House Bill 3958 requires school personnel to include parents or guardians in any electronic or digital communication with a student. The House passed Representative Sherrie Conley’s bill on Wednesday.
“This protects our students from receiving anything inappropriate from an educator,” Conley said. “It also protects our educators from any potential accusation of impropriety. This also ensures parents and guardians remain apprised of communications related to their child’s education.”
HB 3958 requires school personnel to make reasonable efforts to use school-approved platforms, systems, or applications that allow automatic inclusion of parents or guardians in communications with students. There are exceptions for emergency communications, but a parent or guardian must be notified afterward.
Schools will provide the training to personnel through a program developed by the State Department of Education under this legislation.
The measure now heads to the Senate.
