PRINTER'S NO. 1965
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
1327
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY DINNIMAN, LANGERHOLC, FONTANA, MENSCH, PITTMAN,
ARGALL, BOSCOLA, FARNESE, BLAKE, COLLETT AND AUMENT,
SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
REFERRED TO EDUCATION, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
AN ACT
Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
act relating to the public school system, including certain
provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
laws relating thereto," in duties and powers of boards of
school directors, providing for publication of pathways of
communication.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
section to read:
Section 510.3. Publication of Pathways of Communication.--
(a) The following shall apply to a school district and each
remote learning student of the school district:
(1) Within thirty (30) days of the effective date of this
subsection, the school district shall develop a web-based portal
that provides the student, parents or guardians of the student
and siblings of the student access to the professional contact
information of the school district's administrators and
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professional employes as provided under subsection (b).
(2) Within thirty (30) days of the effective date of this
subsection, the school district shall develop a web-based portal
that provides the student, parents or guardians of the student
and siblings of the student access to multiple tools needed to
promote effective remote learning. The portal must be a toolbox
of resources to provide access to:
(i) A link to resources developed by the department under
this section, including, but not limited to, modules,
instruction techniques and information that would provide
teaching techniques and tips to assist the student with online
instruction.
(ii) A link to resources developed by the school district
under this section that provides guidance and information in
support of the alignment of the student's daily online
instruction and assignments with the curriculum goal or
objective of the coursework established by the student's
teacher.
(iii) A link to a peer support resource page that must
contain a collection of online resources made available by the
parents, parent-teacher association, school auxiliary groups or
other similar peer support group of the school district,
organized for peer-to-peer communications to provide networking
and the exchange of ideas for effective remote access of
coursework, assistance with instruction and suggestions
regarding using online learning techniques, tips or teaching
tools and modules. The following shall apply:
(A) The peer support resource page may include links to
forums, blogs, chat lines, electronic meeting exchanges and
other types of electronic communication developed to provide
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access for promoting an effective at-home school learning
environment for the student.
(B) The peer support resource page shall be developed to
permit third-party attachment of necessary access information or
a link to the website, if the third party has obtained
permission from the school district to participate on the peer
support resource page.
(C) Contents on the peer support resource page shall be
voluntarily affixed links to the various support groups.
(D) The school district shall encourage participation on the
peer support resource page.
(b) The portal to the contact information under subsection
(a)(1) shall:
(1) Be available on the publicly accessible Internet website
of the school district.
(2) Provide access to the contact information for all
administrators and professional employes in whose class or
course the student is assigned, registered or enrolled.
(c) The portal to the toolbox of resources under subsection
(a)(2) shall:
(1) Be available on the publicly accessible Internet website
of the school district.
(2) Provide access to the resources developed by the
department, the school district and peers under this section to
assist with online teaching skills and support for remote online
or distance learning.
(d) The following apply to policies:
(1) The board of school directors of a school district shall
develop a written policy for the portal to the contact
information under subsection (a)(1) that shall include the
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following, at a minimum:
(i) The portal shall be posted on the publicly accessible
Internet website of the school district.
(ii) A student assigned, registered or enrolled in a class
or course in the school district, as well as the parents or
guardians of the student and the siblings of the student, shall
have access to the portal.
(iii) Within the portal, a student, the parents or guardians
of the student and the siblings of the student shall have a
pathway to contact information for the professional employes
associated with a class or course in which the student is
assigned, registered or enrolled for the school year.
(iv) A remote learning student, the parents or guardians of
the student and the siblings of the student shall have access to
contact information for all administrators of the school
district.
(v) An email address provided as contact information on the
portal shall be a direct link to compose and send an email
communication to an administrator or professional employe.
(vi) All outreach communications made via the contact
information provided through the portal, whether via email
application, telephone or otherwise, shall be responded to by
the individual associated with the contact information within
forty-eight (48) hours of the initial outreach effort. The
response provided shall not be limited to merely an
acknowledgment of receipt of the outreach communication but must
provide some responsive information to the specific details of
the outreach communication.
(vii) The portal must not disclose to those who access the
portal any confidential information prohibited by law from being
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disclosed. The home address and telephone number of an
administrator or professional employe may be disclosed only if
provided by the administrator or professional employe as the
contact information on the portal.
(2) The board of school directors of a school district shall
develop a written policy for the portal to the toolbox of
resources under subsection (a)(2) that shall include the
following, at a minimum:
(i) The portal shall be posted on the publicly accessible
Internet website of the school district.
(ii) A student assigned, registered or enrolled in a class
or course in the school district, as well as the parents or
guardians of the student and the siblings of the student, shall
have access to the portal.
(iii) The portal shall contain links and modules to provide
links to teaching techniques and tips for school district-
developed guidance and information showing the alignment of the
daily lesson to the teacher's goals and objectives for the
overall lesson and to a peer-to-peer resource website.
(iv) Participation or inclusion of information by third
party peers is voluntary.
(v) Inclusion of information by third party peers includes
links to learning and teaching tools, blogs, chat lines,
electronic meeting exchanges and other types of electronic
communication developed to provide access for promoting an
effective at-home school learning environment and networking
efforts.
(vi) A school district, in its sole discretion, may require
permission to affix a link, module, learning technique or any
other information on the peer-to-peer resources website.
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(e) A school district, in consultation with the appropriate
intermediate units and its teachers, shall:
(1) Develop curriculum goals and objectives of courses that
are offered through the school district's online or distance
learning program that will align to the daily remote lesson
plans assigned to the remote learning student for publication on
the portal in accordance with subsection (d)(2)(iii).
(2) Include training in remote instruction in the
professional development plan submitted by the school district
to the secretary for approval in accordance with section 1205.1.
The training included in the school district's plan for an
employe required to complete continuing professional education
shall provide up to four (4) hours every five (5) years toward
the continuing professional education requirements.
(f) The department shall:
(1) Not later than six (6) months after the effective date
of this subsection, develop guidance and material related to
instruction techniques for remote learning and tips for parents,
guardians or siblings assisting a remote learning student with
online instructions that may include materials already publicly
available.
(2) Develop a website of resources for a school district to
link in accordance with subsection (a)(2)(i). The website must
include resources that the department develops under paragraph
(1).
(3) Not later than six (6) months after the effective date
of this subsection, recommend guidelines and education materials
for the training provided under subsection (e)(2), which may
include materials already publicly available.
(g) As used in this section, the following words and phrases
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shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Department." The Department of Education of the
Commonwealth.
"Portal." Access or a link to the contact information that a
student or parent or guardian of a student can enter securely.
"Remote learning student." A student attending school
remotely or virtually, whether full-time or part-time.
"Secretary." The Secretary of Education.
"Sibling." A brother or sister of a student who is
registered and attending s class or course in a school district
through online or distance learning if the brother or sister is
in kindergarten through grade twelve.
"Web-based." Relating to or using the World Wide Web.
Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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