Schools; Student Retention Protocol Act of 2025; definitions; screenings, assessments, and evaluations for students; availability of funding; effective date; emergency.

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STATE OF OKLAHOMA

1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025)

HOUSE BILL 1538 By: Dollens

AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to schools; creating the Student
Retention Protocol Act of 2025; providing
definitions; requiring certain screenings,
assessments, and evaluations for students operating
below a certain academic threshold; mandating schools
to employ qualified personnel; subjecting
requirements to availability of funding; providing
for codification; providing an effective date; and
declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1210.500 of Title 70, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Student
Retention Protocol Act of 2025".
B. As used in this act:
1. "At risk of being retained" means students who have been
identified by school personnel as operating below the academic
threshold necessary to permit enrollment into an advancing grade for
the following school year;

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2. "Family assessment" means a process for gathering and
organizing information surrounding the family structure,
composition, relationships, characteristics, interactions, and
dynamics;
3. "Hearing screening" means a test used to evaluate hearing
across different pitches and determine risk for hearing loss;
4. "Occupational evaluation" means a test administered by an
occupational therapist to assess areas of functioning and determine
the need for a treatment plan or develop such a treatment plan;
5. "Physical therapy evaluation" means the administration,
interpretation, and evaluation of tests and measurements of bodily
functions and structures;
6. "Psychiatric evaluation" means an assessment based on
present problems and symptoms of an individual's biological, mental,
and social functioning which may or may not result in the diagnosis
of a mental illness; and
7. "Vision screening" means the process or system used to
identify a person having or who may be at risk of developing visual
problems that may adversely affect their ability to learn.
C. Students who are at risk of being retained shall receive a
hearing and visual screening and a family assessment conducted by
qualified school personnel. Each school shall employ or contract
with qualified school personnel to conduct such screenings and
assessments.

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D. Students who are at risk of being retained shall receive a
psychiatric evaluation selected and completed by a qualified
professional as determined by the State Department of Education.
E. Students at risk of being retained shall receive an
occupational therapy or physical therapy evaluation if the screening
and evaluations from subsections C and D of this section do not
result in a diagnosis or recommendation for treatment. An
occupational therapy or physical therapy evaluation shall be
conducted by qualified medical professionals employed by or
contracted with the school district.
F. The provisions of this section shall be subject to the
availability of funding.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective July 1, 2025.
SECTION 3. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.

60-1-10334 SW 12/27/24