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| To amend sections 3301.0718 and 3313.60 and to enact | 1 |
| sections 3301.23 and 3313.668 of the Revised Code | 2 |
| to enact the "Tina Croucher Act" to require | 3 |
| school districts to adopt a dating violence | 4 |
| prevention policy and to include dating violence | 5 |
| prevention education within the health education | 6 |
| curriculum. | 7 |
| Section 1. That sections 3301.0718 and 3313.60 be amended and | 8 |
| sections 3301.23 and 3313.668 of the Revised Code be enacted to | 9 |
| read as follows: | 10 |
| Sec. 3301.0718. (A) After completing the required standards | 11 |
| specified in section 3301.079 of the Revised Code, the state board | 12 |
| of education shall adopt standards and model curricula for | 13 |
| instruction in computer literacy for grades three through twelve | 14 |
| and in fine arts and foreign language for grades kindergarten | 15 |
| through twelve. | 16 |
| (B) Not later than December 31, 2007, the state board shall | 17 |
| adopt the most recent standards developed by the national | 18 |
| association for sport and physical education for physical | 19 |
| education in grades kindergarten through twelve or shall adopt its | 20 |
| own standards for physical education in those grades. The | 21 |
| department of education shall provide the standards, and any | 22 |
| revisions of the standards, to all school districts and community | 23 |
| schools established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code. Any | 24 |
| school district or community school may utilize the standards. | 25 |
| The department shall employ a full-time physical education | 26 |
| coordinator to provide guidance and technical assistance to | 27 |
| districts and community schools in implementing the standards | 28 |
| adopted under this division. The superintendent of public | 29 |
| instruction shall determine that the person employed as | 30 |
| coordinator is qualified for the position, as demonstrated by | 31 |
| possessing an adequate combination of education, license, and | 32 |
| experience. The department shall hire a coordinator not later than | 33 |
| October 31, 2007. | 34 |
| (C) | 35 |
| (A)(5)(e) of section 3313.60 of the Revised Code, the state board | 36 |
| shall not adopt or revise any standards or curriculum in the area | 37 |
| of health unless, by concurrent resolution, the standards, | 38 |
| curriculum, or revisions are approved by both houses of the | 39 |
| general assembly. Before the house of representatives or senate | 40 |
| votes on a concurrent resolution approving health standards, | 41 |
| curriculum, or revisions, its standing committee having | 42 |
| jurisdiction over education legislation shall conduct at least | 43 |
| one public hearing on the standards, curriculum, or revisions. | 44 |
| (D) The state board shall not adopt a diagnostic assessment | 45 |
| or achievement test for any grade level or subject area other | 46 |
| than those specified in section 3301.079 of the Revised Code. | 47 |
| Sec. 3301.23. The state board of education shall develop a | 48 |
| model dating violence prevention policy to assist school districts | 49 |
| in developing their own policies under section 3313.668 of the | 50 |
| Revised Code for dating violence reporting and response. The state | 51 |
| board shall issue the model policy not later than ninety days | 52 |
| after the effective date of this section. | 53 |
| Sec. 3313.60. Notwithstanding division (D) of section | 54 |
| 3311.52 of the Revised Code, divisions (A) to (E) of this section | 55 |
| do not apply to any cooperative education school district | 56 |
| established pursuant to divisions (A) to (C) of section 3311.52 of | 57 |
| the Revised Code. | 58 |
| (A) The board of education of each city and exempted village | 59 |
| school district, the governing board of each educational service | 60 |
| center, and the board of each cooperative education school | 61 |
| district established pursuant to section 3311.521 of the Revised | 62 |
| Code shall prescribe a curriculum for all schools under their | 63 |
| control. Except as provided in division (E) of this section, in | 64 |
| any such curriculum there shall be included the study of the | 65 |
| following subjects: | 66 |
| (1) The language arts, including reading, writing, spelling, | 67 |
| oral and written English, and literature; | 68 |
| (2) Geography, the history of the United States and of Ohio, | 69 |
| and national, state, and local government in the United States, | 70 |
| including a balanced presentation of the relevant contributions to | 71 |
| society of men and women of African, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and | 72 |
| American Indian descent as well as other ethnic and racial groups | 73 |
| in Ohio and the United States; | 74 |
| (3) Mathematics; | 75 |
| (4) Natural science, including instruction in the | 76 |
| conservation of natural resources; | 77 |
| (5) Health education, which shall include instruction in: | 78 |
| (a) The nutritive value of foods, including natural and | 79 |
| organically produced foods, the relation of nutrition to health, | 80 |
| the use and effects of food additives; | 81 |
| (b) The harmful effects of and legal restrictions against the | 82 |
| use of drugs of abuse, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco; | 83 |
| (c) Venereal disease education, except that upon written | 84 |
| request of the student's parent or guardian, a student shall be | 85 |
| excused from taking instruction in venereal disease education; | 86 |
| (d) In grades kindergarten through six, instruction in | 87 |
| personal safety and assault prevention, except that upon written | 88 |
| request of the student's parent or guardian, a student shall be | 89 |
| excused from taking instruction in personal safety and assault | 90 |
| prevention; | 91 |
| (e) In grades seven through twelve, age-appropriate | 92 |
| instruction in dating violence prevention education, which shall | 93 |
| include instruction in defining dating violence, recognizing | 94 |
| dating violence warning signs, and characteristics of healthy | 95 |
| relationships. As used in this division, "dating violence" has | 96 |
| the same meaning as in section 3313.668 of the Revised Code. | 97 |
| In order to assist school districts in developing a dating | 98 |
| violence prevention education curriculum, the state board of | 99 |
| education shall adopt standards for dating violence prevention | 100 |
| education in grades seven through twelve. The department of | 101 |
| education shall provide the standards, and any revisions of the | 102 |
| standards, to all school districts. Any school district may | 103 |
| utilize the standards. | 104 |
| If the parent or legal guardian of a student less than | 105 |
| eighteen years of age submits to the principal of the student's | 106 |
| school a written request to examine the dating violence | 107 |
| prevention instruction materials used at that school, the | 108 |
| principal, within a reasonable period of time after the request | 109 |
| is made, shall allow the parent or guardian to examine those | 110 |
| materials at that school. | 111 |
| (6) Physical education; | 112 |
| (7) The fine arts, including music; | 113 |
| (8) First aid, including a training program in | 114 |
| cardiopulmonary resuscitation, safety, and fire prevention, except | 115 |
| that upon written request of the student's parent or guardian, a | 116 |
| student shall be excused from taking instruction in | 117 |
| cardiopulmonary resuscitation. | 118 |
| (B) Except as provided in division (E) of this section, every | 119 |
| school or school district shall include in the requirements for | 120 |
| promotion from the eighth grade to the ninth grade one year's | 121 |
| course of study of American history. | 122 |
| (C) Except as provided in division (E) of this section, every | 123 |
| high school shall include in the requirements for graduation from | 124 |
| any curriculum one unit of American history and government, | 125 |
| including a study of the constitutions of the United States and of | 126 |
| Ohio. | 127 |
| (D) Except as provided in division (E) of this section, basic | 128 |
| instruction in geography, United States history, the government of | 129 |
| the United States, the government of the state of Ohio, local | 130 |
| government in Ohio, the Declaration of Independence, the United | 131 |
| States Constitution, and the Constitution of the state of Ohio | 132 |
| shall be required before pupils may participate in courses | 133 |
| involving the study of social problems, economics, foreign | 134 |
| affairs, United Nations, world government, socialism and | 135 |
| communism. | 136 |
| (E) For each cooperative education school district | 137 |
| established pursuant to section 3311.521 of the Revised Code and | 138 |
| each city, exempted village, and local school district that has | 139 |
| territory within such a cooperative district, the curriculum | 140 |
| adopted pursuant to divisions (A) to (D) of this section shall | 141 |
| only include the study of the subjects that apply to the grades | 142 |
| operated by each such school district. The curriculums for such | 143 |
| schools, when combined, shall provide to each student of these | 144 |
| districts all of the subjects required under divisions (A) to (D) | 145 |
| of this section. | 146 |
| (F) The board of education of any cooperative education | 147 |
| school district established pursuant to divisions (A) to (C) of | 148 |
| section 3311.52 of the Revised Code shall prescribe a curriculum | 149 |
| for the subject areas and grade levels offered in any school under | 150 |
| its control. | 151 |
| (G) Upon the request of any parent or legal guardian of a | 152 |
| student, the board of education of any school district shall | 153 |
| permit the parent or guardian to promptly examine, with respect to | 154 |
| the parent's or guardian's own child: | 155 |
| (1) Any survey or questionnaire, prior to its administration | 156 |
| to the child; | 157 |
| (2) Any textbook, workbook, software, video, or other | 158 |
| instructional materials being used by the district in connection | 159 |
| with the instruction of the child; | 160 |
| (3) Any completed and graded test taken or survey or | 161 |
| questionnaire filled out by the child; | 162 |
| (4) Copies of the statewide academic standards and each model | 163 |
| curriculum developed pursuant to section 3301.079 of the Revised | 164 |
| Code, which copies shall be available at all times during school | 165 |
| hours in each district school building. | 166 |
| Sec. 3313.668. (A) As used in this section: | 167 |
| (1) "At school" means in a classroom, on or immediately | 168 |
| adjacent to school premises, on a school bus or other | 169 |
| school-related vehicle, at an official school bus stop, or at any | 170 |
| school-sponsored activity or event whether or not it is on school | 171 |
| grounds. | 172 |
| (2) "Dating partner" means any person, regardless of gender, | 173 |
| involved in an intimate relationship with another primarily | 174 |
| characterized by the expectation of affectionate involvement | 175 |
| whether casual, serious, or long-term. | 176 |
| (3) "Dating violence" means a pattern of behavior where a | 177 |
| person uses or threatens physical, sexual, verbal, or emotional | 178 |
| abuse to control the person's dating partner. | 179 |
| (B) The board of education of each city, local, exempted | 180 |
| village, and joint vocational school district shall adopt a | 181 |
| specific policy to prevent and address incidents of dating | 182 |
| violence involving students at school not later than one hundred | 183 |
| eighty days after the effective date of this section. Each school | 184 |
| board shall file the district's policy with the department of | 185 |
| education. The policy shall include, but not be limited to: | 186 |
| (1) A statement that dating violence will not be tolerated; | 187 |
| (2) Dating violence reporting procedures; | 188 |
| (3) Guidelines to responding to at-school incidents of dating | 189 |
| violence; | 190 |
| (4) Discipline procedures specific to at-school incidents of | 191 |
| dating violence. | 192 |
| The board shall publish the dating violence prevention policy | 193 |
| in any school district policy and handbook that sets forth the | 194 |
| comprehensive rules, procedures, and standards of conduct for | 195 |
| students at school. | 196 |
| (C)(1) Not later than ninety days after adopting a dating | 197 |
| violence prevention policy under this section, each board shall | 198 |
| provide dating violence prevention training to all | 199 |
| administrators, teachers, school nurses, and school mental health | 200 |
| staff who work in schools serving any of grades seven through | 201 |
| twelve. Upon the recommendation of the board, other staff may be | 202 |
| required to attend the training or be permitted to attend on a | 203 |
| volunteer basis. | 204 |
| (2) Dating violence prevention training shall include, but | 205 |
| not be limited to: | 206 |
| (a) Basic principles of dating violence and dating violence | 207 |
| prevention; | 208 |
| (b) Warning signs of dating violence; | 209 |
| (c) The district's dating violence prevention policy. | 210 |
| The board shall provide training annually to all newly hired | 211 |
| staff for whom it deems the training appropriate. | 212 |
| (D) Each board shall inform each student's parent or guardian | 213 |
| of the district's dating violence prevention policy. If so | 214 |
| requested, the board shall provide a parent or guardian with the | 215 |
| dating violence prevention policy and relevant information. The | 216 |
| board may also provide parent awareness training. | 217 |
| (E) This section does not prevent a victim from seeking | 218 |
| redress under any other provision of the Revised Code or common | 219 |
| law that may apply. | 220 |
| (F) This section does not create a new cause of action or | 221 |
| substantive legal right for any person. | 222 |
| Section 2. That existing sections 3301.0718 and 3313.60 of | 223 |
| the Revised Code are hereby repealed. | 224 |
| Section 3. This act shall be known as the "Tina Croucher | 225 |
| Act." | 226 |