SENATORS Mumper, Austria, Carnes, Harris, Hottinger, Shoemaker, Spada

To amend sections 3313.601 and 3313.602 of the

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Revised Code to permit the board of education of a

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school district to provide for a moment of silence

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each school day for prayer, reflection, or

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meditation upon a moral, philosophical, or

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patriotic theme; to prohibit boards of education,

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schools, or employees of the school district from

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requiring a pupil to participate in such a moment

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of silence; to prohibit the board of education of

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a school district from adopting certain policies

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pertaining to religion or religious expression;

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and to forbid boards of education from requiring

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any student to participate in the oral recitation

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of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1.  That sections 3313.601 and 3313.602 of the	15
Revised Code be amended to read as follows:	16

Sec. 3313.601. The board of education of each school	17
district may provide for a moment of silence each school day for	18
prayer, reflection, or meditation upon a moral, philosophical, or	19
patriotic theme. No board of education, school, or employee of	20
the school district shall require a pupil to participate in a	21
moment of silence provided for pursuant to this section. No board	22
of education shall prohibit a classroom teacher from providing in	23
histhe teacher's classroom reasonable periods of time for	24
programs or meditation uponactivities of a moral, philosophical,	25
or patriotic theme. No pupil shall be required to participate in	26
such programs or meditationsactivities if they are contrary to	27
the religious convictions of the pupil or histhe pupil's parents	28
or guardians.	29

No board of education of a school district shall adopt any	30
policy or rule respecting or promoting an establishment of	31
religion or prohibiting any pupil from the free, individual, and	32
voluntary exercise or expression of the pupil's religious beliefs	33
in any primary or secondary school. The board of education may	34
limit the exercise or expression of the pupil's religious beliefs	35
as described in this section to lunch periods or other	36
noninstructional time periods when pupils are free to associate.	37

Sec. 3313.602.  (A) The board of education of each city,	38
local, exempted village, and joint vocational school district	39
shall adopt a policy specifying whether or not oral recitation of	40
the pledge of allegiance to the flag shall be a part of the	41
school's program and, if so, establishing a time and manner for	42
suchthe recitation. The policy adopted under this division shall	43
not require any student to participate in the recitation and shall	44
prohibit the intimidation of any student by other students or	45
staff aimed at coercing participation.	46

(B) In the development of its graded course of study, the	47
board of education of each city and exempted village school	48
district and the governing board of each educational service	49
center shall ensure that the principles of democracy and ethics	50
are emphasized and discussed wherever appropriate in all parts of	51
the curriculum for grades kindergarten through twelve.	52

(C) Each city, local, exempted village, and joint vocational	53
school board shall adopt policies that encourage all certificated	54
and noncertificated employees to be cognizant of their roles in	55
instilling ethical principles and democratic ideals in all	56
district pupils.	57

(D) The board of education of each city, local, joint	58
vocational, chartered community, and exempted village school	59
district, and the Cleveland Scholarshipscholarship and Tutoring	60
Programtutoring program, shall require each district school to	61
devote time on or about Veterans' day to an observance that	62
conveys the meaning and significance of that day. The amount of	63
time each school devotes to this observance shall be at least one	64
hour or, in schools that schedule class periods of less than one	65
hour, at least one standard class period. The board shall	66
determine the specific activities to constitute the observance in	67
each school in the district after consultation with the school's	68
administrators.	69

Section 2.  That existing sections 3313.601 and 3313.602 of	70
the Revised Code are hereby repealed.	71