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HB246 INTRODUCED
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HB246
EJ7KY2C-1
By Representative DuBose
RFD: Education Policy
First Read: 14-Jan-26
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EJ7KY2C-1 08/15/2025 KMS (L)KMS 2025-2303
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First Read: 14-Jan-26
SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, public K-12 schools are
required to post adopted classroom curricula online for
review by parents and guardians.
This bill would require schools to offer an
alternative method for the review of copyrighted
materials by parents and guardians.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to public K-12 education; to amend Section
16-1-57, Code of Alabama 1975, requiring the posting online of
classroom curricula for review; to provide an alternative
method for the review of copyrighted material.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 16-1-57 of the Code of Alabama 1975,
is amended to read as follows:
"§16-1-57
(a)(1) At the beginning of each school year, and no
later than 30 calendar days after a new or revised curriculum
is adopted, the local superintendent of education and local
board of education shall verify that each school under the
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board of education shall verify that each school under the
jurisdiction of the board has posted current adopted curricula
for each class on the website of the school. Access to the
online curricula shall be made available to students, parents,
or guardians of enrolled students through the school website.
If a school has no accessible website, the curricula shall be
posted on the website of the local board of education or the
State Department of Education.
(2)a. If the posting of any adopted instructional
materials online violates copyright law, access to those
materials shall be provided to students, parents, or guardians
of enrolled students through one of the following methods:
1. Physical access to those materials at the school
during normal school hours.
2. The provision of temporary remote access or login
credentials to those materials for a 24-hour time period.
b. Access to the copyrighted instructional materials
shall be provided within 10 days after the submission of a
written request of the student, parent, or guardian to the
assistant principal of the school.
c. No student, parent, or guardian reviewing
copyrighted instructional materials pursuant to this
subdivision shall be required to sign a nondisclosure
agreement nor waive any rights beyond compliance with federal
copyright law as a condition of reviewing the materials.
(b) Each classroom teacher shall comply with the
request of any parent or guardian by providing a detailed
summary, by email, telephone, or other electronic means, of
instructional materials adopted by the local board of
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instructional materials adopted by the local board of
education, supplementary instructional materials in the
classroom that were not adopted by the local board of
education, and books in the classroom that are available for
students to read, subject to all of the following:
(1) Only the parent or guardian of a child enrolled in
the class may make a request pursuant to this subsection.
(2) If a parent or guardian would like further
information regarding how the instructional materials relate
to the content standards adopted by the State Board of
Education or to physically examine any instructional materials
used in the classroom, the parent or guardian may request that
the local board of educational education allow that
examination at the next work session of the board. The board
shall notify the parent or guardian and the teacher of the
issues involved and the date and time of the next work
session.
(c) For any class in which reading books is required,
the classroom teacher shall include the titles of the books on
a class syllabus. Upon the request of the parent or guardian
of a child enrolled in the class, the classroom teacher shall
make the syllabus available to the parent or guardian.
(d) If a classroom teacher fails to comply with this
section, the parent or guardian may file a complaint with the
local superintendent of education on a form developed and
provided by the local superintendent of education. If the
complaint is not resolved by the local superintendent of
education within 10 school days, the parent or guardian may
file a complaint with the State Superintendent of Education,
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file a complaint with the State Superintendent of Education,
or his or her designee. The State Superintendent of Education
shall make a form available for parents or guardians to file a
complaint pursuant to this subsection.
(e)(1) On or before September 1 annually, each local
superintendent of education shall report the number of
complaints filed with him or her during the previous school
year to the State Superintendent of Education. On or before
October 1 annually, the State Superintendent of Education
shall report the total number of complaints filed during the
previous school year, statewide and by county, to the Chairs
of the Senate Education Policy Committee and the House of
Representatives Education Policy Committee.
(2) Any complaint filed by a parent or guardian
pursuant to this section is an educational record of the
student on whose behalf the complaint was filed and shall not
be released or viewed, except as provided in this section and
where the release or viewing is otherwise consistent with the
federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
(FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, and state law."
Section 2. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2026.
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