H. F. No. 573, A bill for an act relating to education; requiring school and

library computers with Internet access available for student use to be

equipped with software filtering or blocking technology; imposing a

financial penalty; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, sections 125B.15;

134.50.

The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on

Education Policy and Reform.

H.F. No. 573,  as introduced 84th Legislative Session (2005-2006)   Posted

on Jan 31, 2005

  1.1             A bill for an act

  1.2             relating to education; requiring school and library

  1.3             computers with Internet access available for student

  1.4             use to be equipped with software filtering or blocking

  1.5             technology; imposing a financial penalty; amending

  1.6             Minnesota Statutes 2004, sections 125B.15; 134.50.

  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 125B.15, is

  1.9   amended to read:

  1.10     125B.15 [INTERNET ACCESS FOR STUDENTS.]

  1.11     (a) Recognizing the difference between school libraries,

  1.12  school computer labs, and school media centers, which serve

  1.13  unique educational purposes, and public libraries, which are

  1.14  designed for public inquiry, all computers at a school site with

  1.15  access to the Internet available for student use must be

  1.16  equipped to restrict, including by use of available with

  1.17  software filtering or blocking technology or other effective

  1.18  methods, all designed to restrict student access to material

  1.19  that is reasonably believed to be obscene or child pornography

  1.20  or material harmful to minors under federal or state law.

  1.21     (b) A school site is not required to purchase filtering

  1.22  technology if the school site would incur more than incidental

  1.23  expense in making the purchase.

  1.24     (c) A school district receiving technology revenue under

  1.25  section 125B.25 must prohibit, including through use of

  1.26  available software filtering or blocking technology or other

  2.1   effective methods, adult access to material that under federal

  2.2   or state law is reasonably believed to be obscene or child

  2.3   pornography.  At the request of an adult, the district may

  2.4   unblock filtered sites for bona fide research or other lawful

  2.5   purpose.

  2.6      (d) (c) A school district, its agents or employees, are

  2.7   immune from liability for failure to comply with this section if

  2.8   they have made a good faith effort to comply with the

  2.9   requirements of this section.

  2.10     (e) (d) "School site" means an education site as defined in

  2.11  section 123B.04, subdivision 1, or charter school under section

  2.12  124D.10.

  2.13     (e) All state funds available to a school site for its

  2.14  school library, school computer lab, and school media center

  2.15  shall be withheld from the school site until all computers with

  2.16  Internet access available for student use at the school site are

  2.17  equipped with software filtering or blocking technology designed

  2.18  to restrict students' access to material that is reasonably

  2.19  believed to be obscene, child pornography, or material harmful

  2.20  to minors under state or federal law.  A school district must

  2.21  formally adopt an Internet safety policy consistent with this

  2.22  section and other applicable law.

  2.23     (f) To ensure that state funds are not withheld under

  2.24  paragraph (e), a school district must send an electronic notice

  2.25  to the department indicating those school sites within the

  2.26  district that have equipped their computers with software

  2.27  filtering or blocking technology, consistent with this section.

  2.28  A district must immediately transmit to the department any

  2.29  additional information related to school sites' compliance with

  2.30  this section.

  2.31     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective January 1, 2006.

  2.32     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 134.50, is

  2.33  amended to read: