HB2786 - 561R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 15-102, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-102. Parental involvement in the school; definition

A. Each school district governing board, in consultation with parents, teachers and administrators, shall develop and adopt a policy to promote the involvement of parents and guardians of children enrolled in the schools within the school district, including:

1. A plan for parent participation in the schools that is designed to improve parent and teacher cooperation in such areas as homework, attendance and discipline. The plan shall provide for the administration of a parent-teacher satisfaction survey.

2. Procedures by which parents may learn about the course of study for their children and review learning materials, including the source of any supplemental educational materials.

3. Beginning January 1, 2023, procedures by which parents have access to the school's library collection of available books and materials and parents may receive a list of books and materials borrowed from the library by their children. The policy must provide that the following are exempt from the procedures prescribed pursuant to this paragraph:

(a) Schools without a full-time library media specialist or an equivalent position.

(b) School district libraries that have agreements with county free library districts, municipal libraries or other entities pursuant to section 15-362, subsection D.

4. Procedures by which parents who object to any learning material or activity on the basis that the material or activity is harmful may withdraw their children from the activity or from the class or program in which the material is used. Objection to a learning material or activity on the basis that the material or activity is harmful includes objection to the material or activity because it questions beliefs or practices in sex, morality or religion.

5. If a school district offers any sex education curricula pursuant to section 15-711 or 15-716 or pursuant to any rules adopted by the state board of education, procedures to prohibit the school district from providing sex education instruction to a pupil unless the pupil's parent provides written permission for the child to participate in the sex education curricula.

6. Procedures by which parents will be notified in advance of and given the opportunity to opt their children in to any instruction, learning materials or presentations regarding sexuality, in courses other than formal sex education curricula.

7. Procedures by which parents may learn about the nature and purpose of clubs and activities that are part of the school curriculum, extracurricular clubs and activities that have been approved by the school.

8. Procedures by which parents may learn about parental rights and responsibilities under the laws of this state, including the following:

(a) The right to opt in to a sex education curriculum if one is provided by the school district.

(b) Open enrollment rights pursuant to section 15-816.01.

(d) The right to opt out of immunizations pursuant to section 15-873.

(e) The promotion requirements prescribed in section 15-701.

(f) The minimum course of study and competency requirements for graduation from high school prescribed in section 15-701.01.

(g) The right to opt out of instruction on acquired immune deficiency syndrome pursuant to section 15-716.

(h) The right to review test results pursuant to section 15-743.

(i) The right to participate in gifted programs pursuant to section 15-779.01.

(j) The right to access instructional materials pursuant to section 15-730.

(k) The right to receive a school report card pursuant to section 15-746.

(l) The attendance requirements prescribed in sections 15-802, 15-803 and 15-821.

(m) The right to public review of courses of study, textbooks and library books and materials pursuant to sections 15-721 and 15-722.

(n) The right to be excused from school attendance for religious purposes pursuant to section 15-806.

(o) Policies related to parental involvement pursuant to this section.

(p) The right to seek membership on school councils pursuant to section 15-351.

(q) Information about the student accountability information system as prescribed in section 15-1041.

(r) The right to access the failing schools tutoring fund pursuant to section 15-241.

(s) The right to access all written and electronic records of a school district or school district employee concerning the parent's child pursuant to section 15-143.

9. If a school district requires, endorses, recommends, encourages, funds, facilitates or provides a training for teachers or school administrators, procedures by which parents are notified of the training and given access to any printed or digital materials that are used for the training. For the purposes of this paragraph, "training":

(a) Means a class, a seminar, a webinar, in-person instruction or printed or digital material that addresses curricula, teaching methods, classroom strategies, student discipline, learning environment or social and emotional learning, including Training related to racial, sexual, gender identity, political or social issues.

(b) Does not include training in which a teacher or school administrator participates outside of the context of the teacher's or school administrator's official duties.

B. The policy adopted by the governing board pursuant to this section may also include the following components:

1. A plan by which parents will be made aware of the district's parental involvement policy and this section, including:

(a) Rights under the family educational rights and privacy act of 1974 (20 United States Code section 1232g) relating to access to children's official records.

(b) The parent's right to inspect the school district policies and curriculum.

2. Efforts to encourage the development of parenting skills.

3. Communicating to parents techniques that are designed to assist the child's learning experience in the home.

4. Efforts to encourage access to community and support services for children and families.

5. Promoting communication between the school and parents concerning school programs and the academic progress of the parents' children.

6. Identifying opportunities for parents to participate in and support classroom instruction at the school.

7. Efforts to support, with appropriate training, parents as shared decision-makers and to encourage membership on school councils.

8. Recognizing the diversity of parents and developing guidelines that promote widespread parental participation and involvement in the school at various levels.

9. Developing preparation programs and specialized courses for certificated employees and administrators that promote parental involvement.

10. Developing strategies and programmatic structures at schools to encourage and enable parents to participate actively in their children's education.

C. The governing board may shall adopt a policy to provide to parents the information required by this section in an electronic form.

D. A parent shall submit a written request for information pursuant to this section during regular business hours to either the school principal at the school site or the superintendent of the school district at the office of the school district. Within ten days after receiving the request for information, the school principal or the superintendent of the school district shall either deliver the requested information to the parent or submit to the parent a written explanation of the reasons for denying the requested information. If the request for information is denied or the parent does not receive the requested information within fifteen days after submitting the request for information, the parent may request the information in writing from the school district governing board, which shall formally consider the request at the next scheduled public meeting of the governing board if the request can be properly noticed on the agenda. If the request cannot be properly noticed on the agenda, the governing board shall formally consider the request at the next subsequent public meeting of the governing board.

E. For the purposes of this section, "parent" means the natural or adoptive parent or legal guardian of a minor child. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 15-184, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-184. Charter schools; admissions requirements; parental classroom visits; teacher training; posting; definition

A. A charter school shall enroll all eligible pupils who submit a timely application, unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level or building.

B. A charter school shall give enrollment preference to pupils who are returning to the charter school in the second or any subsequent year of its operation and to siblings of pupils who are already enrolled in the charter school.

C. A charter school may give enrollment preference to children who are in foster care or meet the definition of unaccompanied youth prescribed in the McKinney-Vento homeless assistance act (42 United States Code section 11434a).

D. A charter school may give enrollment preference to and reserve capacity for pupils who either:

1. Are children, grandchildren or legal wards of any of the following:

(a) Employees of the school.

(b) Employees of the charter holder.

(d) Directors, officers, partners or board members of the charter holder.

2. Attended another charter school or are the siblings of that pupil if the charter school previously attended by the pupil has the identical charter holder, board and governing board membership as the enrolling charter school or is managed by the same educational management organization, charter management organization or educational service provider as determined by the charter authorizer.

E. If remaining capacity is insufficient to enroll all pupils who submit a timely application, the charter school shall select pupils through an equitable selection process such as a lottery except that preference shall be given to siblings of a pupil who is selected through an equitable selection process such as a lottery.

F. Except as provided in subsections A through D of this section, a charter school shall not limit admission based on ethnicity, national origin, gender, income level, disabling condition, proficiency in the English language or athletic ability.

G. A charter school may limit admission to pupils within a given age group or grade level.

H. A charter school may provide instruction to pupils of a single gender with the approval of the sponsor of the charter school. An existing charter school may amend its charter to provide instruction to pupils of a single gender and, if approved by the sponsor of the charter school, may provide instruction to pupils of a single gender at the beginning of the next school year.

I. A charter school may refuse to admit any pupil who has been expelled from another educational institution or who is in the process of being expelled from another educational institution.

J. A charter school governing body must develop and adopt in a public meeting policies to allow for visits, tours and observations of all classrooms by parents of enrolled pupils and parents who wish to enroll their children in the charter school unless a visit, tour or observation threatens the health and safety of pupils and staff. These policies and procedures must be easily accessible from the home page on each school's website.

k. IF A CHARTER SCHOOL REQUIRES, ENDORSES, RECOMMENDS, ENCOURAGES, FUNDS, FACILITATES OR PROVIDES A TRAINING FOR TEACHERS OR SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS, THE CHARTER SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY SHALL ADOPT A POLICY THAT PRESCRIBES PROCEDURES BY WHICH PARENTS ARE NOTIFIED OF THE TRAINING AND GIVEN ACCESS TO ANY PRINTED OR DIGITAL MATERIALS THAT ARE USED FOR THE TRAINING. THE INFORMATION REQUIRED BY THIS SUBSECTION SHALL BE PROVIDED IN AN ELECTRONIC FORM. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBSECTION, "TRAINING":

1. MEANS A CLASS, A SEMINAR, A WEBINAR, IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION OR PRINTED OR DIGITAL MATERIAL THAT ADDRESSES CURRICULA, TEACHING METHODS, CLASSROOM STRATEGIES, STUDENT DISCIPLINE, LEARNING ENVIRONMENT OR SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING, INCLUDING TRAINING RELATED TO RACIAL, SEXUAL, GENDER IDENTITY, POLITICAL OR SOCIAL issues.

2. DOES NOT INCLUDE TRAINING IN WHICH A TEACHER OR SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR PARTICIPATES OUTSIDE OF THE CONTExT OF THE TEACHER'S OR SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR'S OFFICIAL DUTIES. END_STATUTE