Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500661
ISEA Communiqué • isea.org June 2023 7 YOUR RIGHTS Christy Hickman, associate director of advocacy services We've got you Now is the time to rest. It is your turn for a brain break. While you rejuvenate, these are the things we are working on for you. The recent session of the Iowa Legislature brings changes in public education, many of which educators will need to understand and implement. Before you return in the fall, ISEA will ensure you are informed and prepared. These are a few of the legislative changes we are preparing communications, presentations, and written guidance for: • Penalties for schools and individual educators related to materials within the school library program containing descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act and sexual activity. • Prohibitions on the use of multi-occupancy restrooms, locker rooms, and other changing areas in accordance with a person's biological sex at birth. • Compulsory online publication of a comprehensive list of books available in school libraries. • Prohibitions against the inclusion of students on book review committees. • New avenues for complaints against educators holding a license or certification from the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners (BOEE). • New procedures for educators licensed or certificated by the BOEE to file complaints related to violence in classrooms or other areas of the school property with the Iowa Office of Ombudsman and prohibitions against retaliation for making such complaints. • Required reporting by classroom teachers to their lead administrator of any threat of violence, incident of violence resulting in injury or property damage, or assault perpetrated by a student, within 24 hours. • Requirement for schools to provide notice to employees of requirements to participate in professional development which indicates what law or regulation requires such participation. • Prohibition of retaliation against an educator for disclosing information to a public officer or member of law enforcement if they reasonably believe there has been a violation of the law, mismanagement, a gross abuse of funds, abuse of authority, or change to health or safety. • Required collaboration among administrative staff and teachers on policies addressing how students may be disciplined for making a threat of violence or engaging in violence. • Ban on any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion, or instruction relating to sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through grade six. • Mandatory individualized education program (IEP) meeting in the event a special education student engages in or threatens violence. • Prohibition of surveys to assess students' mental, emotional, or physical health, or related to political beliefs, sexual orientation, religious practices, and other topics, in absence of parental consent. • Penalties for failure by a licensed educator to report a student's request for accommodation intended to affirm the student's gender identity, including the use of preferred pronouns, to an administrator, who is then required to report to the student's parent or guardian. • Child labor amendments increasing the number of hours per day children under 16 may work. • Provisions requiring notification to the public of allegations made in a licensure complaint before due process is provided to the licensee. • Changes to the makeup of the BOEE increasing the number of the public members who are not educators and reducing the number of licensed practitioner members who sit on the board. • Discontinuation of license renewal requirements for educators who have been employed for at least 10 years and possess a master's or doctoral degree. The demands on you are heavy, but we've got you. Read our communications, visit the members-only section of the ISEA website, attend our virtual townhall meetings and the ISEA Summer Leadership Conference, join us on our social media platforms, or invite us to your local unit and association meetings as you kick off the new year. We will make certain that upon your return this fall, you'll have the information you need and the protection you deserve. LEGAL The Iowa Supreme Court Building is seen through a sculpture on the courthouse grounds. The Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in the state judicial branch. MIKE WISER/IOWA STATE EDUCAITON ASSOCIATION