Legislative Briefs
Bullying
What it does: Current law requires school districts to adopt policies prohibiting harassment, intimidation, bullying and cyberbullying. HB 2631-3 would, under certain circumstances, require school officials to notify parents or guardians of students subject to acts of harassment, intimidation, bullying or cyberbullying and of students who may have conducted such acts, with exceptions for privacy and safety concerns for students.
What’s next: This bill passed the House on April 15 and will move to the Senate for referral to a committee.
Student protections
Senate Bill 242
What it does: SB 155 (2019) increased protections for students experiencing sexual conduct by school employees by updating the definition of “sexual conduct” and enhancing existing reporting and investigation requirements. SB 242 is a technical fix bill that addresses implementation challenges stemming from SB 155. Updates in SB 242 include technical modifications to the definition of sexual conduct and enhanced records-sharing permissions for agencies and school districts. The bill would also add education service district board members to the list of mandatory reporters in ORS 419b.
Civics credit
What it does: Current law requires students to earn 24 total credits to graduate, including three credits of mathematics and four credits of English. The remaining graduation requirements are listed in administrative rule. SB 513-1 would add a half credit of civics to the statutory coursework requirements for a student to graduate high school.
Legislative notes:
House Bill 2056 (March 8 Legislative Briefs) would remove the requirement for students to take four credits of English and allow students to fulfill their graduation requirements by taking four credits of language arts in their native languages. The bill passed the House on March 9 and has been referred to the Senate Education Committee with a scheduled public hearing April 21.
House Bill 2536 (March 29 Legislative Briefs) would make technical changes to statutes created as part of the Student Success Act of 2019 to make it clear that some schools, under certain circumstances, shall offer these same meals without additional approval from the Oregon Department of Education. The bill passed the House on April 14.