{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-3-129.11","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 70-3-129.11","heading":"School District Empowerment Program","body":"A. There is hereby established the School District Empowerment\n\nProgram which shall be administered by the State Board of Education.\n\nThe purpose of the program is to empower locally elected school\n\nboard members to govern school districts and make decisions based on\n\nthe needs of their students and circumstances.\n\nB. 1. Subject to the provisions of this section, a school\n\ndistrict shall be allowed to submit a request to the State Board of\n\nEducation for an exemption from all statutory requirements and State\n\nBoard of Education rules from which charter schools are exempt, as\n\nprovided for in the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act. Any request for\n\nexemption shall include a plan which outlines the goals sought to be\n\nachieved at a minimum, include the educational and fiscal benefits\n\nand the anticipated impacts or outcomes the plan will have in the\n\ndistrict.\n\n2. Within ninety (90) days after receiving the request and\n\nplan, the State Board shall approve or disapprove the request. If\n\nthe State Board does not approve the request, it shall provide to\n\nthe school district a written explanation of the basis for its\n\ndecision. The school district may resubmit an amended request at\n\nany time after the denial. The request shall be approved by the\n\nState Board before implementation by the school district. An\n\napproved request and plan shall be for no longer than three (3)\n\nyears. Prior to the beginning of the third year, the school\n\ndistrict may apply for renewal of the approved request and plan.\n\nThe school district shall be required to submit an annual report and\n\nthe State Board shall annually assess the academic achievement and\n\nfiscal status of the school district.\n\nC. Nothing in this section shall prevent a school district\n\nboard of education from choosing to follow any or all state laws,\n\nrules or regulations from which a charter school is exempt. A\n\nschool district which has been granted approval by the State Board\n\nfor exemption as set forth in subsection B of this section shall\n\nhave the option to adopt policies to implement any requirement for\n\nthe school district that is consistent with any statutory\n\nrequirement or mandate or State Board rule, but a participating\n\nschool shall comply with the following requirements:\n\n1. Students who reside in the school district shall be entitled\n\nto attend school in the district as set forth in Section 1-114 of\n\nthis title;\n\n2. School districts shall comply with the requirements of the\n\nminimum salary schedule for teachers as set forth in Section 18-\n\n114.12 of this title;\n\n3. Employees of school districts shall continue to participate\n\nas members of the Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma as set\n\nforth in Section 17-101 et seq. of this title;\n\n4. School districts shall comply with the requirement to\n\nprovide a health insurance plan for school district employees as set\n\nforth in Section 5-117.5 of this title and to establish or make\n\navailable to school district employees a cafeteria plan as set forth\n\nin Section 26-104 of this title;\n\n5. School districts shall require any person employed by the\n\nschool district to file with the district board a current Oklahoma\n\ncriminal history record check from the Oklahoma State Bureau of\n\nInvestigation as well as a national criminal history record check as\n\ndefined in Section 150.9 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes. Each\n\ndistrict shall adopt a policy regarding criminal history record\n\nchecks as set forth in Section 5-142 of this title;\n\n6. School districts shall comply with the requirement to\n\nevaluate teachers and to train personnel designated to conduct\n\npersonnel evaluations as set forth in Sections 6-101.10 and 6-101.11\n\nof this title, the dismissal and due process procedures for\n\nadministrators as set forth in Sections 6-101.13 through 6-101.15 of\n\nthis title and the due process procedures for teachers as set forth\ns title;\n\n6. School districts shall comply with the requirement to\n\nevaluate teachers and to train personnel designated to conduct\n\npersonnel evaluations as set forth in Sections 6-101.10 and 6-101.11\n\nof this title, the dismissal and due process procedures for\n\nadministrators as set forth in Sections 6-101.13 through 6-101.15 of\n\nthis title and the due process procedures for teachers as set forth\n\nin Sections 6-101.21 through 6-101.26 of this title;\n\n7. School districts shall comply with the requirement to make\n\npayroll deductions for either or both professional organization dues\n\nand political contributions upon the request of an employee as set\n\nforth in Section 5-139 of this title;\n\n8. School districts shall comply with the dismissal and due\n\nprocess procedures for education support employees as set forth in\n\nSections 6-101.40 through 6-101.47 of this title;\n\n9. School districts shall employ as teachers, counselors,\n\nlibrarians, school nurses, superintendents, principals, supervisors\n\nor any other instructional, supervisory or administrative employee\n\nonly those persons who are certified by the State Board of Education\n\nin accordance with the Oklahoma Teacher Preparation Act, except for\n\npersons exempt from the certification requirements as otherwise\n\nprovided by law;\n\n10. School districts shall provide for negotiations between\n\nschool employees and school districts as set forth in Sections 509.1\n\nthrough 509.11 of this title;\n\n11. School districts shall be required to offer and students\n\nenrolled in the school district shall be required to complete the\n\ncurriculum requirements as set forth in Section 11-103.6 of this\n\ntitle;\n\n12. Students enrolled in the school district shall be required\n\nto demonstrate mastery of the state academic content standards as\n\nset forth in Section 1210.523 of this title; and\n\n13. Members of the school district board of education shall be\n\nrequired to satisfy the instruction and continuing education\n\nrequirements as set forth in Sections 5-110, 5-110.1 and 5-110.2 of\n\nthis title.","path":["OK Code","Title 70"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os70.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"fb9ee6b3471934ddceca76328d10faa3d9e780eb516f18ef35f56c9e7adc352e","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-3-129.10","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-3-129.2"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}