) Websites; 11
92	92	(v) Online applications for a phone, laptop or tablet; 12
93	93	(vi) Instructional handouts and worksheets; 13
94	94	(vii) Grade level or school wide assemblies; 14
95	95	(viii) Guest lecturers; 15
96	96	(ix) Action-oriented civics learning assignments or projects, including the contacting of 16
97	97	elected officials, advocating for or commenting on a political or social issue or participating in 17
98	98	political or social demonstrations; 18
99	99	(x) Service-learning, internships or other forms of collaboration with outside organizations 19
100	100	after regular school hours for course credit or as a class project or assignment; and 20
101	101	(xi) Other educational events facilitated by the school's staff, including those events 21
102	102	conducted by outside individuals or organizations; 22
103	103	(4) A listing of the teacher training materials and activities used at the school in the current 23
104	104	year; 24
105	105	(5) A listing of available resources in the school library at each school that maintains a 25
106	106	catalog or documented inventory of those resources; and 26
107	107	(6) A copy of each survey or the full text of any question included on a survey administered 27
108	108	at the school that solicits personal information about a student, and that requires the authorization 28
109	109	of the school district or charter school. 29
110	110	(c) The information required by this section shall be displayed online at least seven (7) 30
111	111	days before the start of each school year, if available, or, at the latest, three (3) calendar days before 31
112	112	the first use of each training or learning material or activity, survey or library resource in the current 32
113	113	year. Information posted pursuant to this section may be posted on an ongoing basis; provided that, 33
114	114	parents or guardians are notified of additions made during the school year at least three (3) calendar 34
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117	117	LC001967 - Page 4 of 7
118	118	days before the first use of the material or activity. The listing of materials shall remain accessible 1
119	119	via the school website until at least the conclusion of the following school year. 2
120	120	(d) In preparing the listing of learning materials and activities, the school: 3
121	121	(1) Shall list the information necessary to identify the specific learning materials and 4
122	122	activities used for student instruction, including at least the title and the author, organization or 5
123	123	Internet address associated with each learning material and activity. A short description of the 6
124	124	learning material or activity may be included as necessary. This section does not require: 7
125	125	(i) The digital reproduction of the learning materials or activities; 8
126	126	(ii) The disclosure of academic assessments; or 9
127	127	(iii) The separate reporting of individual components of learning materials that are 10
128	128	produced as a single volume, except that for digital volumes containing works by multiple authors, 11
129	129	the school shall provide either a table of contents or Internet address that discloses the discrete 12
130	130	works and authors contained within the volume. Articles, videos or other materials from websites 13
131	131	shall be identified, if possible, with an Internet address specific to the relevant content used for 14
132	132	student instruction; 15
133	133	(2) May use collaborative online document or spreadsheet software that allows multiple 16
134	134	authorized users to update or make additions to posted content on an ongoing basis; provided that, 17
135	135	the information is publicly accessible via a posted link on the school website; and 18
136	136	(3) May satisfy the requirements of this section by posting a copy or the full text of the 19
137	137	lesson plans submitted to the school principal or other staff by instructors at the school in the current 20
138	138	year; provided that, any learning materials and activities not recorded on the lesson plans are also 21
139	139	listed via a publicly accessible portion of the school website. 22
140	140	16-117-6. Waiver. 23
141	141	(a) A charter school may require parents or guardians to waive the right to object to learning 24
142	142	materials or activities pursuant to this chapter as a condition of enrollment if the charter school 25
143	143	provides a complete list of books and materials to be used each school year before the student 26
144	144	enrolls. If the charter school introduces books or materials that were not disclosed prior to 27
145	145	enrollment, the parent or guardian retains the right to object to those materials pursuant to this 28
146	146	chapter. 29
147	147	(b) A charter school may require that any request to review learning materials or activities 30
148	148	or to withdraw the student from learning materials or activities pursuant to this chapter be made in 31
149	149	writing. 32
150	150	(c) A public educational institution shall obtain signed, written consent from a student's 33
151	151	parent or guardian before doing either of the following: 34
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154	154	LC001967 - Page 5 of 7
155	155	(1) Using video, audio or electronic materials that may be inappropriate for the age of the 1
156	156	student; or 2
157	157	(2) Providing sex education instruction to the student. At the same time the public 3
158	158	educational institution seeks consent, it shall inform the student's parent or guardian of their right 4
159	159	to review the learning materials and activities. 5
160	160	(d) This section does not require a school to post or distribute a training or learning material 6
161	161	or activity in a manner that would constitute an infringement of copyright under the copyright act 7
162	162	(P. L. 94-553; 90 stat. 2541 to 2598; 17 USC §§ 101 to 1332). 8
163	163	16-117-7. Remedies. 9
164	164	(a) The parent or guardian may not initiate legal action to enforce this chapter unless the 10
165	165	party adheres to the following process: 11
166	166	(1) The party shall submit a complaint in writing with the specific facts of the alleged 12
167	167	violation to the principal of the school. The principal shall investigate the complaint and respond 13
168	168	in writing, including a description of any action taken to resolve the complaint, within fifteen (15) 14
169	169	days after receiving the written complaint. 15
170	170	(2) If the action taken by the principal of the school does not resolve the complaint, the 16
171	171	party shall submit a complaint in writing with the specific facts of the alleged violation to the school 17
172	172	district governing board or charter school governing body or the administrator designated by the 18
173	173	governing board or governing body. The school district governing board, charter school governing 19
174	174	body or designated administrator shall investigate the complaint and respond in writing, including 20
175	175	a description of any action taken to resolve the complaint, within twenty-five (25) days after 21
176	176	receiving the written complaint. 22
177	177	(3) If the action taken by the school district governing board, charter school governing 23
178	178	body or designated administrator does not resolve the complaint, the party may pursue legal action 24
179	179	to enforce this chapter. 25
180	180	(4) If a complaint is not resolved after pursing resolution pursuant to this section, the parent 26
181	181	or guardian may initiate a suit in superior court to bring action for injunctive relief to compel the 27
182	182	school district or charter school to bring the school into compliance with this chapter. 28
183	183	16-117-8. Liberal construction. 29
184	184	This chapter, being necessary for the welfare of the state and its inhabitants, shall be 30
185	185	liberally construed in order to effectuate its purposes. 31
186	186	16-117-9. Severability. 32
187	187	If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this chapter shall be adjudged by any 33
188	188	court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, that judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate 34
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192	192	the remainder of the chapter but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, 1
193	193	section, or part directly involved in the controversy in which that judgment shall have been 2
194	194	rendered. 3
195	195	SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 4
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197	197	LC001967
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201	201	LC001967 - Page 7 of 7
202	202	EXPLANATION
203	203	BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
204	204	OF
205	205	A N A C T
206	206	RELATING TO EDUCATION -- RIGHTS OF PARENTS AND GUARD IANS IN PUBLIC
207	207	EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCT ION ACT
208	208	***
209	209	This act would enable parents and guardians to review public school learning materials in 1
210	210	advance and object if they decide that the material is harmful. The act would provide that a parent 2
211	211	or guardian may then withdraw their student from the activity or class, where the material is used 3
212	212	and request an alternative assignment. The act would also require, that in order to ensure the 4
213	213	parent’s or guardian's rights, every school committee or charter school governing body shall 5
214	214	disclose on their website a list of the learning materials and activities used for instruction organized 6
215	215	by subject area and grade level. 7
216	216	This act would take effect upon passage. 8
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218	218	LC001967
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