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S1253..........................................................by SCHROEDER
KINDERGARTEN - Adds to existing law to provide that school districts shall
establish a kindergarten program; to provide that elementary and all other
school districts must provide instruction in kindergarten; and to require
school districts to provide classes in kindergarten.
01/12 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/13 Rpt prt - to Educ
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2006
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1253
BY SCHROEDER
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO KINDERGARTENS; AMENDING SECTION 33-208, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE
3 THAT SCHOOL DISTRICTS SHALL ESTABLISH A KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM; AMENDING
4 SECTION 33-302, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT ELEMENTARY AND ALL OTHER
5 SCHOOL DISTRICTS MUST PROVIDE INSTRUCTION IN KINDERGARTEN; AMENDING SEC-
6 TION 33-512, IDAHO CODE, TO REQUIRE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO PROVIDE CLASSES IN
7 KINDERGARTEN AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS; AND AMENDING SECTION
8 33-210, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE A CORRECT CODE REFERENCE.
9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
10 SECTION 1. That Section 33-208, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
11 amended to read as follows:
12 33-208. KINDERGARTENS AND CHILD ATTENDANCE. NOT COMPULSORY. It shall not
13 be compulsory for individual school districts to establish a kindergarten pro-
14 gram; and it shall not be mandatory for a child who is eligible by age for
15 attendance to enroll in an established public kindergarten.
16 SECTION 2. That Section 33-302, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
17 amended to read as follows:
18 33-302. CLASSIFICATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS. Elementary school districts
19 shall give instruction only to pupils in grades one (1) kindergarten through
20 grade eight (8), and may give instruction in kindergarten. All other school
21 districts shall give instruction to pupils in grades one (1) kindergarten
22 through grade twelve (12), and may give instruction in kindergarten, and shall
23 maintain secondary schools giving instruction to pupils in grades seven (7)
24 through twelve (12), or any combination of such grades.
25 Any school district maintaining its only secondary school building situate
26 not less than twenty-five (25) miles from the nearest Idaho secondary school,
27 and which employs not less than six (6) teachers within its district, may be
28 authorized by the state board of education to instruct pupils in two (2) or
29 more grades above grade seven (7).
30 Whenever any district lies, or shall lie, in more than one (1) county it
31 shall be designated as a joint district of its class.
32 SECTION 3. That Section 33-512, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
33 amended to read as follows:
34 33-512. GOVERNANCE OF SCHOOLS. The board of trustees of each school dis-
35 trict shall have the following powers and duties:
36 (1.) To fix the days of the year and the hours of the day when schools
37 shall be in session. However:
38 (a) Each school district shall annually adopt and implement a school cal-
39 endar which provides its students at each grade level with the following
2
1 minimum number of instructional hours:
2 Grades Hours
3 9-12 990
4 4-8 900
5 1-3 810
6 K 450
7 (b) School assemblies, testing and other instructionally related activi-
8 ties involving students directly may be included in the required instruc-
9 tional hours.
10 (c) When approved by a local school board, annual instructional hour
11 requirements stated in paragraph (a) may be reduced as follows:
12 (i) Up to a total of twenty-two (22) hours to accommodate staff
13 development activities conducted on such days as the local school
14 board deems appropriate.
15 (ii) Up to a total of eleven (11) hours of emergency school closures
16 due to adverse weather conditions and facility failures.
17 However, transportation to and from school, passing times between classes,
18 recess and lunch periods shall not be included.
19 (d) Student and staff activities related to the opening and closing of
20 the school year, grade reporting, program planning, staff meetings, and
21 other classroom and building management activities shall not be counted as
22 instructional time or in the reductions provided in paragraph (c)(i) of
23 this section.
24 (e) For multiple shift programs, this rule applies to each shift (i.e.,
25 each student must have access to the minimum annual required hours of
26 instructions).
27 (f) The instructional time requirement for grade 12 students may be
28 reduced by action of a local school board for an amount of time not to
29 exceed eleven (11) hours of instructional time.
30 (g) The state superintendent of public instruction may grant an exemption
31 from the provisions of this section for an individual building within a
32 district, when the closure of that building, for unforeseen circumstances,
33 does not affect the attendance of other buildings within the district.
34 (2.) To adopt and carry on, and provide for the financing of, a total
35 educational program for the district. Such programs in other than elementary
36 school districts may include education programs for out-of-school youth and
37 adults; and such districts may shall provide classes in kindergarten;
38 (3.) To provide, or require pupils to be provided with, suitable text-
39 books and supplies, and for advice on textbook selections may appoint a text-
40 book adoption committee as provided in section 33-512A, Idaho Code;
41 (4.) To protect the morals and health of the pupils;
42 (5.) To exclude from school, children not of school age;
43 (6.) To prescribe rules for the disciplining of unruly or insubordinate
44 pupils, such rules to be included in a district discipline code adopted by the
45 board of trustees and a summarized version thereof to be provided in writing
46 at the beginning of each school year to the teachers and students in the dis-
47 trict in a manner consistent with the student's age, grade and level of aca-
48 demic achievement;
49 (7.) To exclude from school, pupils with contagious or infectious dis-
50 eases who are diagnosed or suspected as having a contagious or infectious dis-
51 ease or those who are not immune and have been exposed to a contagious or
52 infectious disease; and to close school on order of the state board of health
53 or local health authorities;
54 (8.) To equip and maintain a suitable library or libraries in the school
55 or schools and to exclude therefrom, and from the schools, all books, tracts,
3
1 papers, and catechisms of sectarian nature;
2 (9.) To determine school holidays. Any listing of school holidays shall
3 include not less than the following: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Indepen-
4 dence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Other days listed in section
5 73-108, Idaho Code, if the same shall fall on a school day, shall be observed
6 with appropriate ceremonies; and any days the state board of education may
7 designate, following the proclamation by the governor, shall be school holi-
8 days;
9 (10.) To erect and maintain on each schoolhouse or school grounds a suit-
10 able flagstaff or flagpole, and display thereon the flag of the United States
11 of America on all days, except during inclement weather, when the school is in
12 session; and for each Veterans Day, each school in session shall conduct and
13 observe an appropriate program of at least one (1) class period remembering
14 and honoring American veterans;
15 (11.) To prohibit entrance to each schoolhouse or school grounds, to pro-
16 hibit loitering in schoolhouses or on school grounds and to provide for the
17 removal from each schoolhouse or school grounds of any individual or individu-
18 als who disrupt the educational processes or whose presence is detrimental to
19 the morals, health, safety, academic learning or discipline of the pupils. A
20 person who disrupts the educational process or whose presence is detrimental
21 to the morals, health, safety, academic learning or discipline of the pupils
22 or who loiters in schoolhouses or on school grounds, is guilty of a misde-
23 meanor.
24 (12.) To supervise and regulate, including by contract with established
25 entities, those extracurricular activities which are by definition outside of
26 or in addition to the regular academic courses or curriculum of a public
27 school, and which extracurricular activities shall not be considered to be a
28 property, liberty or contract right of any student, and such extracurricular
29 activities shall not be deemed a necessary element of a public school educa-
30 tion, but shall be considered to be a privilege.
31 (13.) To govern the school district in compliance with state law and rules
32 of the state board of education.
33 (14.) To submit to the superintendent of public instruction not later than
34 July 1 of each year documentation which meets the reporting requirements of
35 the federal gun-free schools act of 1994 as contained within the federal
36 improving America's schools act of 1994.
37 (15.) To require that all persons hired for the first time by the district
38 or who have been in the employ of the district five (5) years or less, undergo
39 a criminal history check as provided in section 33-130, Idaho Code. All such
40 employees who are required to undergo a criminal history check shall obtain
41 the history check within three (3) months of starting employment, or for
42 employees with five (5) years or less with the district, within three (3)
43 months from the date such employee is notified that he must undergo a criminal
44 history check. Such employees shall pay the cost of the criminal history
45 check. If the criminal history check shows that the employee has been con-
46 victed of a felony crime enumerated in section 33-1208, Idaho Code, it shall
47 be grounds for immediate termination, dismissal or other personnel action of
48 the district, except that it shall be the right of the school district to
49 evaluate whether an individual convicted of one (1) of these crimes and having
50 been incarcerated for that crime shall be hired. The district may require any
51 or all persons who have been employed continuously with the same district for
52 more than five (5) years, to undergo a criminal history check as provided in
53 section 33-130, Idaho Code. If the district elects to require criminal history
54 checks of such employees, the district shall pay the costs of the criminal
55 history check or reimburse employees for such cost. A substitute teacher who
4
1 has undergone a criminal history check at the request of one (1) district in
2 which he has been employed as a substitute shall not be required to undergo an
3 additional criminal history check at the request of any other district in
4 which he is employed as a substitute if the teacher has obtained a criminal
5 history check within the previous three (3) years. If the district next
6 employing the substitute still elects to require another criminal history
7 check within the three (3) year period, that district shall pay the cost of
8 the criminal history check or reimburse the substitute teacher for such cost.
9 (16.) Each board of trustees of a school district shall be responsible for
10 developing a system for registering volunteers or contractors consistent with
11 maintaining a safe environment for their students.
12 (17.) To ensure that each school district, including specially chartered
13 school districts, participates in the Idaho student information management
14 system (ISIMS) to the full extent of its availability. The terms "Idaho stu-
15 dent information management system," "appropriate access" and "real time"
16 shall have such meanings as the terms are defined in section 33-1001, Idaho
17 Code.
18 (18.) To provide support for teachers in their first two (2) years in the
19 profession in the areas of: administrative and supervisory support, mentoring,
20 peer assistance and professional development.
21 SECTION 4. That Section 33-210, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
22 amended to read as follows:
23 33-210. STUDENTS USING OR UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL OR CONTROLLED
24 SUBSTANCES. (1) It is legislative intent that parental involvement in all
25 aspects of a child's education in the public school system remain a priority.
26 Substance abuse prevention programs and counseling for students attending pub-
27 lic schools are no exception. Consequently, it is the duty of the board of
28 trustees of each school district, including specially chartered school dis-
29 tricts, and governing boards of charter schools, to adopt and implement poli-
30 cies specifying how personnel shall respond when a student discloses or is
31 reasonably suspected of using or being under the influence of alcohol or any
32 controlled substance defined by section 37-2732C, Idaho Code. Such policies
33 shall include provisions that anonymity will be provided to the student on a
34 faculty "need to know" basis, when a student voluntarily discloses using or
35 being under the influence of alcohol or any controlled substance while on
36 school property or at a school function, except as deemed reasonably necessary
37 to protect the health and safety of others. Notification of the disclosure and
38 availability of counseling for students shall be provided to parents, the
39 legal guardian or child's custodian. However, once a student is reasonably
40 suspected of using or being under the influence of alcohol or a controlled
41 substance in violation of section 37-2732C, Idaho Code, regardless of any pre-
42 vious voluntary disclosure, the school administrator or designee shall contact
43 the student's parent, legal guardian or custodian, and report the incident to
44 law enforcement. The fact that a student has previously disclosed use of alco-
45 hol or a controlled substance shall not be deemed a factor in determining rea-
46 sonable suspicion at a later date.
47 (2) In addition to policies adopted pursuant to this section, students
48 may, at the discretion of the district board of trustees or governing board of
49 a charter school, be subject to other disciplinary or safety policies, regard-
50 less whether the student voluntarily discloses or is reasonably suspected of
51 using or being under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance in
52 violation of district or charter school policy or section 37-2732C, Idaho
53 Code.
5
1 (3) The district board of trustees or the governing board of the charter
2 school shall ensure that procedures are developed for contacting law enforce-
3 ment and the student's parents, legal guardian or custodian regarding a stu-
4 dent reasonably suspected of using or being under the influence of alcohol or
5 a controlled substance. District and charter school policies formulated to
6 meet the provisions of section 37-2732C, Idaho Code, and this section shall be
7 made available to each student, parent, guardian or custodian by August 31,
8 2002, and thereafter as provided by section 33-512(6.), Idaho Code.
9 (4) Any school district employee or independent contractor of an educa-
10 tional institution who has a reasonable suspicion that a student is using or
11 is under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance and, acting upon
12 that suspicion, reports that suspicion to a school administrator or initiates
13 procedures adopted by the board of trustees or governing board of the charter
14 school pursuant to this section, shall have immunity from any liability, civil
15 or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed. Any such participant
16 shall have the same immunity with respect to participation in any judicial
17 proceeding resulting from such report. Any person who reports in bad faith or
18 with malice shall not be protected by this section. Employees and independent
19 contractors of educational institutions who intentionally harass a student
20 through the misuse of the authority provided in this section shall not be im-
21 mune from civil liability arising from the wrongful exercise of that authority
22 and shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed three
23 hundred dollars ($300).
24 (5) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
25 apply:
26 (a) "Reasonable suspicion" means an act of judgment by a school employee
27 or independent contractor of an educational institution which leads to a
28 reasonable and prudent belief that a student is in violation of school
29 board or charter school governing board policy regarding alcohol or con-
30 trolled substance use, or the "use" or "under the influence" provisions of
31 section 37-2732C, Idaho Code. Said judgment shall be based on training in
32 recognizing the signs and symptoms of alcohol and controlled substance
33 use.
34 (b) "Intentionally harass" means a knowing and willful course of conduct
35 directed at a specific student which seriously alarms, annoys, threatens
36 or intimidates the student and which serves no legitimate purpose. The
37 course of conduct must be such as would cause a reasonable person to suf-
38 fer substantial emotional distress.
39 (c) "Course of conduct" means a pattern or series of acts over a period
40 of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose. Constitution-
41 ally and statutorily protected activity is not included within the meaning
42 of "course of conduct."
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 15552
The purpose of this legislation is to amend Section 33-208, Idaho
Code, to provide that school districts shall have kindergarten.
FISCAL NOTE
All school districts currently offer kindergarten programs so
there will be no fiscal impact to the General Fund or to local
school districts.
Contact
Name: Senator Gary J. Schroeder
Phone: 208-332-1324
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1253