An act to amend and reenact sections 15.1-09-33 and 15.1-19-03.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to a requirement for public school students to have the opportunity to recite the pledge of allegiance each morn, the official text

Sixty-ninth Legislative Assembly of North Dakota In Regular Session Commencing Tuesday, January 7, 2025
HOUSE BILL NO. 1222 (Representatives Novak, D. Anderson, Frelich, Hagert, Heinert, Porter, M. Ruby, Lefor)
(Senators Hogue, Luick, Meyer)
AN ACT to amend and reenact sections 15.1-09-33 and 15.1-19-03.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to a requirement for public school students to have the opportunity to recite the pledge of allegiance each morning and immunity for liability stemming from the recitation of the pledge of allegiance.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NORTH DAKOTA: SECTION 1. AMENDMENT. Section 15.1-09-33 of the North Dakota Century Code is amended and
reenacted as follows: 15.1-09-33. School board - Powers. The board of a school district may: 1. Establish a system of free public schools for all children of legal school age residing within the district. 2. Organize, establish, operate, and maintain elementary, middle, and high schools. 3. Have custody and control of all school district property and, in the case of the board of education of the city of Fargo, have custody and control of all public school property within the boundaries of the Fargo public school district and to manage and control all school matters. 4. Acquire real property and construct school buildings and other facilities. 5. Relocate or discontinue schools and liquidate the assets of the district as required by law; provided no site may be acquired or building constructed, or no school may be organized, established, operated, maintained, discontinued, or changed in location without the approval of the state board of public school education if outside the boundary of the district. 6. Purchase, sell, exchange, and improve real property. 7. Lease real property for a maximum of one year except in the case of: a. A career and technical education facility constructed in whole or in part with financing acquired under chapter 40-57, which may be leased for up to twenty years; or b. A lease for the installation of a wireless telecommunications facility, which may be leased for up to twenty years. 8. Subject to chapter 32-15, exercise the power of eminent domain to acquire real property for school purposes. 9. Purchase, sell, exchange, improve, and lease for up to one year equipment, furniture, supplies, and textbooks. 10. Recruit or contract with others to recruit homes and facilities which provide boarding care for special education students. 11. Provide dormitories for the boarding care of special education students.

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12. Insure school district property. 13. Independently or jointly with other school districts, purchase telecommunications equipment or
lease a telecommunications system or network. 14. Provide for the education of students by another school district. 15. Contract with federal officials for the education of students in a federal school. 16. Prescribe courses of study in addition to those prescribed by the superintendent of public
instruction or by law. 17. Adopt rules regarding the instruction of students, including their admission, transfer,
organization, grading, and government. 18. Join the North Dakota high school activities association and pay membership fees. 19. Adopt alternative curricula for high school seniors who require fewer than four academic units. 20. Contract with, employ, and compensate school district personnel. 21. Contract with and provide reimbursement for the provision of teaching services by an
individual certified as an instructor in the areas of North Dakota American Indian languages and culture by the education standards and practices board. 22. a. Suspend school district personnel; b. Delegate to the superintendent of the district the authority to suspend school district
personnel, except as provided for in section 15.1-15-10; or c. In the case of a district that does not employ a superintendent, delegate to the individual
charged with administering the district the authority to suspend school district personnel, except as provided for in section 15.1-15-10. 23. Dismiss school district personnel. 24. Participate in group insurance plans and pay all or part of the insurance premiums. 25. Contract for the services of a district superintendent, provided that the contract, which may be renewed, does not exceed a period of three years. 26. Contract for the services of a principal. 27. Employ an individual to serve as the school district business manager or contract with any person to perform the duties assigned to a school district business manager by law. 28. Dismiss a school district business manager for cause without prior notice. 29. Dismiss a school district business manager without cause with thirty days' written notice. 30. Defray the necessary and contingent expenses of the board. 31. Levy a tax upon property in the district for school purposes, as permitted in accordance with chapter 57-15. 32. Amend and certify budgets and tax levies, as provided in title 57. 33. Pay dues allowing for the board to hold membership in city, county, state, and national organizations and associations.

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34. Designate, at its annual meeting, a newspaper of general circulation as the official newspaper of the district.
35. Authorize schools within the district to display the ten commandments with a display of other historical documents in the school and in a classroom.
36. Authorize schools within the district to permit students to recite the pledge of allegiance. SECTION 2. AMENDMENT. Section 15.1-19-03.1 of the North Dakota Century Code is amended and reenacted as follows: 15.1-19-03.1. Recitation of prayer - Period of silence - Pledge of allegiance. 1. A student may voluntarily may pray aloud or participate in religious speech at any time before,
during, or after the schoolday to the same extent a student may voluntarily may speak or participate in secular speech. 2. A student of a public or nonpublic school may not be prohibited from voluntarily participating in any student-initiated prayer at an activity held on the premises of a public or nonpublic school. 3. A schoolThe board of a school district, school administrator, or teacher may not impose any restriction on the time, place, manner, or location of any student-initiated religious speech or prayer which exceeds the restriction imposed on students' secular speech. 4. A schoolThe board mayof a school, by resolution, may allow a classroom teacher to impose up to one minute of silence for meditation, reflection, or prayer at the beginning of each schoolday. 5. A schoolThe board may authorize the voluntary recitation of a school district shall adopt a policy requiring each school to offer all students the opportunity to voluntarily recite the pledge of allegiance by a teacher or one or more students at the beginning of each schoolday. A student may not be required to recite the pledge of allegiance, stand during the recitation of the pledge of allegiance, or salute the American flag.

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____________________________ Speaker of the House

____________________________ President of the Senate

____________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

____________________________ Secretary of the Senate

This certifies that the within bill originated in the House of Representatives of the Sixty-ninth Legislative Assembly of North Dakota and is known on the records of that body as House Bill No. 1222.

House Vote: Senate Vote:

Yeas 87 Yeas 44

Nays 0 Nays 3

Absent 6 Absent 0

____________________________ Chief Clerk of the House
Received by the Governor at ________M. on _____________________________________, 2025. Approved at ________M. on __________________________________________________, 2025.

____________________________ Governor
Filed in this office this ___________day of _______________________________________, 2025, at ________ o’clock ________M.

____________________________ Secretary of State