HB 1684 Summary

• Requires professional development committees to include school counselors or licensed mental health providers and mandates minimum annual training on child abuse recognition, reporting, and available resources for all teachers.

• Authorizes Safe School Committees to make recommendations regarding rape or sexual assault response programs for school districts.

• Allows public schools to establish optional abuse-prevention instructional programs with developmental, age-appropriate curriculum covering identification of dangerous situations, boundary violations, refusal techniques, and summoning help.

• Permits students to opt out of abuse-prevention programs without penalty under the Parents' Bill of Rights, with non-participation not constituting grounds for Department of Human Services referral.

• Directs the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth to collaborate with the Office of Child Abuse Prevention and identify evidence-informed curriculum meeting school guidelines; effective November 1, 2015.