ENROLLED HOUSE
BILL NO. 1006 By: West (Rick), Talley, and Bashore of the House
and
Murdock
of the Senate
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. 2023,
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 participation upon request; requiring student be given opportunity to make
up missed schoolwork; prohibiting class grades from being adversely affected;
and providing exception for certain absences.
SUBJECT: Schools
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF
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.
2023, Section 1-111), is amended to read as follows:
Section 1-111. A. Except as otherwise provided 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
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 alternative 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 in 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
under the direction and supervision of a regular 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;
2. A student admission
process administered through the district of residence, which provides the
ability for the student 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 online 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 association which provides the coordination,
supervision, and regulation of the interscholastic activities and contests of
schools;
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 subsection, students absent
from school 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 absences 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 officer, 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 attendance 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:
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, suspended, or expelled, if the terms
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
courses 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
charges. 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 educationally 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 Oklahoma School Testing Program Act. Students participating in online courses from
a remote site will be responsible for providing their own equipment and
Internet access, unless the district chooses to provide the equipment. Credit may not be granted for such courses
except upon 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 district in which the student resides to another
school district pursuant to the Education Open Transfer 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 the capacity to
accept in each grade level, as provided for in Section 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 environments 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 competencies 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 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 school activities.
Passed the
House of Representatives the 21st day of March, 2023.
Presiding
Officer of the House
of
Representatives
Passed the Senate the 19th day of
March, 2024.
Presiding
Officer of the Senate
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office
of the Governor this ____________________ day of ___________________,
20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By:
_________________________________
Approved by the
Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _________ day of ___________________,
20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor of
the State of Oklahoma
OFFICE
OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office
of the Secretary of State this __________ day of ___________________,
20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By:
_________________________________