SPONSOR: Christensen
This bill prohibits obscene or harmful materials in public schools and libraries. The bill provides definitions and criteria for obscene or harmful materials. The bill defines terms such as "explicit material", "harmful to minors", "obscene", and "patently offensive", and provides criteria for determining whether material is obscene or harmful to minors based on community standards and the value of the material for minors.
The bill requires each school board and governing board to adopt a policy that allows a parent to report obscene or harmful materials to the public school administration, and requires the administration to remove the materials for at least 30 days for review by the board. The board shall then decide whether to permanently remove or return the materials to the school library or teacher. If a public school fails to adopt such policy or fails to abide by the policy once adopted, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education may withhold an amount of state funds to be determined by the department. Public schools must furnish a report of all material permanently removed to the department.
The bill requires public schools and libraries that provide public access computers to either equip the computers with software that will limit minors' access to material that is pornographic for minors, or develop and implement a policy that restricts such access.
Statutes affected: