2022 Oklahoma Statutes
Title 70. Schools
§70-3-104. State Board of Education - Powers and duties.

A. The supervision of the public school system of Oklahoma shall be vested in the State Board of Education and, subject to limitations otherwise provided by law, the State Board of Education shall:

1. Adopt policies and make rules for the operation of the public school system of the state;

2. Appoint, prescribe the duties and fix the compensation of a secretary, an attorney and all other personnel necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the State Board of Education. The secretary shall not be a member of the Board;

3. Submit to the Governor a departmental budget based upon major functions of the Department as prepared by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and supported by detailed data on needs and proposed operations as partially determined by the budgetary needs of local school districts filed with the State Board of Education for the ensuing fiscal year. Appropriations therefor shall be made in lump-sum form for each major item in the budget as follows:

• a.State Aid to schools,
• b.the supervision of all other functions of general and special education including general control, free textbooks, school lunch, Indian education and all other functions of the Board and an amount sufficient to adequately staff and administer these services, and
• c.the Board shall determine the details by which the budget and the appropriations are administered. Annually, the Board shall make preparations to consolidate all of the functions of the Department in such a way that the budget can be based on two items, administration and aid to schools. A maximum amount for administration shall be designated as a part of the total appropriation;

4. On the first day of December preceding each regular session of the Legislature, prepare and deliver to the Governor and the Legislature a report for the year ending June 30 immediately preceding the regular session of the Legislature. The report shall contain:

• a.detailed statistics and other information concerning enrollment, attendance, expenditures including State Aid, and other pertinent data for all public schools in this state,
• b.reports from each and every division within the State Department of Education as submitted by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and any other division, department, institution or other agency under the supervision of the Board,
• c.recommendations for the improvement of the public school system of the state,
• d.a statement of the receipts and expenditures of the State Board of Education for the past year, and
• e.a statement of plans and recommendations for the management and improvement of public schools and such other information relating to the educational interests of the state as may be deemed necessary and desirable;

5. Provide for the formulation and adoption of curricula, courses of study and other instructional aids necessary for the adequate instruction of pupils in the public schools;

6. Have authority in matters pertaining to the licensure and certification of persons for instructional, supervisory and administrative positions and services in the public schools of the state subject to the provisions of Section 6-184 of this title, and shall formulate rules governing the issuance and revocation of certificates for superintendents of schools, principals, supervisors, librarians, clerical employees, school nurses, school bus drivers, visiting teachers, classroom teachers and for other personnel performing instructional, administrative and supervisory services, but not including members of boards of education and other employees who do not work directly with pupils, and may charge and collect reasonable fees for the issuance of such certificates:

• a.the State Department of Education shall not issue a certificate to and shall revoke the certificate of any person who has been convicted, whether upon a verdict or plea of guilty or upon a plea of nolo contendere, or received a suspended sentence or any probationary term for a crime or an attempt to commit a crime provided for in Section 843.5 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes if the offense involved sexual abuse or sexual exploitation as those terms are defined in Section 1-1-105 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes, Section 741, 843.1, if the offense included sexual abuse or sexual exploitation, 865 et seq., 885, 888, 891, 1021, 1021.2, 1021.3, 1040.13a, 1087, 1088, 1111.1, 1114 or 1123 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes or who enters this state and who has been convicted, received a suspended sentence or received a deferred judgment for a crime or attempted crime which, if committed or attempted in this state, would be a crime or an attempt to commit a crime provided for in any of said laws,
• b.all funds collected by the State Department of Education for the issuance of certificates to instructional, supervisory and administrative personnel in the public schools of the state shall be deposited in the "Teachers' Certificate Fund" in the State Treasury and may be expended by the State Board of Education to finance the activities of the State Department of Education necessary to administer the program, for consultative services, publication costs, actual and necessary travel expenses as provided in the State Travel Reimbursement Act incurred by persons performing research work, and other expenses found necessary by the State Board of Education for the improvement of the preparation and certification of teachers in Oklahoma. Provided, any unobligated balance in the Teachers' Certificate Fund in excess of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) on June 30 of any fiscal year shall be transferred to the General Revenue Fund of the State of Oklahoma. Until July 1, 1997, the State Board of Education shall have authority for approval of teacher education programs. The State Board of Education shall also have authority for the administration of teacher residency and professional development, subject to the provisions of the Oklahoma Teacher Preparation Act;

7. Promulgate rules governing the classification, inspection, supervision and accrediting of all public nursery, kindergarten, elementary and secondary schools and on-site educational services provided by public school districts or state-accredited private schools in partial hospitalization programs, day treatment programs, and day hospital programs as defined in this act for persons between the ages of three (3) and twenty-one (21) years of age in the state. However, no school shall be denied accreditation solely on the basis of average daily attendance.

Any school district which maintains an elementary school and faces the necessity of relocating its school facilities because of construction of a lake, either by state or federal authority, which will inundate the school facilities, shall be entitled to receive probationary accreditation from the State Board of Education for a period of five (5) years after the effective date of this act and any school district, otherwise qualified, shall be entitled to receive probationary accreditation from the State Board of Education for a period of two (2) consecutive years to attain the minimum average daily attendance. The Head Start and public nurseries or kindergartens operated from Community Action Program funds shall not be subjected to the accrediting rules of the State Board of Education. Neither will the State Board of Education make rules affecting the operation of the public nurseries and kindergartens operated from federal funds secured through Community Action Programs even though they may be operating in the public schools of the state. However, any of the Head Start or public nurseries or kindergartens operated under federal regulations may make application for accrediting from the State Board of Education but will be accredited only if application for the approval of the programs is made. The status of no school district shall be changed which will reduce it to a lower classification until due notice has been given to the proper authorities thereof and an opportunity given to correct the conditions which otherwise would be the cause of such reduction.

Private and parochial schools may be accredited and classified in like manner as public schools or, if an accrediting association is approved by the State Board of Education, by procedures established by the State Board of Education to accept accreditation by such accrediting association, if application is made to the State Board of Education for such accrediting;

8. Be the legal agent of the State of Oklahoma to accept, in its discretion, the provisions of any Act of Congress appropriating or apportioning funds which are now, or may hereafter be, provided for use in connection with any phase of the system of public education in Oklahoma. It shall prescribe such rules as it finds necessary to provide for the proper distribution of such funds in accordance with the state and federal laws;

9. Be and is specifically hereby designated as the agency of this state to cooperate and deal with any officer, board or authority of the United States Government under any law of the United States which may require or recommend cooperation with any state board having charge of the administration of public schools unless otherwise provided by law;

10. Be and is hereby designated as the "State Educational Agency" referred to in Public Law 396 of the 79th Congress of the United States, which law states that said act may be cited as the "National School Lunch Act", and said State Board of Education is hereby authorized and directed to accept the terms and provisions of said act and to enter into such agreements, not in conflict with the Constitution of Oklahoma or the Constitution and Statutes of the United States, as may be necessary or appropriate to secure for the State of Oklahoma the benefits of the school lunch program established and referred to in said act;

11. Have authority to secure and administer the benefits of the National School Lunch Act, Public Law 396 of the 79th Congress of the United States, in the State of Oklahoma and is hereby authorized to employ or appoint and fix the compensation of such additional officers or employees and to incur such expenses as may be necessary for the accomplishment of the above purpose, administer the distribution of any state funds appropriated by the Legislature required as federal matching to reimburse on children's meals;

12. Accept and provide for the administration of any land, money, buildings, gifts, donation or other things of value which may be offered or bequeathed to the schools under the supervision or control of said Board;

13. Have authority to require persons having administrative control of all school districts in Oklahoma to make such regular and special reports regarding the activities of the schools in said districts as the Board may deem needful for the proper exercise of its duties and functions. Such authority shall include the right of the State Board of Education to withhold all state funds under its control, to withhold official recognition, including accrediting, until such required reports have been filed and accepted in the office of said Board and to revoke the certificates of persons failing or refusing to make such reports;

14. Have general supervision of the school lunch program. The State Board of Education may sponsor workshops for personnel and participants in the school lunch program and may develop, print and distribute free of charge or sell any materials, books and bulletins to be used in such school lunch programs. There is hereby created in the State Treasury a revolving fund for the Board, to be designated the School Lunch Workshop Revolving Fund. The fund shall consist of all fees derived from or on behalf of any participant in any such workshop sponsored by the State Board of Education, or from the sale of any materials, books and bulletins, and such funds shall be disbursed for expenses of such workshops and for developing, printing and distributing of such materials, books and bulletins relating to the school lunch program. The fund shall be administered in accordance with Section 155 of Title 62 of the Oklahoma Statutes;

15. Prescribe all forms for school district and county officers to report to the State Board of Education where required. The State Board of Education shall also prescribe a list of appropriation accounts by which the funds of school districts shall be budgeted, accounted for and expended; and it shall be the duty of the State Auditor and Inspector in prescribing all budgeting, accounting and reporting forms for school funds to conform to such lists;

16. Provide for the establishment of a uniform system of pupil and personnel accounting, records and reports;

17. Have authority to provide for the health and safety of school children and school personnel while under the jurisdiction of school authorities;

18. Provide for the supervision of the transportation of pupils;

19. Have authority, upon request of the local school board, to act in behalf of the public schools of the state in the purchase of transportation equipment;

20. Have authority and is hereby required to perform all duties necessary to the administration of the public school system in Oklahoma as specified in the Oklahoma School Code; and, in addition thereto, those duties not specifically mentioned herein if not delegated by law to any other agency or official;

21. Administer the State Public Common School Building Equalization Fund established by Section 32 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution. Any monies as may be appropriated or designated by the Legislature, other than ad valorem taxes, any other funds identified by the State Department of Education, which may include, but not be limited to, grants-in-aid from the federal government for building purposes, the proceeds of all property that shall fall to the state by escheat, penalties for unlawful holding of real estate by corporations, and capital gains on assets of the permanent school funds, shall be deposited in the State Public Common School Building Equalization Fund. The fund shall be used to aid school districts and charter schools in acquiring buildings, subject to the limitations fixed by Section 32 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution. It is hereby declared that the term "acquiring buildings" as used in Section 32 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution shall mean acquiring or improving school sites, constructing, repairing, remodeling or equipping buildings, or acquiring school furniture, fixtures, or equipment. It is hereby declared that the term "school districts" as used in Section 32 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution shall mean school districts and eligible charter schools as defined in subsection B of this section. The State Board of Education shall disburse redbud school grants annually from the State Public Common School Building Equalization Fund to public schools and eligible charter schools pursuant to subsection B of this section. The Board shall promulgate rules for the implementation of disbursing redbud school grants pursuant to this section. The State Board of Education shall prescribe rules for making grants of aid from, and for otherwise administering, the fund pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, and may employ and fix the duties and compensation of technicians, aides, clerks, stenographers, attorneys and other personnel deemed necessary to carry out the provisions of this paragraph. The cost of administering the fund shall be paid from monies appropriated to the State Board of Education for the operation of the State Department of Education. From monies apportioned to the fund, the State Department of Education may reserve not more than one-half of one percent (1/2 of 1%) for purposes of administering the fund;

22. Recognize that the Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shall be the administrative authority for the schools which are maintained in the state reformatories and shall appoint the principals and teachers in such schools. Provided, that rules of the State Board of Education for the classification, inspection and accreditation of public schools shall be applicable to such schools; and such schools shall comply with standards set by the State Board of Education; and

23. Have authority to administer a revolving fund which is hereby created in the State Treasury, to be designated the Statistical Services Revolving Fund. The fund shall consist of all monies received from the various school districts of the state, the United States Government, and other sources for the purpose of furnishing or financing statistical services and for any other purpose as designated by the Legislature. The State Board of Education is hereby authorized to enter into agreements with school districts, municipalities, the United States Government, foundations and other agencies or individuals for services, programs or research projects. The Statistical Services Revolving Fund shall be administered in accordance with Section 155 of Title 62 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

B. 1. The redbud school grants shall be determined by the State Department of Education as follows:

• a.divide the county four-mill levy revenue by four to determine the nonchargeable county four-mill revenue for each school district,
• b.determine the amount of new revenue generated by the five-mill building fund levy as authorized by Section 10 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution for each school district as reported in the Oklahoma Cost Accounting System for the preceding fiscal year,
• c.add the amounts calculated in subparagraphs a and b of this paragraph to determine the nonchargeable millage for each school district,
• d.add the nonchargeable millage in each district statewide as calculated in subparagraph c of this paragraph and divide the total by the average daily membership in public schools statewide based on the preceding school year's average daily membership, according to the provisions of Section 18-107 of this title. This amount is the statewide nonchargeable millage per student, known as the baseline local funding per student,
• e.all eligible charter schools shall be included in these calculations as unique school districts, separate from the school district that may sponsor the eligible charter school, and the total number of districts shall be used to determine the statewide average baseline local funding per student,
• f.for each school district or eligible charter school which is below the baseline local funding per student, the Department shall subtract the baseline local funding per student from the average nonchargeable millage per student of the school district or eligible charter school to determine the nonchargeable millage per student shortfall for each district, and
• g.the nonchargeable millage per student shortfall for a school district or eligible charter school shall be multiplied by the average daily membership of the preceding school year of the eligible school district or eligible charter school. This amount shall be the redbud school grant amount for the school district or eligible charter school.

2. For fiscal year 2022, monies for the redbud school grants shall be expended from the funds apportioned pursuant to Section 2 of this act. For fiscal year 2023 and each subsequent fiscal year, monies for the redbud school grants shall be appropriated pursuant to Section 2 of this act, not to exceed three-fourths (3/4) of the tax collected in the preceding fiscal year pursuant to Section 426 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes as determined by the Oklahoma Tax Commission. For fiscal year 2023 and each subsequent fiscal year, if such appropriated funds are insufficient to fund the redbud school grants, then an additional apportionment of funds shall be made from sales tax collections as provided by subsection D of Section 3 of this act. If both funds are insufficient, the Department shall promulgate rules to permit a decrease to the baseline local funding per student to the highest amount allowed with the funding available.

3. As used in this section, "eligible charter school" shall mean a charter school which is sponsored pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Charter School Act. Provided, however, "eligible charter school" shall not include a charter school sponsored by the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board but shall only include those which provide in-person or blended instruction, as provided by Section 1-111 of this title, to not less than two-thirds (2/3) of students as the primary means of instructional service delivery.

4. The Department shall develop a program to acknowledge the redbud school grant recipients and shall include elected members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma State Senate who represent the school districts and eligible charter schools.

5. The Department shall create a dedicated page on its website listing annual redbud school grant recipients, amount awarded to each recipient and other pertinent information about the Redbud School Funding Act.

6. The Department shall provide the Chair of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee and the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee no later than February 1 of each year with an estimate of the upcoming year's redbud school grant allocation as prescribed by this section.

Added by Laws 1971, c. 281, § 3-104, eff. July 2, 1971. Amended by Laws 1972, c. 241, § 1, emerg. eff. April 7, 1972; Laws 1973, c. 17, § 1, emerg. eff. March 27, 1973; Laws 1973, c. 46, § 6, operative July 1, 1973; Laws 1974, c. 146, § 1; Laws 1975, c. 344, § 1; Laws 1978, c. 85, § 1, eff. Jan. 8, 1979; Laws 1982, c. 369, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1982; Laws 1984, c. 296, § 42, operative July 1, 1984; Laws 1985, c. 13, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1985; Laws 1986, c. 105, § 2, emerg. eff. April 5, 1986; Laws 1991, c. 240, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Laws 1993, c. 361, § 1, emerg. eff. June 11, 1993; Laws 1994, c. 2, § 26, emerg. eff. March 2, 1994; Laws 1994, c. 378, § 1, eff. July 1, 1994; Laws 1995, c. 1, § 25, emerg. eff. March 2, 1995; Laws 1995, c. 226, § 1, eff. July 1, 1995; Laws 1995, c. 322, § 23, eff. July 1, 1995; Laws 1998, c. 246, § 32, eff. Nov. 1, 1998; Laws 1999, c. 336, § 5, eff. Nov. 1, 1999; Laws 2009, c. 448, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2009; Laws 2010, c. 2, § 73, emerg. eff. March 3, 2010; Laws 2011, c. 31, § 4; Laws 2012, c. 354, § 1; Laws 2013, c. 271, § 1; Laws 2021, c. 563, § 5, emerg. eff. May 28, 2021.

NOTE: Laws 1993, c. 239, § 21 repealed by Laws 1994, c. 2, § 34, emerg. eff. March 2, 1994. Laws 1994, c. 344, § 1 repealed by Laws 1995, c. 1, § 40, emerg. eff. March 2, 1995. Laws 2009, c. 234, § 155 repealed by Laws 2010, c. 2, § 74, emerg. eff. March 3, 2010.