RS 17:355

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RS 17:355

§355. Parental access to instructional materials

A. A parent of a child attending a public elementary or secondary school shall be entitled to access to instructional materials as provided in this Section.

B. A parent is entitled to:

(1)Review instructional materials used by or administered to the parent's child.

(2)Review any survey before the survey is administered or distributed by a school to a student.

C.(1) Each local school board shall adopt rules and policies for each school to make instructional materials readily available for review as provided in this Section. The rules shall specify reasonable hours for in-person review. The rules shall require that the school provide access to instructional materials, including online access, to a parent upon request.

(2)(a) If a parent requests a paper copy of material that can be readily copied using school equipment, such copy shall be provided. The rules shall establish reasonable and customary fees to be collected by the school to cover the cost of providing such copies.

(b)No fee shall be charged to a parent for in-person viewing of their child's instructional materials if the parent does not request that copies are made of those materials.

(c)No fee shall be imposed when a parent accesses instructional materials online.

(d)No other provision of law or school board policy shall prohibit or interfere with a parent's ability to make his own copies on school premises via mobile or other device that has the capability of making copies. The principal of each school shall ensure that the school complies with such rules.

(3)Assessments of academic knowledge, skills, or abilities, including nonsecure tests, assessments, and assessment answer keys, may be made available to parents at the discretion of the local school board and may include only in-person viewing at the school.

(4)The requirement to provide online access to instructional materials shall be limited to curricula that is adopted in accordance with R.S. 17:351.1. Other instructional materials may be made available to a parent in-person in accordance with local rules and policies adopted by the local school board.

(5)(a) Each local school board shall submit an electronic copy or a digital link to rules and policies, that are adopted pursuant to this Section, to the state Department of Education. The submission shall include the reasonable and customary fee schedule which may be charged to the parent pursuant to this Section.

(b)The department shall submit a report to the Senate Committee on Education and the House Committee on Education by March 9, 2026, as to compliance with this Section by the local school boards. The report shall include a copy of each policy and the reasonable and customary fee schedules permitted pursuant to this Section.

D. For purposes of this Section:

(1)"Instructional materials" means content that conveys the knowledge or skills of a subject in the school curriculum through a medium or a combination of media for conveying information to a student. It also includes any survey administered to a student. The term also includes books, supplementary materials, teaching aids, computer software, magnetic media, DVD, CD-ROM, computer courseware, online material, information, or services, or an electronic medium or other means of conveying information to the student or otherwise contributing to the learning process.

(2)"Parent" means the parent or legal guardian of a child.

(3)"Survey" means any evaluative instrument or questionnaire that is not an assessment of academic knowledge, skills, or abilities, administered as part of a state, national, or international assessment or by itself.

Acts 2014, No. 436, §1, eff. Aug. 1, 2014; Acts 2025, No. 103, §1.