Current Status Bill Number:3707 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:19950301 Primary Sponsor:Fair, All Sponsors:Fair, Herdklotz, Littlejohn, Clyburn, Lloyd, Mason, Waldrop, J. Young, Chamblee, Kelley, Jaskwhich, Vaughn, Koon, Richardson, Cato, Davenport, Delleney and Tripp Drafted Document Number:GJK\21481SD.95 Residing Body:House Current Committee:Education and Public Works Committee 21 HEPW Subject:Protection of Family Privacy in Education Act
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
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House 19950301 Introduced, read first time, 21 HEPW
referred to Committee
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TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 28 TO TITLE 59 SO AS TO ENACT THE "SOUTH CAROLINA PROTECTION OF FAMILY PRIVACY IN EDUCATION ACT" WHICH INCLUDES PROVISIONS THAT ALLOW PARENTS OR GUARDIANS TO INSPECT SCHOOL INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND EXEMPT THEIR CHILDREN FROM USING OBJECTIONABLE MATERIALS, THAT PROHIBIT STUDENTS FROM BEING REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TO CERTAIN PSYCHOLOGICAL OR BEHAVIORAL EXAMINATIONS OR TREATMENT WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT, THAT PROHIBIT THE USE OF SPECIFIED SURVEYS OR QUESTIONNAIRES, AND THAT PREVENT DISCLOSURE OR DISSEMINATION OF CERTAIN STUDENT RECORDS AND INFORMATION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. The State of South Carolina recognizes the need to protect students and families from invasion of privacy and psychological experimentation and manipulation by the educational system. The provisions of this act are designed to protect the privacy and psychological, emotional, and moral integrity of students and their families, and to enable parents and guardians to oversee the education of their children which is their duty and responsibility.
SECTION 2. Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 59-28-10. This chapter is known and may be cited as the `South Carolina Protection of Family Privacy in Education Act'.
Section 59-28-20. (A) All instructional material including, but not limited to, teachers' manuals, films, tapes, or other supplementary instructional material which will be used in connection with any class, course, program, or project must be available for inspection by the parents or guardians of the children engaged in the class, course, program, or project.
(B) Parents or guardians objecting to material being used in a class, course, program, or project may exempt their children from use of the objectionable materials or select an alternate class, course, program, or project. Materials acceptable to the parent or guardian which relate to the same subject area may be substituted for the objectionable materials. Students exempted from use of materials or classes may not be penalized for nonparticipation.
Section 59-28-30. No student shall be required as part of any class, course, program, or project to submit to psychiatric examination, testing, surveys, questionnaires, needs assessment, treatment, or psychological behavioral or attitudinal examination, testing, surveys, questionnaires, needs assessments, or treatment without the prior written consent of the student, if the student is an adult or emancipated minor, or in the case of an unemancipated minor, without prior written consent of the parent or guardian.
Section 59-28-40. The following examinations, tests, surveys, or questionnaires containing questions about individual or family are prohibited:
(1) political affiliations;
(2) mental and psychological problems;
(3) sex behavior and attitudes;
(4) illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, and demeaning behavior;
(5) critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close relationships;
(6) legally recognized privileged and analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, and ministers;
(7) religious affiliations, attitudes, and beliefs such as belief in a Supreme Being, belief in an afterlife, supernatural creation of human life, religious rituals, and modes of worship, etc.;
(8) moral or ethical standards;
(9) living conditions or home environment;
(10) personal information concerning siblings, parents, family habits, and traditions; or
(11) income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under such programs).
Section 59-28-50. For purposes of this chapter:
(1) `psychiatric, psychological, behavioral, or attitudinal examination, test, survey, questionnaire, or needs assessment' means any method of obtaining information, including group activity, that is not directly related to academic instruction and that is designed to elicit information about attitudes, habits, traits, opinions, beliefs, or feelings;
(2) `psychiatric, psychological, behavioral, or attitudinal treatment' means an activity involving the planned, systematic use of methods or techniques that are not directly related to academic instruction and that is designed to affect behavioral, emotional, or attitudinal characteristics of an individual or group; and
(3) `prior written consent' means that all students must be exempted from classes, courses, programs, or projects containing elements outlined in this chapter, unless positive confirmation and consent of the parents for student participation is obtained in writing for each event, test, or questionnaire.
Section 59-28-60. (A) Disclosure, dissemination, or transfer of individual student information and records from the local school in which the student is enrolled to any person, institution, or agency whether at the district, state, federal, or international level is prohibited without the prior written consent of the parent or guardian unless the student is seeking admission to a school in which case the records for that student may be given to the requesting school. No school or school district in the State is exempt from or may be granted a waiver from this provision.
(B) Data collection on individual students for the purposes of developing an individual education plan (IEP) is prohibited without the prior written consent of the parent or guardian.
(C) Implementation of an individual education plan (IEP) through computerized instruction or any other means is prohibited without the prior written consent of the parent or guardian."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.