A. Students who have been victims of certain felony offenses by other students, as well as the siblings of the student victims, have the right to be kept separated from the student offender both at school and during school transportation.

B. Notwithstanding any provision of law prohibiting the disclosure of the identity of a minor, within thirty (30) days of the time of the adjudication or withholding of adjudication of any juvenile offender for any offense subject to the Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Act, either the juvenile bureau in counties which have juvenile bureaus or the Office of Juvenile Affairs in all other counties shall notify the superintendent of the school district in which the juvenile offender is enrolled or intends to enroll of the adjudication and the offense for which the child was adjudicated. Upon receipt of such notice, the school district shall notify the victim and parent or guardian of the victim of their right to request to be separated from the offender at school and during school transportation. If the victim requests to be separated from the offender, the school district shall take appropriate action to effectuate the provisions of subsection C of this section. The decision of the victim shall be final and not reversible.

C. Any offender described in subsection B of this section shall, upon the request of the victim, not attend any school attended by the victim or a sibling of the victim or ride on a school bus on which the victim or a sibling of the victim is riding. The offender shall be permitted by the school district to attend another school within the district in which the offender resides, provided the other school is not attended by the victim or sibling of the victim. If the offender is unable to attend another school in the district in which the offender resides, the offender shall transfer to another school district pursuant to the provisions of the Education Open Transfer Act.

D. The offender or the parents of the offender, if the offender is a juvenile, shall be responsible for arranging and paying for transportation and any other cost associated with or required for the offender to attend another school or that is required as a consequence of the prohibition against attending a school or riding on a school bus on which the victim or a sibling of the victim is attending or riding. However, the offender or the parents of the offender shall not be charged for existing modes of transportation that can be used by the offender at no additional cost to the school district.

A. Any student who is guilty of an act described in paragraph 1 of subsection C of this section may be suspended out-of-school in accordance with the provisions of this section. Each school district board of education shall adopt a policy with procedures which provides for out-of-school suspension of students. The policy shall address the term of the out-of-school suspension, provide an appeals process as described in subsection B of this section, and provide that before a student is suspended out-of-school, the school or district administration shall consider and apply, if appropriate, alternative in-school placement options that are not to be considered suspension, such as placement in an alternative school setting, reassignment to another classroom, or in-school detention. The policy shall address education for students subject to the provisions of subsection D of this section and whether participation in extracurricular activities shall be permitted.

A.1. Beginning with the first semester of the 1996-1997 school year, the State Board of Education shall implement a statewide system of alternative education programs which shall be phased-in within seven (7) years. The statewide system shall include but not be limited to Alternative Approaches grant programs, funded pursuant to Section 1210.561 of this title, and alternative academies or alternative programs implemented pursuant to this section.

B. All school districts of this state serving students in grades seven through twelve shall provide alternative education programs that conform to the requirements of statutes and rules applicable to alternative education. A program shall:

C. The alternative education program of a school district shall be operational and serving students by September 1 of each school year.

D.1. Each alternative education program of a school district shall receive funding based on the average daily membership (ADM) of students served by an alternative education program in the prior school year according to the annual statistical report conducted by the State Department of Education. The per-student funding amount shall be based on the funding available for the program each fiscal year.

E. All statewide alternative education funds received and expended for students participating in an alternative education program shall be reported to the State Department of Education by major object codes and by program classifications pursuant to the Oklahoma Cost Accounting System as adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to Section 5-135 of this title.

F. Elementary school districts, as defined in Section 5-103 of this title, may request a waiver by May 15 of each year from the State Board of Education from the requirements of this section to implement and provide an alternative education program. Any request for a waiver shall be accompanied by an assurance that the school district does not have students in need of alternative education services. If a school district is granted a waiver, no statewide alternative education funding shall be allocated to the district.

G.1. The State Board of Education shall:

H. All alternative education programs shall be subject to statutes and rules applicable to alternative education, including any exemptions from statutory or regulatory requirements authorized by statutes or rule.

I. An alternative education program may be offered by an individual school district or may be offered jointly by school districts that have formed interlocal cooperative agreements pursuant to Section 5-117b of this title. Any school district submitting a plan for an alternative education program serving fewer than ten students shall enter into a cooperative agreement with another school district to jointly provide the program unless the program has been granted a waiver from this requirement by the State Board of Education. A school district participating in a cooperative agreement shall be required to send its alternative education funding allocation to the cooperative.

J. Any materials or equipment purchased by a school district with revenue received for students participating in an alternative education program shall be used only in or directly for the alternative education program offered by the district or any subsequent alternative education program offered to students enrolled in that district. Such materials and equipment shall be made available exclusively to alternative education students during the hours that the alternative education program is operating; provided, the material or equipment may be used for other purposes when the alternative education program is not operating.

The following words and terms, when used in this Subchapter, shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

"Alternative Education" means an educational process incorporating appropriate structure, curriculum, interaction, and reinforcement strategies to stimulate learning with students who have not utilized their capacity to do so within traditional educational settings. Alternative education programs must meet all requirements listed at 70 O.S. § 1210.568 and at section 210:35-29-7 of this title.

(a) General requirements. Alternative education is an educational process incorporating appropriate structure, curriculum, interaction, and reinforcement strategies to stimulate learning with students who are at risk of failing to complete their secondary education for reasons which may include academic deficiency, behavioral difficulties, excessive absences, pregnancy or parenting, family issues, substance abuse, financial issues, physical or mental health issues, state custody, juvenile justice involvement, and/or other such factors, not including disability status. An alternative education program must provide the additional services and supports outlined in statute, and not merely an opportunity for credit recovery. To qualify as an approved alternative education program, a school district's alternative school or alternative education program must meet all requirements listed at 70 O.S. § 1210.568, including:

(b) Submission of alternative education plan. Each school district shall submit and certify an Alternative Education Implementation Plan to the State Department of Education by September 15 of each year. This plan shall outline how the district will meet the criteria listed in subsection (a) to serve its at-risk students. The plan must be submitted and certified by school districts providing their own alternative education programs, as well as districts which offer alternative education through interlocal cooperative arrangements, and districts which have no alternative education program and receive no alternative education funding.

(c) Alternative education waiver available for elementary school districts. For an elementary school district, which does not offer high school grades, the State Board of Education is authorized at 70 O.S. § 1210.568(F) to grant a waiver from the statutory requirement to implement and provide an alternative education program. An elementary school district wishing to request such a waiver must submit an application to the State Department of Education Office of Accreditation no later than May 15 prior to the school year for which the waiver is requested. An elementary school district that has not received any alternative education funding pursuant to 70 O.S. § 1210.568 shall be granted this waiver automatically and need not apply, but an elementary district that has received any amount of alternative education funding must apply for the waiver by May 15 prior to the applicable school year in order to be exempt from implementing an alternative education program.

(d) Deregulation not necessary for conforming alternative education programs. A school district need not apply to the State Board of Education for a deregulation in order to implement an alternative education program that meets all requirements listed in this subchapter and at 70 O.S. § 1210.566 through 70 O.S. § 1210.568.