State clarifies law restricting communication between students, school staff

A state lawmaker has issued clarification on a bill she wrote that recently became law.

State Representative Sherrie Conley authored House Bill 3958 , which requires school employees include a student’s parents or guardians in any electronic or digital communication with that student.

Rep. Conley said after the law took effect in July, she was told some school districts were telling employees who are related to students that they too needed to communicate with their relatives through a school-approved platform, even in personal messages.

Conley said that’s not the case.

“This legislation was intended to curb the number of instances where school faculty is inappropriate with a non-relative student through text messaging or other electronic communications,” Conley said. “It was never intended to stop a grandmother, aunt or other family member from reaching out to a student to whom they are related to share a personal message.”

The confusion also led to the Oklahoma State Department of Education issuing new guidance.

The new OSDE guidance reads, “If school personnel have a familial relationship with the student, the statute does not require that the communication include a parent/guardian. The focus of the statute is not communications between family members.”

Conley said she plans to explore whether the law needs to be tweaked for further clarification.