Attendance

Student Attendance and the Instructional Program

Attendance

Impermissible Discrimination Residency and Guardianship The Compulsory School Law Absences

Maintaining a Safe School Environment The Instructional Program

The Required Curriculum Student Assessment TEC § 28.002: Districts must establish a policy for parent conferences and requires notification of grades at least once every 12 weeksTEC § 39.022: State board must establish statewide student knowledge and skills-based assessment programSchool District Accountability TEC § 39.051: Directs the State Board to establish academic excellence indicators for school campusesTEC § 29.053 Annual reports describing the educational performance of the district and each campus should be distributed annually: Removal of Objectionable Library and Study Materials

Should schools inculate community values as reflected in school board decisions? OR

Should schools foster a marketplace of ideas?

Board of Education v. Island Trees v. Pico: 5-4 Supreme Court decision to order a trial to determine reasoning behind removing books from a junior and senior high school libraries. This supports the view that the first amendment has a play in such actions.

Computers and the Internet

Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires both libraries and schools receiving federal E-rate or Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds for Internet use to have filtering devices in place by July, 2002.

Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) set forth conditions for using the Internet and other technology at school. They inform users that they are being monitored, etc. The Federal Communications Act provides that it is not unlawful to intercept email where one of the parties has given prior consent.

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Attendance

The Federal Copyright Law

Intent: To allow "fair use" but to avoid wholesale copying of complete works in substitute of purchase. 1976 revised law does not prohibit, but does restrict duplicating copyrighted material for classroom use. Certain conditions must be met:

1. The copying is at the instance/inspiration of the teacher

2. There is not sufficient time to request permission from publisher

3. The copying is only for one course in the school

4. Each copy includes a notice of copyright as it appears in the publication (Chart, page 77)

Extracurricular Activities and the UIL

TEC § 33/031: State Board establishes rules limiting participation in extracurricular activities. Most disputes involving participation stop at the school board level. Texas Supreme Court has advised courts to avoid interfering in UIL eligibility. (Robstown ISD: UIL in contempt when it did not comply with the court's order to hold a playoff game between the team and another team that had qualified for the tournament. Higher court found that the trial court had abused its discretion). Addressing the Needs of Special Groups

At-Risk Children TEC § 29.081: Each district should develop appropriate compensatory or accelerated programs for students not performing well. Districts are required to document the effectiveness of accelerated instruction in reducing the dropout rate and increasing student achievement. Bilingual Children LAU v. Nichols: Schools are required to comply with government regulations issued pursuant to the 1964 Civil Rights Act requiring steps to rectifying language deficienciesTEC § 29.051: English is the primary language of Texas. Each district with 20 or more students of LEP in the same grade is to offer bilingual education in elementary grades, bilingual education, ESL instruction, or other transitional language instruction in the middle grades, and ESL instruction in secondary grades. Gifted Children Each district is required to adopt a process for identifying gifted and talented students and to establish a program for those students in each grade level. Abused and Neglected ChildrenFamily Code requires the reporting of suspected child abuse to appropriate agency. Section 261.109 of the Family Code makes failure to report abuse a Class B misdemeanor.

Pike v. Southwest ISD: Commissioner noted that the district's policy and the principal's directive interfered with "a superior duty imposed directly on petitioner under provisions of the Family Code". An employer may not penalize an employee who reports child abuse in good faith.

Family Code 261.302 states that child abuse investigations can take place while children are in school. TPIA allows access to student records in connection with child abuse cases.

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Attendance

Web Resources

The Compulsory School Law:

http://www.thsc.org/about_us/texlaws.asp

Absences:

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/home.school/hometec.html

Texas Education Agency Resources:http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pub/plsql/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=2&ch=129&rl=21

http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pub/plsql/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=2&ch=129&rl=22

Texas School District Accountability (TEA):

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/

Removal of Objectionable Library and Study Materials: http://www.iit.edu/departments/csep/PublicWWW/codes/coe/American%20Library%20Association%20%20restricted%20access%20to%20library%20materials.html

Computers and the Internet:

Copyright informationhttp://www.intel.com/education/newtotech/copyright.htm

http://www.benedict.com/

Bilingual Education:

http://www.tcbee.org/legal.htm

Gifted Children:

http://www.coe.unt.edu/gifted/Resources/Research_tchr.htm

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