Chapter 501
AN ACT
SB 379
Relating to children; creating new
provisions; amending ORS 338.115, 339.370 and 419B.020; and declaring an
emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of
the State of
SECTION 1. ORS 339.370 is amended to read:
339.370. As used in this
section and ORS 339.372 and 339.375 and section 2 of this 2007 Act:
(1) “Abuse” has the
meaning given that term in ORS 419B.005.
(2) “Disciplinary
records” means the records related to a personnel discipline action or materials
or documents supporting that action.
(3) “Education provider”
means:
(a) A school district as
defined in ORS 332.002.
(b) The
(c) The
(d) An educational
program under the Youth Corrections Education Program.
(e) A public charter
school as defined in ORS 338.005.
(f) An education service
district as defined in ORS 334.003.
(g) Any state-operated
program that provides educational services to kindergarten through grade 12
students.
(h) A private school.
(4) “Law enforcement
agency” has the meaning given that term in ORS 419B.005.
(5) “Private school”
means a school that provides educational services as defined in ORS 345.505 to
kindergarten through grade 12 students.
(6) “School board” means
the governing board or governing body of an education provider.
(7) “School employee”
means an employee of an education provider.
SECTION 2. (1) An education provider shall provide to
school employees training each school year on the prevention and identification
of child abuse and on the obligations of school employees under ORS 419B.005 to
419B.050 and under policies adopted by the school board to report child abuse.
(2) An education
provider shall make the training provided under subsection (1) of this section
available each school year to parents and legal guardians of children who
attend a school operated by the education provider. The training shall be
provided separately from the training provided to school employees under subsection
(1) of this section.
(3) An education
provider shall make training that is designed to prevent child abuse available
each school year to children who attend a school operated by the education
provider.
SECTION 3. ORS 338.115 is amended to read:
338.115. (1) Statutes
and rules that apply to school district boards, school districts or other
public schools do not apply to public charter schools. However, the following
laws do apply to public charter schools:
(a) Federal law;
(b) ORS 192.410 to 192.505
(public records law);
(c) ORS 192.610 to
192.690 (public meetings law);
(d) ORS 297.405 to
297.555 and 297.990 (Municipal Audit Law);
(e) ORS 181.534,
181.539, 326.603, 326.607 and 342.232 (criminal records checks);
(f) ORS 337.150
(textbooks);
(g) ORS 339.141, 339.147
and 339.155 (tuition and fees);
(h) ORS 659.850 and
659.855 (discrimination);
(i) ORS 30.260 to 30.300
(tort claims);
(j) Health and safety
statutes and rules;
(k) Any statute or rule
that is listed in the charter;
(L) The statewide
assessment system developed by the Department of Education for mathematics,
science and English under ORS 329.485 (1);
(m) ORS 329.045
(academic content standards and instruction);
(n) Any statute or rule
that establishes requirements for instructional time provided by a school
during each day or during a year;
(o) ORS 339.250 (12)
(prohibition on infliction of corporal punishment);
(p) ORS 339.370, 339.372
and 339.375 and section 2 of this 2007 Act (reporting of child abuse
and training on prevention and identification of child abuse); and
(q) This chapter.
(2) Notwithstanding
subsection (1) of this section, a charter may specify that statutes and rules
that apply to school district boards, school districts and other public schools
may apply to a public charter school.
(3) If a statute or rule
applies to a public charter school, then the terms “school district” and “public
school” include public charter school as those terms are used in that statute
or rule.
(4) A public charter
school may not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the
United States Constitution or section 5, Article I of the Oregon Constitution,
or be religion based.
(5) A public charter
school shall maintain an active enrollment of at least 25 students.
(6) A public charter
school may sue or be sued as a separate legal entity.
(7) The sponsor, members
of the governing board of the sponsor acting in their official capacities and
employees of a sponsor acting in their official capacities are immune from
civil liability with respect to all activities related to a public charter
school within the scope of their duties or employment.
(8) A public charter
school may enter into contracts and may lease facilities and services from a
school district, education service district, state institution of higher
education, other governmental unit or any person or legal entity.
(9) A public charter
school may not levy taxes or issue bonds under which the public incurs
liability.
(10) A public charter
school may receive and accept gifts, grants and donations from any source for
expenditure to carry out the lawful functions of the school.
(11) The school district
in which the public charter school is located shall offer a high school
diploma, certificate, Certificate of Initial Mastery or Certificate of Advanced
Mastery to any public charter school student who meets the district’s and state’s
standards for a high school diploma, certificate, Certificate of Initial
Mastery or Certificate of Advanced Mastery. If the school district offers a
Certificate of Initial Mastery subject area endorsement to students who attend
school in the district, then the school district shall offer the endorsement to
any public charter school student who meets the district’s and state’s
standards for the endorsement.
(12) A high school
diploma, certificate, Certificate of Initial Mastery, Certificate of Initial
Mastery subject area endorsement or Certificate of Advanced Mastery issued by a
public charter school grants to the holder the same rights and privileges as a
high school diploma, certificate, Certificate of Initial Mastery, Certificate
of Initial Mastery subject area endorsement or Certificate of Advanced Mastery
issued by a nonchartered public school.
(13) Prior to beginning
operation, the public charter school shall show proof of insurance to the
sponsor as specified in the charter.
(14) A public charter
school may receive services from an education service district in the same
manner as a nonchartered public school in the school district in which the
public charter school is located.
SECTION 4. ORS 419B.020 is amended to read:
419B.020. (1) Upon receipt of an oral report of child abuse, the
Department of Human Services or the law enforcement agency shall immediately:
(a) Cause an investigation
to be made to determine the nature and cause of the abuse of the child; and
(b) Notify the Child
Care Division if the alleged child abuse occurred in a child care facility as
defined in ORS 657A.250.
(2) If the law
enforcement agency conducting the investigation finds reasonable cause to
believe that abuse has occurred, the law enforcement agency shall notify by
oral report followed by written report the local office of the department. The
department shall provide protective social services of its own or of other
available social agencies if necessary to prevent further abuses to the child
or to safeguard the child’s welfare.
(3) If a child is taken
into protective custody by the department, the department shall promptly make
reasonable efforts to ascertain the name and address of the child’s parents or
guardian.
(4)(a) If a child is
taken into protective custody by the department or a law enforcement official,
the department or law enforcement official shall, if possible, make reasonable
efforts to advise the parents or guardian immediately, regardless of the time
of day, that the child has been taken into custody, the reasons the child has
been taken into custody and general information about the child’s placement,
and the telephone number of the local office of the department and any
after-hours telephone numbers.
(b) Notice may be given
by any means reasonably certain of notifying the parents or guardian, including
but not limited to written, telephonic or in-person oral notification. If the initial
notification is not in writing, the information required by paragraph (a) of
this subsection also shall be provided to the parents or guardian in writing as
soon as possible.
(c) The department also
shall make a reasonable effort to notify the noncustodial parent of the
information required by paragraph (a) of this subsection in a timely manner.
(d) If a child is taken
into custody while under the care and supervision of a person or organization
other than the parent, the department, if possible, shall immediately notify
the person or organization that the child has been taken into protective
custody.
(5) If a law enforcement
officer or the department, when taking a child into protective custody, has
reasonable cause to believe that the child has been affected by sexual abuse
and rape of a child as defined in ORS 419B.005 (1)(a)(C) and that physical
evidence of the abuse exists and is likely to disappear, the court may
authorize a physical examination for the purposes of preserving evidence if the
court finds that it is in the best interest of the child to have such an
examination. Nothing in this section affects the authority of the department to
consent to physical examinations of the child at other times.
(6) A minor child of 12
years of age or older may refuse to consent to the examination described in
subsection (5) of this section. The examination shall be conducted by or under
the supervision of a physician licensed under ORS chapter 677 or a nurse
practitioner licensed under ORS chapter 678 and, whenever practicable, trained
in conducting such examinations.
(7) When the
department completes an investigation under this section, if the person who
made the report of child abuse provided contact information to the department,
the department shall notify the person about whether contact with the child was
made, whether the department determined that child abuse occurred and whether
services will be provided. The department is not required to disclose
information under this subsection if the department determines that disclosure
is not permitted under ORS 419B.035.
SECTION 5. Section 2 of this 2007 Act and the
amendments to ORS 338.115, 339.370 and 419B.020 by sections 1, 3 and 4 of this
2007 Act first apply to the 2007-2008 school year.
SECTION 6. This 2007 Act being necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is
declared to exist, and this 2007 Act takes effect on its passage.
Approved by the Governor June 20, 2007
Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 21, 2007
Effective date June 20, 2007
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