70-11-103.

§70-11-103.


    A.  Courses of instruction approved by the State Board of
Education for use in school years prior to 1993-94 shall be those
courses that are necessary to ensure:
    1.  The teaching of the necessary basic skills of learning and
communication, including reading, English, writing, the use of
numbers and science; and
    2.  The teaching of citizenship in the United States, in the
State of Oklahoma, and in other countries, through the study of the
United States Constitution, the amendments thereto, and the ideals,
history, and government of the United States, other countries of the
world, and the State of Oklahoma and through the study of the
principles of democracy as they apply in the lives of citizens.  In
study of the United States Constitution, a written copy of the
document itself shall be utilized.
    The public school districts of this state shall ensure that each
child enrolled therein is provided with adequate instruction in the
basic skills as set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this subsection.
Each local board of education shall annually evaluate the district's
curriculum in order to determine whether each child in the district
is receiving adequate basic skill instruction as set out in
paragraphs 1 and 2 of this subsection.  The evaluation process shall
provide for parental involvement.  Effective July 1, 1990, each
district shall submit its annual evaluation of the district's
curriculum to the State Board of Education.  The State Board shall
make this information available to the Oklahoma Curriculum Committee
and, beginning with the 1996-97 school year, shall utilize such
information in its periodic evaluation of curriculum.
    B.  Courses approved by the State Board of Education for
instruction of pupils in the public schools of the state for use in
school years prior to 1993-94 may include courses that are approved
by a local board of education and are necessary to ensure:
    1.  The teaching of health through the study of proper diet, the
effects of alcoholic beverages, narcotics and other substances on the
human system and through the study of such other subjects as will
promote healthful living and help to establish proper health habits
in the lives of school children;
    2.  The teaching of safety through training in the driving and
operation of motor vehicles and such other devices of transportation
as may be desirable and other aspects of safety which will promote
the reduction of accidents and encourage habits of safe living among
school children;
    3.  The teaching of physical education to all physically able
students during the entire school year from first through sixth
grade, through physical education, a weekly minimum of seventy-five
(75) minutes per student, exclusive of recess activity, supervised
play, intramurals, interschool athletics or other extracurricular
activities; provided, any student participating as a member of any
school athletic team shall be excused from physical education
classes; provided further, that certified physical education
instructors shall not be required to administer the programs required
for grades one through six.  An elective program of instructional
physical education designed to provide a minimum of one hundred fifty
(150) minutes per week per student shall be provided for all students
in the seventh grade through the twelfth grade.  The State Board of
Education shall prescribe qualifications for physical education
instructors.  Provided, however, that the State Department of
Education shall be empowered to exempt all or a portion of this
requirement if an undue hardship would result to the school district.
Provided, further, that any student who has exceptional talent in
music may, with the approval of the superintendent of schools in
independent districts or in elementary districts, substitute a course
in music for the above-required physical education course;
    4.  The teaching of the conservation of natural resources of the
state and the nation that are necessary and desirable to sustain life
and contribute to the comfort and welfare of the people now living
and those who will live here in the future, such as soil, water,
forests, minerals, oils, gas, all forms of wildlife, both plant and
animal, and such other natural resources as may be considered
desirable to study;
    5.  The teaching of vocational education, by the study of the
various aspects of agriculture, through courses and farm youth
organizations, such as FFA and 4-H clubs, homemaking and home
economics, trades and industries, distributive education, mechanical
and industrial arts and such other aspects of vocational education as
will promote occupational competence among school children and adults
as potential and actual citizens of the state and nation; and
    6.  The teaching of such other aspects of human living and
citizenship as will achieve the legitimate objectives and purposes of
public education.