Reference Title: pupils; textbooks and other equipment

AN ACT
AMENDING SECTION 15-342, ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES; RELATING TO SCHOOL DISTRICT GOVERNING BOARDS.

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

Section 1. Section 15-342, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

15-342 . Discretionary powers

The governing board may:

1. Expel pupils for misconduct.

2. Exclude from grades one through eight children under six years of age.

3. Make such separation of groups of pupils as it deems advisable.

4. Maintain such special schools during vacation as deemed necessary for the benefit of the pupils of the school district.

5. Permit a superintendent or principal or his representatives OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OR PRINCIPAL to travel for a school purpose, as determined by a majority vote of the board. The board may permit members and members-elect of the board to travel within or without the school district for a school purpose and receive reimbursement. Any expenditure for travel and subsistence pursuant to this paragraph shall be as provided in title 38, chapter 4, article 2. The designated post of duty referred to in section 38-621 shall be construed, for school district governing board members, to be the member's actual place of residence, as opposed to the school district office or the school district boundaries. Such expenditures shall be a charge against the budgeted school district funds. The governing board of a school district shall prescribe procedures and amounts for reimbursement of lodging and subsistence expenses. Reimbursement amounts shall not exceed the maximum amounts established pursuant to section 38-624, subsection C.

6. Construct or provide in rural districts housing facilities for teachers and other school employees which the board determines are necessary for the operation of the school.

7. Sell or lease to the state, county or city any school property required for a public purpose, provided the sale or lease of the property will not affect the normal operations of a school within the school district.

8. Annually budget and expend funds for membership in an association of school districts within this state.

9. Enter into leases or lease-purchase agreements for school buildings or grounds, or both, as lessor or as lessee, for periods of less than five years subject to voter approval for construction of school buildings as prescribed in section 15-341, subsection A, paragraph 8.

10. Sell school sites or enter into leases or lease-purchase agreements for school buildings and grounds, as lessor or as lessee, for a period of five years or more, but not to exceed ninety-nine years, if authorized by vote of the school district electors in an election called by the governing board as provided in section 15-491, except that if the market value of the school property is less than fifty thousand dollars authorization by the school district electors in an election is not required.

11. Review the decision of a teacher to promote a pupil to a grade or retain a pupil in a grade in a common school or to pass or fail a pupil in a course in high school. Notwithstanding title 38, chapter 3, article 3.1, the governing board shall review the decision of a teacher to promote a pupil to a grade or retain a pupil in a grade in a common school or to pass or fail a pupil in a course in high school in executive session unless a parent or legal guardian of the pupil or the pupil, if emancipated, disagrees that the review should be conducted in executive session and then the review shall be conducted in an open meeting. If the review is conducted in executive session, the board shall notify the teacher of the date, time and place of the review and shall allow the teacher to be present at the review. If the teacher is not present at the review, the board shall consult with the teacher before making its decision. Any request, including the written request as provided in section 15-341, the written evidence presented at the review and the written record of the review, including the decision of the governing board to accept or reject the teacher's decision, shall be retained by the governing board as part of its permanent records.

12. Provide transportation or site transportation loading and unloading areas for any child or children if deemed for the best interest of the district, whether within or without the district, county or state.

13. Enter into intergovernmental agreements and contracts with school districts or other governing bodies as provided in section 11-952.

14. Include in the curricula which it prescribes for high schools in the school district vocational and technological education programs and vocational and technological program improvement services for the high schools, subject to approval by the state board of education. The governing board may contract for the provision of vocational and technological education as provided in section 15-789.

15. Suspend a teacher or administrator from his duties without pay for a period of time of not to exceed ten school days, if the board determines that suspension is warranted pursuant to section 15-341, subsection A, paragraphs 23 and 24.

16. Dedicate school property within an incorporated city or town to such city or town or within a county to that county for use as a public right-of-way if both of the following apply:

(a) Pursuant to an ordinance adopted by such city, town or county, there will be conferred upon the school district privileges and benefits which may include benefits related to zoning.

(b) The dedication will not affect the normal operation of any school within the district.

17. Enter into option agreements for the purchase of school sites.

18. Donate surplus or outdated learning materials to nonprofit community organizations where the governing board determines that the anticipated cost of selling the learning materials equals or exceeds the estimated market value of the materials.

19. Prescribe policies for the assessment of reasonable fees for students to use district-provided parking facilities. The fees are to be applied by the district solely against costs incurred in operating or securing the parking facilities. Any policy adopted by the governing board pursuant to this paragraph shall include a fee waiver provision in appropriate cases of need or economic hardship.

20. Establish alternative educational programs that are consistent with the laws of this state to educate pupils, including pupils who have been reassigned pursuant to section 15-841, subsection E or F.

21. Require a period of silence to be observed at the commencement of the first class of the day in the schools. If a governing board chooses to require a period of silence to be observed, the teacher in charge of the room in which the first class is held shall announce that a period of silence not to exceed one minute in duration will be observed for meditation, and during that time no activities shall take place and silence shall be maintained.

22. Require students to wear uniforms.

23. Exchange unimproved property or improved property, including school sites, where the governing board determines that the improved property is unnecessary for the continued operation of the school district without requesting authorization by a vote of the school district electors if the governing board determines that the exchange is necessary to protect the health, safety or welfare of pupils or when the governing board determines that the exchange is based on sound business principles for either:

(a) Unimproved or improved property of equal or greater value.

(b) Unimproved property that the owner contracts to improve if the value of the property ultimately received by the school district is of equal or greater value.

24. For common and high school pupils, assess reasonable fees for optional extracurricular activities and programs conducted when the common or high school is not in session, except that no fees shall be charged for pupils' access to or use of computers or related materials. For high school pupils, the governing board may assess reasonable fees for fine arts and vocational education courses and for optional services, equipment and materials offered to the pupils beyond those required to successfully complete the basic requirements of any other course, except that no fees shall be charged for pupils' access to or use of computers or related materials. Fees assessed pursuant to this paragraph shall be adopted at a public meeting after notice has been given to all parents of pupils enrolled at schools in the district and shall not exceed the actual costs of the activities, programs, services, equipment or materials. The governing board shall authorize principals to waive the assessment of all or part of a fee assessed pursuant to this paragraph if it creates an economic hardship for a pupil. For the purposes of this paragraph, "extracurricular activity" means any optional, noncredit, educational or recreational activity which supplements the education program of the school, whether offered before, during or after regular school hours.

25. Notwithstanding section 15-341, subsection A, paragraphs 8 and 10, construct school buildings and purchase school sites, without a vote of the school district electors, if the buildings and sites are totally funded from one or more of the following:

(a) Until June 30, 1999, monies in the capital outlay fund or in the plan for the use of the reserve of the capital outlay fund, and from and after June 30, 1999, monies in the unrestricted capital outlay fund, except that the estimated cost shall not exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars for a district that utilizes the provisions of section 15-949.

(b) Monies distributed from the school facilities board established by section 15-2001.

(c) Monies specifically donated for the purpose of constructing school buildings.

Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to eliminate the requirement for an election to raise revenues for a capital outlay override pursuant to section 15-481 or a bond election pursuant to section 15-491.

26. Conduct a background investigation that includes a fingerprint check conducted pursuant to section 41-1750, subsection G for certificated personnel and personnel who are not paid employees of the school district, as a condition of employment. A school district may release the results of a background check to another school district for employment purposes. The school district may charge the costs of fingerprint checks to its fingerprinted employee, except that the school district may not charge the costs of fingerprint checks for personnel who are not paid employees of the school district.

27. Sell advertising space on the exterior of school buses as follows:

(a) Advertisements shall be age appropriate and not contain promotion of any substance that is illegal for minors such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs or gambling. Advertisements shall comply with the state sex education policy of abstinence.

(b) Advertising approved by the governing board may appear only on the sides of the bus in the following areas:

(i) The signs shall be below the seat level rub rail and not extend above the bottom of the side windows.

(ii) The signs shall be at least three inches from any required lettering, lamp, wheel well or reflector behind the service door or stop signal arm.

(iii) The signs shall not extend from the body of the bus so as to allow a handhold or present a danger to pedestrians.

(iv) The signs shall not interfere with the operation of any door or window.

(v) The signs shall not be placed on any emergency doors.

(c) Establish a school bus advertisement fund that is comprised of revenues from the sale of advertising space on school buses. The monies in a school bus advertisement fund are not subject to reversion and shall be used for the following purposes:

(i) To comply with the energy conservation measures prescribed in section 15-349 in school districts that are in area A as defined in section 49-541, and any remaining monies shall be used to purchase alternative fuel support vehicles and any other pupil related costs as determined by the governing board.

(ii) For any pupil related costs as determined by the governing board in school districts not subject to the provisions of item (i) of this subdivision.

28. ASSESS REASONABLE DAMAGE DEPOSITS TO PUPILS IN GRADES SEVEN THROUGH TWELVE FOR THE USE OF TEXTBOOKS, MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, BAND UNIFORMS OR OTHER EQUIPMENT REQUIRED FOR ACADEMIC COURSES. THE GOVERNING BOARD SHALL ADOPT POLICIES ON ANY DAMAGE DEPOSITS ASSESSED PURSUANT TO THIS PARAGRAPH AT A PUBLIC MEETING CALLED FOR THIS PURPOSE AFTER PROVIDING NOTICE TO ALL PARENTS OF PUPILS IN GRADES SEVEN THROUGH TWELVE IN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. PRINCIPALS OF INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS WITHIN THE DISTRICT MAY WAIVE THE DAMAGE DEPOSIT REQUIREMENT FOR ANY TEXTBOOK OR OTHER ITEM IF THE PAYMENT OF THE DAMAGE DEPOSIT WOULD CREATE AN ECONOMIC HARDSHIP FOR THE PUPIL. THE SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL RETURN THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE DAMAGE DEPOSIT FOR ANY TEXTBOOK OR OTHER ITEM IF THE PUPIL RETURNS THE TEXTBOOK OR OTHER ITEM IN REASONABLY GOOD CONDITION WITHIN THE TIME PERIOD PRESCRIBED BY THE GOVERNING BOARD. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS PARAGRAPH, "IN REASONABLY GOOD CONDITION" MEANS THE TEXTBOOK OR OTHER ITEM IS IN THE SAME OR A SIMILAR CONDITION AS IT WAS WHEN THE PUPIL RECEIVED IT, PLUS ORDINARY WEAR AND TEAR.

APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR APRIL 28, 1999.

FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE APRIL 28, 1999.