Amend the bill, as and if amended, by deleting all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. Chapter 26, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-26-45. (A) To promote candid feedback for continuous improvement of teaching and learning, records relating to educator evaluation that include personally identifiable information are exempt from disclosure under the provisions of Chapter 4, Title 30, except as provided in subsection (B).
(B)(1) To help parents fully evaluate matters of concern about the academic performance or behavior of their child in a particular classroom or course, a parent is entitled to request a review up to the five most recent final evaluations available of a teacher about whose classroom or course has given rise to the parental concerns, even if the final evaluation was performed at another school in this State. A parent only is entitled to such access for the final evaluations of a current teacher of their child during the academic year in which the child is a student in the teacher's classroom or course, and two months after the conclusion of that academic year. The evaluator's name must be redacted before the parent may review a final evaluation.
(2) Upon oral or written request of a parent with such concerns, a principal shall within five business days respond to the request, and give the parent options for an opportunity to review these final evaluations in a location designated by the principal at times designated by the principal, which must be reasonable and intended to accommodate the availability of the parent, but which in no case may be more than twenty business days after the initial request made by the parent absent mutual consent from the parent and principal. In developing these options, the prompt provision of a review in a manner most reasonably convenient to the parent is of paramount importance.
(3) If a teacher is no longer employed by a school in which any of the teacher's five most recent final evaluations were performed, the parent is entitled to review these final evaluations and the principal shall obtain them from the respective schools where they were conducted. The principals of these respective schools must respond by providing copies of these evaluations within five business days after receipt of the principal's request. The principal shall not interpret or attempt to interpret anything in the final evaluations from other schools for the parent.
(4) To promote the privacy of the teacher whose final evaluations are being reviewed, a parent only may review the final evaluations in the designated location at the designated time, and may not remove the final evaluations from the designated location or in any manner reproduce or publicly disclose or disseminate information contained in the final evaluations. Only a parent may review these reports, and he or she may not be accompanied by third parties, including counsel, unless the parent is visually impaired or has a hearing deficit necessitating an interpreter, or if the parent does not speak English and needs a language interpreter.
(5) For purposes of this section:
(a) 'Business days' means every day except Saturdays, Sundays, and any other days on which the school is closed; and
(b) 'Parent' means the natural or adoptive parent of a child and the legal guardian of a child."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.