 |
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Sixth Legislature, Second Regular Session
school policies; internet; wireless devices
Purpose
Requires each school district governing board (governing board) and charter school governing body (governing body) to prescribe and enforce policies and procedures that govern student access to the internet and limit student use of wireless communications devices during the school day.
Background
The State Board of Education (SBE) must establish best practices for social media and cellular telephone use between students and school personnel, including teachers, coaches and counselors, and encourage governing boards and governing bodies to adopt policies that implement the best practices. The SBE must make the best practices available to both public and private schools (A.R.S. § 15-203).
A local
education agency must adopt policies regarding the use of technology and the
internet while at school, which must include notifying a parent of the adopted
policies and the parent's ability to prohibit the student from using technology
and the internet while at school in which personally identifiable information
or material may be shared with an operator (A.R.S.
§ 15-1046)
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Requires each governing board and governing body to prescribe and enforce policies and procedures that:
a) govern student access to the internet as provided by the school, including policies that restrict student access to social media platforms; and
b) limit student use of wireless communications devices during the school day.
2. Specifies that policies and procedures governing student access to the internet must allow teachers to give students access to social media platforms to the extent necessary for educational purposes.
3. Specifies that policies and procedures for limiting student use of wireless communications devices must allow students to use wireless communications devices for educational purposes, as directed by the student's teacher, or during an emergency.
4. Defines school day as periods of time when students are at school, including meals, passing periods and recess.
5. Defines social media platform as a website, computer application or other digital platform that is used for social networking and creating or exchanging virtual content.
6. Determines that wireless communications devices includes personal devices and devices that are provided by the school.
7. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
House Action
ED 2/13/24 DP 6-4-0-0
3rd Read 2/1/24 31-28-0-0-1
Prepared by Senate Research
March 4, 2024
MH/LB/slp