SENATE BILL No. 716

 

 

December 10, 2013, Introduced by Senators JANSEN, HUNTER, COLBECK, GREEN, BRANDENBURG, MOOLENAAR, MARLEAU, BOOHER and PAPPAGEORGE and referred to the Committee on Education.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled

 

"The revised school code,"

 

(MCL 380.1 to 380.1852) by amending the title, as amended by 2003

 

PA 179, and by adding section 1299a.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

TITLE

 

     An act to provide a system of public instruction and

 

elementary and secondary schools; to revise, consolidate, and

 

clarify the laws relating to elementary and secondary education; to

 

provide for the organization, regulation, and maintenance of

 

schools, school districts, public school academies, intermediate

 

school districts, and other public school entities; to prescribe

 

rights, powers, duties, and privileges of schools, school

 


districts, public school academies, intermediate school districts,

 

and other public school entities; to prescribe certain powers and

 

duties of state public universities and their governing boards,

 

officials, and employees; to provide for the regulation of school

 

teachers and certain other school employees; to provide for school

 

elections and to prescribe powers and duties with respect thereto;

 

to provide for the levy and collection of taxes; to provide for the

 

borrowing of money and issuance of bonds and other evidences of

 

indebtedness; to establish a fund and provide for expenditures from

 

that fund; to provide for and prescribe the powers and duties of

 

certain state departments, the state board of education, and

 

certain other boards and officials; to provide for licensure of

 

boarding schools; to prescribe penalties; and to repeal acts and

 

parts of acts.

 

     Sec. 1299a. (1) To ensure the freedom of worship and religious

 

belief guaranteed by section 4 of article I of the state

 

constitution of 1963, a board member, employee, contractor, or

 

agent of a public school or state public university shall not

 

discriminate against a student or a student's parent or legal

 

guardian on the basis of a religious viewpoint or religious

 

expression. A board member, employee, contractor, or agent of a

 

public school or state public university shall treat a student's

 

voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, on an

 

otherwise permissible subject in the same manner that he or she

 

treats a student's voluntary expression of a secular or other

 

viewpoint on an otherwise permissible subject and shall not

 

discriminate against the student based on a religious viewpoint

 


expressed by the student on an otherwise permissible subject.

 

     (2) A board member, employee, contractor, or agent of a public

 

school or state public university shall ensure all of the

 

following:

 

     (a) That a student may express his or her belief about

 

religion in homework, course work, artwork, and other written and

 

oral assignments free from discrimination based on the religious

 

content of the student's submission.

 

     (b) That homework, course work, and classroom assignments are

 

judged only by ordinary academic standards of substance and

 

relevance and against other legitimate pedagogical concerns

 

identified by the public school or state public university.

 

     (c) That a student is not penalized or rewarded due to the

 

religious content of his or her work.

 

     (d) That, if an assignment requires a student's viewpoint to

 

be expressed in course work, artwork, or other written or oral

 

expression, a student is not penalized or rewarded on the basis of

 

religious content or a religious viewpoint. In such an assignment,

 

a student's academic work that expresses a religious viewpoint must

 

be evaluated based only on ordinary academic standards of substance

 

and relevance to the course curriculum or requirements of the

 

course work or assignment.

 

     (3) A board member, employee, contractor, or agent of a public

 

school or state public university shall ensure all of the

 

following:

 

     (a) That a student or group of students in a public school or

 

state public university may pray or engage in religious activities

 


or religious expression before, during, and after the school day in

 

the same manner and to the same extent that students may engage in

 

nonreligious activities or expression.

 

     (b) That students may organize prayer groups, religious clubs,

 

"see you at the pole" gatherings, or other religious gatherings

 

before, during, and after school to the same extent that students

 

are permitted to organize other noncurricular student activities

 

and groups.

 

     (c) That religious groups are given the same access to public

 

school or state public university facilities for assembling as is

 

given to other noncurricular groups without discrimination based on

 

the religious content of the students' expression, as provided for

 

public schools under section 1299. With regard to group meetings,

 

if student groups that meet for nonreligious activities are allowed

 

to advertise or announce meetings of the group, the public school

 

or state public university shall not discriminate against student

 

groups that meet for prayer or other religious speech. A board

 

member, employee, contractor, or agent of a public school or state

 

public university may disclaim school sponsorship of noncurricular

 

groups and events in a manner that neither favors nor disfavors

 

groups that meet to engage in prayer or religious speech.

 

     (d) That students may wear clothing, accessories, and jewelry

 

that display religious messages or religious symbols in the same

 

manner and to the same extent that other types of clothing,

 

accessories, and jewelry that display messages or symbols are

 

allowed.

 

     (4) To ensure that the public school or state public

 


university does not discriminate against a student's publicly

 

stated voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, and

 

to eliminate any actual or perceived affirmative school sponsorship

 

or attribution to the public school or state public university of a

 

student's expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, the

 

governing board of a public school or state public university shall

 

adopt a policy that provides for the establishment of a limited

 

public forum for student speakers at all public school or state

 

public university events at which a student is to publicly speak.

 

The policy regarding the limited public forum must also require the

 

public school or state public university to do all of the

 

following:

 

     (a) Provide the forum in a manner that does not discriminate

 

against a student's voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint,

 

if any, on an otherwise permissible subject.

 

     (b) Provide a method, based on neutral criteria, for the

 

selection of student speakers at public school or state public

 

university events and graduation ceremonies.

 

     (c) State, in writing, orally, or both, that the student's

 

speech does not reflect the endorsement, sponsorship, position, or

 

expression of the public school or state public university. The

 

policy must provide that this disclaimer must be provided at all

 

graduation ceremonies and, if a need exists to dispel confusion

 

over the public school's or state public university's

 

nonsponsorship of the student's speech, at any other event in which

 

a student speaks publicly.

 

     (d) Ensure that student expression on an otherwise permissible

 


subject may not be excluded from the limited public forum because

 

the subject is expressed from a religious viewpoint.

 

     (5) The board of a school district or intermediate school

 

district, board of directors of a public school academy, or

 

governing board of a state public university shall adopt and

 

implement a local policy regarding a limited public forum and

 

voluntary student expression of religious viewpoints.

 

     (6) If a school district, intermediate school district, public

 

school academy, or state public university voluntarily adopts and

 

follows the model policy governing voluntary religious expression

 

in public schools and state public universities contained in this

 

subsection, the school district, intermediate school district,

 

public school academy, or state public university is considered to

 

be in compliance with the provisions of this section that are

 

covered by the model policy. The term "school district" in the

 

model policy may be revised to reflect usage by an intermediate

 

school district, public school academy, or state public university.

 

If a portion of the model policy is inappropriate for an

 

intermediate school district, public school academy, or state

 

public university, that portion may be revised as necessary. The

 

following is the model policy regarding a limited public forum and

 

voluntary student expression of religious viewpoints:

 

"ARTICLE I

 

STUDENT EXPRESSION OF RELIGIOUS VIEWPOINTS

 

     The school district will treat a student's voluntary

 

expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise

 

permissible subject in the same manner the school district treats a

 


student's voluntary expression of a secular or other viewpoint on

 

an otherwise permissible subject and may not discriminate against

 

the student based on a religious viewpoint expressed by the student

 

on an otherwise permissible subject.

 

ARTICLE II

 

STUDENT SPEAKERS AT NONGRADUATION EVENTS

 

     The school district hereby creates a limited public forum for

 

student speakers at all school events at which a student is to

 

publicly speak. For each speaker, the school district will set a

 

maximum time limit reasonable and appropriate to the occasion.

 

Student speakers will introduce:

 

     (a) Football games;

 

     (b) Any other athletic events designated by the school

 

district;

 

     (c) Opening announcements and greetings for the school day;

 

and

 

     (d) Any additional events designated by the school district,

 

which may include, without limitation, assemblies and pep rallies.

 

     The forum will be limited in the manner provided by this

 

article.

 

     Only those students who are in the highest 2 grade levels of

 

the school and who hold 1 of the following positions of honor based

 

on neutral criteria are eligible to use the limited public forum:

 

student council officers, class officers of the highest grade level

 

in the school, captains of the football team, and other students

 

holding positions of honor as the school district may designate.

 

     An eligible student will be notified of the student's

 


eligibility, and a student who wishes to participate as an

 

introducing speaker must submit the student's name to the student

 

council or other designated body during an announced period of not

 

less than 3 days. The announced period may be at the beginning of

 

the school year, at the end of the preceding school year so student

 

speakers are in place for the new year, or, if the selection

 

process will be repeated each semester, at the beginning of each

 

semester or at the end of the preceding semester so speakers are in

 

place for the next semester. The names of the volunteering student

 

speakers must be randomly drawn until all names have been selected,

 

and the names will be listed in the order drawn. Each selected

 

student will be matched chronologically to the event for which the

 

student will be giving the introduction. Each student may speak for

 

1 week at a time for all introductions of events that week, or

 

rotate after each speaking event, or otherwise as determined by the

 

school district. The list of student speakers will be

 

chronologically repeated as needed, in the same order. The school

 

district may repeat the selection process each semester rather than

 

once a year.

 

     The subject of the student introductions must be related to

 

the purpose of the event and to the purpose of marking the opening

 

of the event, honoring the occasion, the participants, and those in

 

attendance, bringing the audience to order, and focusing the

 

audience on the purpose of the event. The subject must be

 

designated, and a student must stay on the subject.

 

     The school district will treat a student's voluntary

 

expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise

 


permissible subject in the same manner the school district treats a

 

student's voluntary expression of a secular or other viewpoint on

 

an otherwise permissible subject and may not discriminate against

 

the student based on a religious viewpoint expressed by the student

 

on an otherwise permissible subject.

 

     If there is a need to dispel confusion over the nonsponsorship

 

of the student's speech at each event in which a student will

 

deliver an introduction, a disclaimer shall be stated in written or

 

oral form, or both, such as, "The student giving the introduction

 

for this event is a volunteering student selected on neutral

 

criteria to introduce the event. The content of the introduction is

 

the private expression of the student and does not reflect the

 

endorsement, sponsorship, position or expression of the school

 

district."

 

     Certain students who have attained special positions of honor

 

in the school have traditionally addressed school audiences from

 

time to time as a tangential component of their achieved positions

 

of honor, such as the captains of various sports teams, student

 

council officers, class officers, homecoming kings and queens, prom

 

kings and queens, and the like, and have attained their positions

 

based on neutral criteria. Nothing in this policy eliminates the

 

continuation of the practice of having these students, irrespective

 

of grade level, address school audiences in the normal course of

 

their respective positions. The school district will create a

 

limited public forum for the speakers and must treat a student's

 

voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, on an

 

otherwise permissible subject in the same manner the district

 


treats a student's voluntary expression of a secular or other

 

viewpoint on an otherwise permissible subject and may not

 

discriminate against the student based on a religious viewpoint

 

expressed by the student on an otherwise permissible subject.

 

ARTICLE III

 

STUDENT SPEAKERS AT GRADUATION CEREMONIES

 

     The school district hereby creates a limited public forum

 

consisting of an opportunity for a student to speak to begin

 

graduation ceremonies and another student to speak to end

 

graduation ceremonies. For each speaker, the school district will

 

set a maximum time limit reasonable and appropriate to the

 

occasion.

 

     The forum will be limited in the manner provided by this

 

article.

 

     Only students who are graduating and who hold 1 of the

 

following neutral criteria positions of honor will be eligible to

 

use the limited public forum: student council officers, class

 

officers of the graduating class, the top 3 academically ranked

 

graduates, or a shorter or longer list of student leaders as the

 

school district may designate. A student who will otherwise have a

 

speaking role in the graduation ceremonies is ineligible to give

 

the opening and closing remarks. The names of the eligible

 

volunteering students will be randomly drawn. The first name drawn

 

will give the opening and the second name drawn will give the

 

closing.

 

     The topic of the opening and closing remarks must be related

 

to the purpose of the graduation ceremony and to the purpose of

 


marking the opening and closing of the event, honoring the

 

occasion, the participants, and those in attendance, bringing the

 

audience to order, and focusing the audience on the purpose of the

 

event.

 

     In addition to the students giving the opening and closing

 

remarks, certain other students who have attained special positions

 

of honor based on neutral criteria, including, without limitation,

 

the valedictorian, will have speaking roles at graduation

 

ceremonies. For each speaker, the school district will set a

 

maximum time limit reasonable and appropriate to the occasion and

 

to the position held by the speaker. For this purpose, the school

 

district creates a limited public forum for these students to

 

deliver the addresses. The subject of the addresses must be related

 

to the purpose of the graduation ceremony, marking and honoring the

 

occasion, honoring the participants and those in attendance, and

 

the student's perspective on purpose, achievement, life, school,

 

graduation, and looking forward to the future.

 

     The subject must be designated for each student speaker, and

 

the student must stay on the subject. The school district must

 

treat a student's voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint, if

 

any, on an otherwise permissible subject in the same manner the

 

school district treats a student's voluntary expression of a

 

secular or other viewpoint on an otherwise permissible subject and

 

may not discriminate against the student based on a religious

 

viewpoint expressed by the student on an otherwise permissible

 

subject.

 

     A written disclaimer will be printed in the graduation program

 


that states: "The students who will be speaking at the graduation

 

ceremony were selected based on neutral criteria to deliver

 

messages of the students' own choices. The content of each student

 

speaker's message is the private expression of the individual

 

student and does not reflect any position or expression of the

 

school district or the school board, or the school district's

 

administration, or employees of the school district, or the views

 

of any other graduate. The contents of these messages were prepared

 

by the student volunteers, and the school district refrained from

 

any interaction with student speakers regarding the student

 

speakers' viewpoints on permissible subjects."

 

ARTICLE IV

 

RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION IN CLASS ASSIGNMENTS

 

     Students may express the students' beliefs about religion in

 

homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free from

 

discrimination based on the religious content of the students'

 

submission. Homework and classroom work will be judged by ordinary

 

academic standards of substance and relevance and against other

 

legitimate pedagogical concerns identified by the school. Students

 

may not be penalized or rewarded on account of religious content.

 

     If a teacher's assignment involves writing a poem, the work of

 

a student who submits a poem in the form of a prayer (for example,

 

a psalm) should be judged on the basis of academic standards,

 

including literary quality, and not penalized or rewarded on

 

account of its religious content.

 

ARTICLE V

 

FREEDOM TO ORGANIZE RELIGIOUS GROUPS AND ACTIVITIES

 

     Students may organize prayer groups, religious clubs, "see you


at the pole" gatherings, and other religious gatherings before,

 

during, and after school to the same extent that students are

 

permitted to organize other noncurricular student activities and

 

groups. Religious groups must be given the same access to school

 

facilities for assembling as is given to other noncurricular

 

groups, without discrimination based on the religious content of

 

the group's expression. If student groups that meet for

 

nonreligious activities are permitted to advertise or announce the

 

groups' meetings, for example, by advertising in a student

 

newspaper, putting up posters, making announcements on a student

 

activities bulletin board or public address system, or handing out

 

leaflets, school authorities may not discriminate against groups

 

that meet for prayer or other religious speech. School authorities

 

may disclaim sponsorship of noncurricular groups and events,

 

provided they administer the disclaimer in a manner that does not

 

favor or disfavor groups that meet to engage in prayer or other

 

religious speech.".

 

     (7) This section does not authorize this state or any of its

 

political subdivisions or a state public university to do either of

 

the following:

 

     (a) Require any person to participate in prayer or in any

 

other religious activity.

 

     (b) Violate the constitutional rights of any person.

 

     (8) This section does not limit the authority of any public

 

school or state public university to do any of the following:

 

     (a) Maintain order and discipline on the campus of the public

 


school or state public university in a content and viewpoint

 

neutral manner.

 

     (b) Protect the safety of students, employees, and visitors of

 

the public school or state public university.

 

     (c) Adopt and enforce policies and procedures regarding

 

student speech at school if those policies and procedures do not

 

violate the rights of students as guaranteed by state and federal

 

constitution and law.

 

     (9) This section applies beginning with the 2014-2015 school

 

year.

 

     (10) As used in this section, "public school or state public

 

university" includes a public school's or state public university's

 

employees and individuals or entities under contract with the

 

governing body of the public school or state public university.