2000 Legislation
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HOUSE BILL NO. 541, As Amended – School dist, school uniform policy

HOUSE BILL NO. 541, As Amended

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Daily Data Tracking History



H0541aa........................................................by EDUCATION
SCHOOLS - UNIFORMS - Amends existing law to provide that the board of
trustees of each school district shall have the power to develop a policy
regarding school uniforms; and to require boards of trustees which have
established a school uniform policy to assist in seeking financial
assistance in obtaining uniforms for those pupils whose parent or guardian
is economically disadvantaged.
                                                                        
02/10    House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/11    Rpt prt - to Educ
03/08    Rpt out - to Gen Ord
03/09    Rpt out amen - to engros
03/10    Rpt engros - 1st rdg - to 2nd rdg as amen
03/13    2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg as amen
03/14    3rd rdg as amen - PASSED - 58-6-6
      AYES -- Alltus, Barraclough, Barrett, Bell, Bieter, Black, Boe,
      Bruneel, Callister, Campbell, Clark, Crow, Cuddy, Deal, Denney,
      Ellsworth, Field(13), Field(20), Gagner, Gould, Hadley, Hammond,
      Hansen(23), Henbest, Hornbeck, Jaquet, Judd, Kellogg, Kempton, Kunz,
      Lake, Linford, Loertscher, Mader, Marley, Meyer, Montgomery,
      Mortensen, Moss, Moyle, Pearce, Pischner, Pomeroy, Reynolds,
      Ridinger, Robison, Sali, Schaefer, Sellman, Smith, Smylie, Stevenson,
      Taylor, Tilman, Trail, Wheeler, Wood, Zimmermann
      NAYS -- Chase, Cheirrett, Hansen(29), Kendell, Shepherd, Stoicheff
      Absent and excused -- Geddes, Jones, McKague, Ringo, Stone, Mr
      Speaker
    Floor Sponsor - Kunz
    Title apvd - to Senate
03/15    Senate intro - 1st rdg as amen - to Educ

Bill Text


 H0541
                                                                        
                                                                        
  ||||              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ||||
 Fifty-fifth Legislature                  Second Regular Session - 2000
                                                                        
                                                                        
                              IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
                                                                        
                               HOUSE BILL NO. 541, As Amended
                                                                        
                                   BY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
                                                                        
  1                                        AN ACT
  2    RELATING TO SCHOOL UNIFORMS; AMENDING SECTION 33-512, IDAHO CODE,  TO  PROVIDE
  3        THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL HAVE THE POWER TO
  4        DEVELOP  A  POLICY  REGARDING  SCHOOL UNIFORMS; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE
  5        DATE.
                                                                        
  6    Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
                                                                        
  7        SECTION 1.  That Section 33-512, Idaho Code, be, and the  same  is  hereby
  8    amended to read as follows:
                                                                        
  9        33-512.  GOVERNANCE  OF SCHOOLS. The board of trustees of each school dis-
 10    trict shall have the following powers and duties:
 11        1.  To fix the days of the year and the hours  of  the  day  when  schools
 12    shall be in session. However:
 13        (a)  Each school district shall annually adopt and implement a school cal-
 14        endar  which  provides its students at each grade level with the following
 15        minimum number of instructional hours:
 16          Grades                             Hours
 17          9-12                               990
 18          4-8                                900
 19          1-3                                810
 20          K                                  450
 21        (b)  School assemblies, testing and other instructionally related  activi-
 22        ties  involving students directly may be included in the required instruc-
 23        tional hours.
 24        (c)  When approved by a local  school  board,  annual  instructional  hour
 25        requirements stated in paragraph (a) may be reduced as follows:
 26             (i)   Up  to  a  total  of twenty-two (22) hours to accommodate staff
 27             development activities.
 28             (ii)  Up to a total of eleven (11) hours of emergency school closures
 29             due to adverse weather conditions and facility failures.
 30        However, transportation to and from school, passing times between classes,
 31        noninstructional recess and lunch periods shall not be included.
 32        (d)  Student and staff activities related to the opening  and  closing  of
 33        the  school  year,  grade reporting, program planning, staff meetings, and
 34        other classroom and building management activities shall not be counted as
 35        instructional time or in the reductions provided in paragraph (c)(i).
 36        (e)  For multiple shift programs, this rule applies to each  shift  (i.e.,
 37        each  student  must  have  access  to the minimum annual required hours of
 38        instructions).
 39        (f)  The instructional time requirement  for  grade  12  students  may  be
 40        reduced  by  action  of  a local school board for an amount of time not to
 41        exceed eleven (11) hours of instructional time.
 42        (g)  The state superintendent of public instruction may grant an exemption
 43        from the provisions of this section for an individual  building  within  a
                                                                        
                                           2
                                                                        
  1        district, when the closure of that building, for unforeseen circumstances,
  2        does not affect the attendance of other buildings within the district.
  3        2.  To  adopt and carry on, and provide for the financing of, a total edu-
  4    cational program for the district. Such  programs  in  other  than  elementary
  5    school  districts  may  include education programs for out-of-school youth and
  6    adults; and such districts may provide classes in kindergarten;
  7        3.  To provide, or require pupils to be provided with, suitable  textbooks
  8    and  supplies,  and  for  advice on textbook selections may appoint a textbook
  9    adoption committee as provided in section 33-512A, Idaho Code;
 10        4.  To protect the morals and health of the pupils;
 11        5.  To exclude from school, children not of school age;
 12        6.  To prescribe rules for the disciplining  of  unruly  or  insubordinate
 13    pupils, such rules to be included in a district discipline code adopted by the
 14    board  of  trustees and a summarized version thereof to be provided in writing
 15    at the beginning of each school year to the teachers and students in the  dis-
 16    trict  in  a manner consistent with the student's age, grade and level of aca-
 17    demic achievement;
 18        7.  To exclude from school, pupils with contagious or infectious  diseases
 19    who are diagnosed or suspected as having a contagious or infectious disease or
 20    those  who  are not immune and have been exposed to a contagious or infectious
 21    disease; and to close school on order of the state board of  health  or  local
 22    health authorities;
 23        8.  To equip and maintain a suitable library or libraries in the school or
 24    schools  and  to  exclude  therefrom, and from the schools, all books, tracts,
 25    papers, and catechisms of sectarian nature;
 26        9.  To determine school holidays. Any listing  of  school  holidays  shall
 27    include  not  less  than the following: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Indepen-
 28    dence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Other days listed  in  section
 29    73-108,  Idaho Code, if the same shall fall on a school day, shall be observed
 30    with appropriate ceremonies; and any days the state  board  of  education  may
 31    designate,  following  the proclamation by the governor, shall be school holi-
 32    days;
 33        10. To erect and maintain on each schoolhouse or school grounds a suitable
 34    flagstaff or flagpole, and display thereon the flag of the  United  States  of
 35    America  on  all  days, except during inclement weather, when the school is in
 36    session; and for each Veterans Day, each school in session shall  conduct  and
 37    observe  an  appropriate  program of at least one (1) class period remembering
 38    and honoring American veterans;
 39        11. To prohibit entrance to each schoolhouse or school  grounds,  to  pro-
 40    hibit  loitering  in  schoolhouses or on school grounds and to provide for the
 41    removal from each schoolhouse or school grounds of any individual or individu-
 42    als who disrupt the educational processes or whose presence is detrimental  to
 43    the  morals,  health, safety, academic learning or discipline of the pupils. A
 44    person who disrupts the educational process or whose presence  is  detrimental
 45    to  the  morals, health, safety, academic learning or discipline of the pupils
 46    or who loiters in schoolhouses or on school grounds, is  guilty  of  a  misde-
 47    meanor.
 48        12. To  supervise  and  regulate,  including  by contract with established
 49    entities, those extracurricular activities which are by definition outside  of
 50    or  in  addition  to  the  regular  academic courses or curriculum of a public
 51    school, and which extracurricular activities  shall not be considered to be  a
 52    property,  liberty  or contract right of any student, and such extracurricular
 53    activities shall not be deemed a necessary element of a public  school  educa-
 54    tion, but shall be considered to be a privilege.
 55        13. To  govern  the school district in compliance with state law and rules
                                                                        
                                           3
                                                                        
  1    of the state board of education.
  2        14. To submit to the superintendent of public instruction not  later  than
  3    July  1  of  each year documentation which meets the reporting requirements of
  4    the federal gun-free schools act of  1994  as  contained  within  the  federal
  5    improving America's schools act of 1994.
  6        15. To  require  that all persons hired for the first time by the district
  7    or who have been in the employ of the district five (5) years or less, undergo
  8    a criminal history check as provided in section 33-130, Idaho Code.  All  such
  9    employees  who  are  required to undergo a criminal history check shall obtain
 10    the history check within three (3)  months  of  starting  employment,  or  for
 11    employees  with  five  (5)  years  or less with the district, within three (3)
 12    months from the date such employee is notified that he must undergo a criminal
 13    history check. Such employees shall pay  the  cost  of  the  criminal  history
 14    check.  If  the  criminal  history check shows that the employee has been con-
 15    victed of a felony crime enumerated in section 33-1208, Idaho Code,  it  shall
 16    be  grounds  for immediate termination, dismissal or other personnel action of
 17    the district, except that it shall be the right  of  the  school  district  to
 18    evaluate whether an individual convicted of one (1) of these crimes and having
 19    been  incarcerated for that crime shall be hired. The district may require any
 20    or all persons who have been employed continuously with the same district  for
 21    more  than  five (5) years, to undergo a criminal history check as provided in
 22    section 33-130, Idaho Code. If the district elects to require criminal history
 23    checks of such employees, the district shall pay the  costs  of  the  criminal
 24    history  check  or reimburse employees for such cost. A substitute teacher who
 25    has undergone a criminal history check at the request of one (1)  district  in
 26    which he has been employed as a substitute shall not be required to undergo an
 27    additional  criminal  history  check  at  the request of any other district in
 28    which he is employed as a substitute if the teacher has  obtained  a  criminal
 29    history  check  within  the  previous  three  (3) years.  If the district next
 30    employing the substitute still elects  to  require  another  criminal  history
 31    check  within  the  three (3) year period, that district shall pay the cost of
 32    the criminal history check or reimburse the substitute teacher for such cost.
 33        16. Each board of trustees of a school district shall be  responsible  for
 34    developing  a system for registering volunteers or contractors consistent with
 35    maintaining a safe environment for their students.
 36        17. To develop a policy regarding school uniforms. Nothing shall prevent a
 37    board from limiting application of the policy to  designated  schools  in  the
 38    district, or from authorizing pilot programs in one (1) or more schools in the
 39    district.  In developing the policy, the board may consult with administrative
 40    and instructional staff of schools within  the  district,  parents  and  legal
 41    guardians  of  pupils  who  are enrolled in the district, and associations and
 42    organizations representing licensed educational personnel within the district.
 43    The policy shall:
 44        (a)  Describe the uniforms;
 45        (b)  Designate which pupils shall wear the uniforms;
 46        (c)  Designate the hours or events during  which  the  uniforms  shall  be
 47        worn; and
 48        (d)  Include a provision which allows a parent or guardian to stipulate in
 49        writing  that  he does not wish his child to be subject to the school uni-
 50        form policy.
 51    If the board of trustees develops a policy that requires pupils to wear school
 52    uniforms, the board shall, upon request, assist in  seeking  financial  assis-
 53    tance in obtaining a school uniform for any pupil whose parent or legal guard-
 54    ian is economically disadvantaged.
                                                                        
                                           4
                                                                        
  1        SECTION  2.  This  act shall be in full force and effect on and after July
  2    1, 2000.

Amendment


 AH0541
                                                                        
                                                                        
  ||||              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ||||
 Fifty-fifth Legislature                  Second Regular Session - 2000
                                                                        
                                                                        
                                                     Moved by    Bieter              
                                                                        
                                                     Seconded by Hadley              
                                                                        
                                                                        
                              IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
                              HOUSE AMENDMENT TO H.B. NO. 541
                                                                        
  1                               AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 1
  2        On page 3 of the printed bill, in line 36, delete "establish a policy that
  3    requires pupils to wear" and insert: "develop a policy regarding"; in line 51,
  4    delete "establishes" and insert: "develops"; and in line 52, delete  "provide"
  5    and insert: "assist in seeking".
                                                                        
  6                                 CORRECTION TO TITLE
  7        On page 1, in line 4, delete "ESTABLISH" and insert: "DEVELOP" and also in
  8    line 4, delete "WHICH REQUIRES PUPILS TO WEAR" and insert: "REGARDING".

Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact


     
     
                 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
                       RS 09712 
     
     A safe and disciplined learning environment is essential for Idaho students. In
     response to growing levels of violence in our schools, many parents, teachers, and
     school officials have come to see school uniforms as one positive and creative
     way to reduce discipline problems and increase school safety. 
     
     The purpose of this legislation is to promote a legal framework whereby local
     school boards may adopt a mandatory school uniform policy for some or all of
     their schools. 
     
     
                     FISCAL NOTE 
     
     Should a local school board choose to adopt a school uniform policy, the board
     shall, upon request, provide financial assistance to economically disadvantaged
     students. Consequently there will be an impact upon that local school board's
     budget. There will be no fiscal impact upon the general fund of the State of Idaho 
     
     
     
     
     
     
               CONTACT:   Representative Kent Kunz
                (208) 332 - 1000 
     
                                        STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/ FISCAL                               H 541