CERTIFICATION
OF ENROLLMENT
ENGROSSED
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1230
Chapter
131, Laws of 1998
55th
Legislature
1998
Regular Session
STUDENTS' RELIGIOUS RIGHTS
EFFECTIVE
DATE: 6/11/98
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Passed by the House March 7, 1998 Yeas 93 Nays 3
 CLYDE BALLARD
Speaker of the
House of Representatives
Passed by the Senate March 3, 1998
Yeas 37 Nays 12
|
CERTIFICATE
I, Timothy A. Martin, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of
the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is ENGROSSED
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1230 as passed by the House of Representatives and
the Senate on the dates hereon set forth.
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|
BRAD OWEN
President of the Senate
|
 TIMOTHY A. MARTIN
Chief Clerk
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Approved March 25, 1998 Place Style On
Codes above, and Style Off Codes below.
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FILED
March 25, 1998 - 4:17 p.m.
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|
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GARY LOCKE
Governor of the State of Washington
|
Secretary of State
State of Washington
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_______________________________________________
ENGROSSED
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1230
_______________________________________________
AS
AMENDED BY THE SENATE
Passed
Legislature - 1998 Regular Session
State
of Washington 55th Legislature 1997 Regular Session
By
Read
first time 02/11/97.
Protecting students' religious rights.
AN
ACT Relating to students' rights; adding a new section to chapter 28A.600 RCW;
and creating a new section.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1. The
legislature recognizes the right of free speech and freedom of religion as
guaranteed through the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and
Article I, sections 5 and 11 of the Washington state Constitution and that
these rights extend to students enrolled in the common schools of our state.
The
legislature also recognizes that students may choose to exercise these rights,
as protected under the law, in response to the challenges of academic pursuit.
While the legislature upholds the rights of students to freely express their
religious beliefs and right of free speech, it also holds firmly that it is not
the role of education to solicit student responses that force students to
reveal, analyze, or critique their religious beliefs.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 2. A
new section is added to chapter 28A.600 RCW to read as follows:
(1)
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Article I, sections
5 and 11 of the Washington state Constitution guarantee that students retain
their rights of free speech and free exercise of religion, notwithstanding the
student's enrollment and attendance in a common school. These rights include,
but are not limited to, the right of an individual student to freely express
and incorporate the student's religious beliefs and opinions where relevant or
appropriate in any and all class work, homework, evaluations or tests. School
personnel may not grade the class work, homework, evaluation, or test on the
religious expression but may grade the student's performance on scholastic
content such as spelling, sentence structure, and grammar, and the degree to
which the student's performance reflects the instruction and objectives
established by the school personnel. School personnel may not subject an
individual student who expresses religious beliefs or opinions in accordance
with this section to any form of retribution or negative consequence and may
not penalize the student's standing, evaluations, or privileges. An employee
of the school district may not censure a student's expression of religious
beliefs or opinions, when relevant or appropriate, in any class work, homework,
evaluations or tests, extracurricular activities, or other activities under the
sponsorship or auspices of the school district.
(2)
This section is not intended to impose any limit on the exchange of ideas in
the common schools of this state. No officer, employee, agent, or contractor
of a school district may impose his or her religious beliefs on any student in class
work, homework, evaluations or tests, extracurricular activities, or other
activities under the auspices of the school district.
(3)
The superintendent of public instruction shall distribute to the school
districts information about laws governing students' rights of religious
expression in school.
Passed the House March 7, 1998.
Passed the Senate March 3, 1998.
Approved by the Governor
March 25, 1998.
Filed
in Office of Secretary of State March 25, 1998.