Rights of and protections for teachers. (FE)

2. The right of a teacher to utilize a grievance procedure to address workplace safety concerns.

3. The right of a teacher to use reasonable and necessary force under certain circumstances.

4. The right of a school district employee or teacher to receive assistance and leave benefits if the teacher is injured as a result of a physical assault or violent crime while performing work duties.

5. The right of a teacher to terminate his or her contract without penalty if the teacher is a victim of a physical assault or violent crime while performing work duties.

6. Civil immunity provided to a teacher under state and federal laws for certain discretionary acts.

7. The right of a teacher to review, upon request, the behavioral records of a pupil enrolled in the teacher's class when the teacher has a legitimate educational interest, including a safety interest, in doing so.

Records and reporting The bill requires each school board and independent charter school to maintain pupil behavioral records until the pupil has graduated from high school. If the pupil is no longer enrolled in a school in the school district and if the school district has not received a request to transfer the pupil's records to another school, the school district must retain the records until the pupil attains the age of 21. Current law prohibits a school board from maintaining such records for more than one year.

The bill also requires private schools participating in the Milwaukee, Racine, or statewide parental choice program to maintain behavioral records for each pupil while the pupil attends the private school for the same period of time as is required of public schools. Current law requires such private schools to maintain a pupil's progress records while the pupil attends the private school and for at least five years after the pupil ceases to attend the school. The bill requires a private school that is not participating in a parental choice program to maintain pupil behavioral records only if the private school has adopted a policy governing the maintenance of pupil progress records and, with one exception, for the same length of time the private school maintains the progress records. The private school is not required to maintain a pupil's behavioral records once the pupil has graduated from the private school.

If a private school maintains behavioral records, the private school must keep the information confidential in the same manner as is required of a public school official who maintains behavioral records.

The bill also requires DPI to include additional information about suspensions and expulsions in the school district report it creates for each school district, including the number of physical assaults by pupils on teachers and other school district employees, on other pupils, and on adults not employed by the school district.