Current Status Introducing Body:House Bill Number:5072 Primary Sponsor:Rudnick Committee Number:21 Type of Legislation:GB Subject:Animals, pupils' right to refrain from harmful use of Residing Body:House Current Committee:Education and Public Works Computer Document Number:GJK/20750SD.94 Introduced Date:19940413 Last History Body:House Last History Date:19940413 Last History Type:Introduced, read first time, referred to Committee Scope of Legislation:Statewide All Sponsors:Rudnick Neilson Hines McMahand Type of Legislation:General Bill
Bill Body Date Action Description CMN Leg Involved
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5072 House 19940413 Introduced, read first time, 21
referred to Committee
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TO AMEND TITLE 47, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO ANIMALS, BY ADDING CHAPTER 23 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH AND PROCEDURES UNDER WHICH A PUPIL SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFRAIN FROM THE HARMFUL OR DESTRUCTIVE USE OF ANIMALS IN SCHOOL.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Title 47 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 47-23-10. As used in this chapter:
(1) `Animal' means any living organism of the kingdom animalis, beings which differ from plants in capacity for spontaneous movement and rapid motor response to stimulation, by a usually greater mobility with some degree of voluntary locomotor ability, by greater irritability commonly mediated through a more or less centralized nervous system, beings which are characterized by a requirement for complex organic nutrients including proteins or their constituents which are usually digested in an internal cavity before assimilation into the body proper, which are distinguished from typical plants by lack of chlorophyll, by an inability to perform photosynthesis, by cells that lack cellulose walls, and by the frequent presence of discrete complex sense organs.
(2) `Alternative education project' includes, but is not limited to, the use of video tapes, models, films, books, and computers, which would provide an alternate avenue for obtaining the knowledge, information, or experience required by the course of study in question. `Alternative education project' also includes an `alternative test'.
(3) `Pupil' means a person within the ages of attendance as provided by law for attending private or public schools as defined in Sections 59-1-110 and 59-1-120 respectively. For the purpose of asserting the pupil's rights and receiving any notice or response pursuant to this chapter, `pupil' also includes the parents of the pupil.
Section 47-23-20. (A) Except as otherwise provided in Section 47-23-60, any pupil with a moral objection to dissecting or otherwise harming or destroying animals, or any parts of them, shall notify his teacher regarding this objection, upon notification by the school of his rights pursuant to Section 47-23-40.
(B) If the pupil chooses to refrain from participation in an education project involving the harmful or destructive use of animals, and if the teacher believes that an adequate alternative education project is possible, then the teacher may work with the pupil to develop and agree upon an alterative education project for the purpose of providing the pupil an alternate avenue for obtaining the knowledge, information, or experience required by the course of study in question.
(C) The alternative education project shall require a comparable time and effort investment by the pupil. It shall not, as a means of penalizing the pupil be more arduous than the original education project.
(D) The pupil shall not be discriminated against based upon his decision to exercise his rights pursuant to this chapter.
(E) Pupils choosing an alternative educational project shall pass all examinations of the respective course of study in order to receive credit for that course of study. However, if tests require the harmful or destructive use of animals, a pupil may seek similarly alternative tests pursuant to this chapter.
(F) A pupil's objection to participating in an educational project pursuant to this section shall be substantiated by a note from his parent or guardian.
Section 47-23-30. (A) A teacher's decision in determining if a pupil may pursue an alternative educational project or be excused from the project shall not be arbitrary or capricious.
(B) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent a pupil from pursuing grievance procedures as provided by law.
Section 47-23-40. Each teacher teaching a course that utilizes live or dead animals or animal parts also shall inform the pupils of their rights pursuant to this chapter.
Section 47-23-50. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, this chapter applies to all levels of instruction in all private and public schools operating programs from kindergarten through grades one to twelve, inclusive.
Section 47-23-60. Classes and activities, conducted as part of a program in agricultural education that provide instruction on the care, management, and evaluation of domestic animals are exempt from the provisions of this chapter."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.