| Education undergoes change in the state |
By: Mary Jean Hall, Special to The Press
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Posted: Friday, July 6, 2012 12:33 pm
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The Weakley County School System will have to adhere to several law changes, with some having started as early as April this year.
Students, parents, teachers, administrators, and even community members will be influenced by these changes from the adoption of legislation by the 107th Tennessee General Assembly this year.
The Weakley County students and parents can look forward to some definite changes over the next school year.
• Age Increase to Attend Pre-K and Kindergarten – Public Chapter 991- SB2630 by Johnson/HB2566 by Casada changes the date by which a child must turn 4-years old to enter a state pre-K program and 5-years old to enter kindergarten from September 30 to August 31 in 2013-2014. The date would move up to August 15 after that school year.
There are exceptions to kindergarten eligibility for those students currently participating in pre-K and for those students who are eligible under the current law.
• State-Mandated Dress Code- Public Chapter 781 – SB3558 by Ford/HB3679 by Towns requires the school districts to prohibit students from wearing clothing that exposes underwear or body parts in an indecent manner that disrupts the learning environment.
• Parental Involvement Contracts- Public Chapter 762 – SB3588 by Kelsey/HB3636 by Parkinson encourages the school districts to develop parental involvement contracts with parents of students. The districts that develop and implement the contracts shall submit a copy of the contract to the state department of education, and will report on the number and percentages of parents signing the contract.
• Public Chapter 784 – SB3606 by Haynes/HB3505 by Gilmore authorizes and encourages the school districts to partner with individuals, groups and organizations to design and implement programs to improve parental involvement.
• Student Club Participation, Public Chapter 990 – SB2488 by Overby/HB2548 by Coley requires schools to notify parents, by way of student handbooks or other standard policy guides, of all student clubs and organizations.
It allows parents to prohibit their children from participating in such clubs and organizations by providing written notification to the school.
• High Schools Can Forward Vaccinations, Public Chapter 656 – SB2646 by Yager/HB2229 by Hurley requires high schools to forward vaccination records to postsecondary institutions on behalf of dual enrollment students upon request of the student’s parent or guardian.
• 9th Grade Survey Decides Curriculum, Public Chapter 918 – SB2591 by Marrero/HB 2167 by Coley provides that an interest inventory, or survey, be available to all public middle school students or ninth graders to assist students in making career choices.
The school districts will be required to submit summary data from the survey to the state board of education, which shall consider the data in making curriculum decisions.
• Harassment and Bullying Information, Public Chapter 992 – SB2556 by Ketron/HB2641 by Curtiss revises criminal statues relative to images used to harass or bully, and it requires the school district, at the beginning of each school year, to provide teachers and counselors a copy of the district’s anti-bullying policy and provide training to teachers and counselors regarding the policy and appropriate implementation.
The school districts would be required to make the anti-bullying information available to parents, and would also have to report the number of bullying cases to the state department each year.
WCP 7.03.12
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