2001 Legislation
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HOUSE BILL NO. 276 – School dist, school uniform policy

HOUSE BILL NO. 276

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H0276..........................................................by EDUCATION
SCHOOL UNIFORM POLICY - Amends existing law to provide that the board of
trustees of each school district shall have the power and duty to develop a
policy regarding school uniforms; to allow the boards to develop policy
which does not require school uniforms to be worn or to limit application
of a policy which does require school uniforms to be worn; and to require
boards, whose policy requires uniforms to be worn, to assist, upon request,
in seeking financial assistance in obtaining uniforms for any pupil whose
parent or guardian is economically disadvantaged.
                                                                        
02/16    House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/19    Rpt prt - to Educ

Bill Text


                                                                        
                                                                        
  ||||              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ||||
 Fifty-sixth Legislature                  First Regular Session - 2001
                                                                        
                                                                        
                              IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
                                                                        
                                     HOUSE BILL NO. 276
                                                                        
                                   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
  4        AND DUTY TO DEVELOP A POLICY REGARDING SCHOOL UNIFORMS, TO ALLOW BOARDS TO
  5        DEVELOP POLICY WHICH DOES NOT REQUIRE SCHOOL UNIFORMS TO BE WORN, TO ALLOW
  6        BOARDS TO LIMIT APPLICATION OF A POLICY WHICH DOES REQUIRE SCHOOL UNIFORMS
  7        TO BE WORN, TO REQUIRE BOARDS WHOSE POLICY REQUIRES UNIFORMS TO  BE  WORN,
  8        TO ASSIST, UPON REQUEST, IN SEEKING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IN OBTAINING UNI-
  9        FORMS FOR ANY PUPIL WHOSE PARENT OR GUARDIAN IS ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED
 10        AND TO MAKE A TECHNICAL CORRECTION.
                                                                        
 11    Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
                                                                        
 12        SECTION  1.  That  Section  33-512, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
 13    amended to read as follows:
                                                                        
 14        33-512.  GOVERNANCE OF SCHOOLS. The board of trustees of each school  dis-
 15    trict shall have the following powers and duties:
 16        1.  To  fix  the  days  of  the year and the hours of the day when schools
 17    shall be in session. However:
 18        (a)  Each school district shall annually adopt and implement a school cal-
 19        endar which provides its students at each grade level with  the  following
 20        minimum number of instructional hours:
 21          Grades                             Hours
 22          9-12                               990
 23          4-8                                900
 24          1-3                                810
 25          K                                  450
 26        (b)  School  assemblies, testing and other instructionally related activi-
 27        ties involving students directly may be included in the required  instruc-
 28        tional hours.
 29        (c)  When  approved  by  a  local  school board, annual instructional hour
 30        requirements stated in paragraph (a) may be reduced as follows:
 31             (i)   Up to a total of twenty-two (22)  hours  to  accommodate  staff
 32             development activities.
 33             (ii)  Up to a total of eleven (11) hours of emergency school closures
 34             due to adverse weather conditions and facility failures.
 35        However, transportation to and from school, passing times between classes,
 36        recess and lunch periods shall not be included.
 37        (d)  Student  and  staff  activities related to the opening and closing of
 38        the school year, grade reporting, program planning,  staff  meetings,  and
 39        other classroom and building management activities shall not be counted as
 40        instructional  time  or  in the reductions provided in paragraph (c)(i) of
 41        this subsection.
 42        (e)  For multiple shift programs, this rule applies to each  shift  (i.e.,
 43        each  student  must  have  access  to the minimum annual required hours of
                                                                        
                                           2
                                                                        
  1        instructions).
  2        (f)  The instructional time requirement  for  grade  12  students  may  be
  3        reduced  by  action  of  a local school board for an amount of time not to
  4        exceed eleven (11) hours of instructional time.
  5        (g)  The state superintendent of public instruction may grant an exemption
  6        from the provisions of this section for an individual  building  within  a
  7        district, when the closure of that building, for unforeseen circumstances,
  8        does not affect the attendance of other buildings within the district.
  9        2.  To  adopt and carry on, and provide for the financing of, a total edu-
 10    cational program for the district. Such  programs  in  other  than  elementary
 11    school  districts  may  include education programs for out-of-school youth and
 12    adults; and such districts may provide classes in kindergarten;
 13        3.  To provide, or require pupils to be provided with, suitable  textbooks
 14    and  supplies,  and  for  advice on textbook selections may appoint a textbook
 15    adoption committee as provided in section 33-512A, Idaho Code;
 16        4.  To protect the morals and health of the pupils;
 17        5.  To exclude from school, children not of school age;
 18        6.  To prescribe rules for the disciplining  of  unruly  or  insubordinate
 19    pupils, such rules to be included in a district discipline code adopted by the
 20    board  of  trustees and a summarized version thereof to be provided in writing
 21    at the beginning of each school year to the teachers and students in the  dis-
 22    trict  in  a manner consistent with the student's age, grade and level of aca-
 23    demic achievement;
 24        7.  To exclude from school, pupils with contagious or infectious  diseases
 25    who are diagnosed or suspected as having a contagious or infectious disease or
 26    those  who  are not immune and have been exposed to a contagious or infectious
 27    disease; and to close school on order of the state board of  health  or  local
 28    health authorities;
 29        8.  To equip and maintain a suitable library or libraries in the school or
 30    schools  and  to  exclude  therefrom, and from the schools, all books, tracts,
 31    papers, and catechisms of sectarian nature;
 32        9.  To determine school holidays. Any listing  of  school  holidays  shall
 33    include  not  less  than the following: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Indepen-
 34    dence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Other days listed  in  section
 35    73-108,  Idaho Code, if the same shall fall on a school day, shall be observed
 36    with appropriate ceremonies; and any days the state  board  of  education  may
 37    designate,  following  the proclamation by the governor, shall be school holi-
 38    days;
 39        10. To erect and maintain on each schoolhouse or school grounds a suitable
 40    flagstaff or flagpole, and display thereon the flag of the  United  States  of
 41    America  on  all  days, except during inclement weather, when the school is in
 42    session; and for each Veterans Day, each school in session shall  conduct  and
 43    observe  an  appropriate  program of at least one (1) class period remembering
 44    and honoring American veterans;
 45        11. To prohibit entrance to each schoolhouse or school  grounds,  to  pro-
 46    hibit  loitering  in  schoolhouses or on school grounds and to provide for the
 47    removal from each schoolhouse or school grounds of any individual or individu-
 48    als who disrupt the educational processes or whose presence is detrimental  to
 49    the  morals,  health, safety, academic learning or discipline of the pupils. A
 50    person who disrupts the educational process or whose presence  is  detrimental
 51    to  the  morals, health, safety, academic learning or discipline of the pupils
 52    or who loiters in schoolhouses or on school grounds, is  guilty  of  a  misde-
 53    meanor.
 54        12. To  supervise  and  regulate,  including  by contract with established
 55    entities, those extracurricular activities which are by definition outside  of
                                                                        
                                           3
                                                                        
  1    or  in  addition  to  the  regular  academic courses or curriculum of a public
  2    school, and which extracurricular activities shall not be considered to  be  a
  3    property,  liberty  or contract right of any student, and such extracurricular
  4    activities shall not be deemed a necessary element of a public  school  educa-
  5    tion, but shall be considered to be a privilege.
  6        13. To  govern  the school district in compliance with state law and rules
  7    of the state board of education.
  8        14. To submit to the superintendent of public instruction not  later  than
  9    July  1  of  each year documentation which meets the reporting requirements of
 10    the federal gun-free schools act of  1994  as  contained  within  the  federal
 11    improving America's schools act of 1994.
 12        15. To  require  that all persons hired for the first time by the district
 13    or who have been in the employ of the district five (5) years or less, undergo
 14    a criminal history check as provided in section 33-130, Idaho Code.  All  such
 15    employees  who  are  required to undergo a criminal history check shall obtain
 16    the history check within three (3)  months  of  starting  employment,  or  for
 17    employees  with  five  (5)  years  or less with the district, within three (3)
 18    months from the date such employee is notified that he must undergo a criminal
 19    history check. Such employees shall pay  the  cost  of  the  criminal  history
 20    check.  If  the  criminal  history check shows that the employee has been con-
 21    victed of a felony crime enumerated in section 33-1208, Idaho Code,  it  shall
 22    be  grounds  for immediate termination, dismissal or other personnel action of
 23    the district, except that it shall be the right  of  the  school  district  to
 24    evaluate whether an individual convicted of one (1) of these crimes and having
 25    been  incarcerated for that crime shall be hired. The district may require any
 26    or all persons who have been employed continuously with the same district  for
 27    more  than  five (5) years, to undergo a criminal history check as provided in
 28    section 33-130, Idaho Code. If the district elects to require criminal history
 29    checks of such employees, the district shall pay the  costs  of  the  criminal
 30    history  check  or reimburse employees for such cost. A substitute teacher who
 31    has undergone a criminal history check at the request of one (1)  district  in
 32    which he has been employed as a substitute shall not be required to undergo an
 33    additional  criminal  history  check  at  the request of any other district in
 34    which he is employed as a substitute if the teacher has  obtained  a  criminal
 35    history  check  within  the  previous  three  (3) years.  If the district next
 36    employing the substitute still elects  to  require  another  criminal  history
 37    check  within  the  three (3) year period, that district shall pay the cost of
 38    the criminal history check or reimburse the substitute teacher for such cost.
 39        16. Each board of trustees of a school district shall be  responsible  for
 40    developing  a system for registering volunteers or contractors consistent with
 41    maintaining a safe environment for their students.
 42        17.  To develop a policy regarding school uniforms. In developing a policy
 43    regarding school uniforms, the  board  may  consult  with  administrative  and
 44    instructional  staff  of schools within the district, parents and legal guard-
 45    ians of pupils who are enrolled in the district, and associations and  organi-
 46    zations representing licensed educational personnel within the district. Noth-
 47    ing  shall  prevent  a  board  from  determining that district policy does not
 48    require school uniforms to be worn. If the policy of a board  requires  school
 49    uniforms  to  be worn, nothing shall prevent a board from limiting application
 50    of the policy to designated schools in the district, or from authorizing pilot
 51    programs in one (1) or more schools in the district. Any policy which requires
 52    school uniforms to be worn shall:
 53        (a)  Describe the uniform;
 54        (b)  Designate which pupils shall wear the uniform;
 55        (c)  Designate the hours or events during which the uniform shall be worn;
                                                                        
                                           4
                                                                        
  1        (d)  Include a provision which allows a parent or guardian to stipulate in
  2        writing that the parent does not wish his  child  to  be  subject  to  the
  3        school uniform policy; and
  4        (e)  Include a provision which requires the board, upon request, to assist
  5        in  seeking  financial  assistance  in  obtaining a school uniform for any
  6        pupil whose parent or legal guardian is economically disadvantaged.

Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact



                      STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
                                
                            RS 10726

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 IMPACT

Should a local school board choose to adopt a school uniform policy, the board shall, upon
request, provide financial assistance to economically disadvantage 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
Name: Representative Kent Kunz 
Phone: (208) 332-1120



STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE              H 276                                              Bill No.