Oklahoma enacts new law mandating parental oversight for teacher-student digital communication

OKLAHOMA CITY – Area Oklahoma school board members were notified in their July monthly meeting about a new law where teachers and coaches can no longer electronically contact a student without including parents in the message.

The Oklahoma law took effect on July 1 and was officially signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt on Tuesday, July 9.

The backbone of House Bill 3958 is to avoid private communications between students and adults.

Locally, private communication between a student and a teacher has landed teachers in hot water.

In May, Ronald Dale Sanders, 56, of Belton, Mo. , confessed to traveling to Welch between Aug. and Oct. 2023 to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a Miami student he met when he was a teacher at Miami High School.

Court records show there were 32,000 text messages between a teen and Sanders.

John Robert Downs, 25, of Grove , is charged in Cherokee Nation Criminal Court with soliciting sexual conduct or communication with a minor by use of technology. The former Jay coach and teacher is accused of sending text messages to a female middle school student.

Now schools can utilize approved methods of communication that will allow teachers, students, and parents to continue discussing academics, school activities, and other pertinent information provided by school districts.

The legislation, authored by Rep. Sherrie Conley, R-Newcastle, and Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, is designed to save students.

“This bill can save our students and our educators from the devastating consequences of inappropriate communication,” Conley said. “There have been too many reports in our schools of school employees sharing inappropriate messages with students, many times leading to actual physical abuse.”

This legislation will also protect educators who are falsely accused and help keep parents fully informed of information about their child’s education, she said.

“This is just the beginning of putting policies, procedures and laws in place to help ensure Oklahoma students are safe from those who do not have the best interests of our students in mind,” Conley said.

Under the new statute, exceptions may be made in case of an emergency, subject to subsequent notification to the parent or guardian. The measure stipulates that school personnel shall make reasonable efforts to use school-approved platforms, systems or applications that allow automatic inclusion of parents or guardians in communications with students.

Some of the communication platforms approved are individual school apps, Google Classroom and school-issued Google Gmail accounts.

Any school personnel reported to violate the new act shall be put on administrative leave while the school district investigates the incident and notifies the local and state boards of education.

If the investigation finds no misconduct occurred, the school personnel shall be reinstated with the incident noted in the employee’s file. If the investigation finds misconduct occurred, the school personnel’s employment shall be terminated, and the incident shall be reported to law enforcement according to state statute.

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