Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 70-11-103

A. Courses of instruction approved by the State Board of

Education for use in school years prior to 1993-94 shall be those

courses that are necessary to ensure:

1. The teaching of the necessary basic skills of learning and

communication, including reading, English, writing, the use of

numbers and science; and

2. The teaching of citizenship in the United States, in the

State of Oklahoma, and in other countries, through the study of the

United States Constitution, the amendments thereto, and the ideals,

history, and government of the United States, other countries of the

world, and the State of Oklahoma and through the study of the

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools Page 526

principles of democracy as they apply in the lives of citizens. In

study of the United States Constitution, a written copy of the

document itself shall be utilized.

The public school districts of this state shall ensure that each

child enrolled therein is provided with adequate instruction in the

basic skills as set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this subsection.

Each local board of education shall annually evaluate the district's

curriculum in order to determine whether each child in the district

is receiving adequate basic skill instruction as set out in

paragraphs 1 and 2 of this subsection. The evaluation process shall

provide for parental involvement. Effective July 1, 1990, each

district shall submit its annual evaluation of the district's

curriculum to the State Board of Education. The State Board shall

make this information available to the Oklahoma Curriculum Committee

and, beginning with the 1996-97 school year, shall utilize such

information in its periodic evaluation of curriculum.

B. Courses approved by the State Board of Education for

instruction of pupils in the public schools of the state for use in

school years prior to 1993-94 may include courses that are approved

by a local board of education and are necessary to ensure:

1. The teaching of health through the study of proper diet, the

effects of alcoholic beverages, narcotics and other substances on

the human system and through the study of such other subjects as

will promote healthful living and help to establish proper health

habits in the lives of school children;

2. The teaching of safety through training in the driving and

operation of motor vehicles and such other devices of transportation

as may be desirable and other aspects of safety which will promote

the reduction of accidents and encourage habits of safe living among

school children;

3. The teaching of physical education to all physically able

students during the entire school year from first through sixth

grade, through physical education, a weekly minimum of seventy-five

(75) minutes per student, exclusive of recess activity, supervised

play, intramurals, interschool athletics or other extracurricular

activities; provided, any student participating as a member of any

school athletic team shall be excused from physical education

classes; provided further, that certified physical education

instructors shall not be required to administer the programs

required for grades one through six. An elective program of

instructional physical education designed to provide a minimum of

one hundred fifty (150) minutes per week per student shall be

provided for all students in the seventh grade through the twelfth

grade. The State Board of Education shall prescribe qualifications

for physical education instructors. Provided, however, that the

State Department of Education shall be empowered to exempt all or a

portion of this requirement if an undue hardship would result to the

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools Page 527

school district. Provided, further, that any student who has

exceptional talent in music may, with the approval of the

superintendent of schools in independent districts or in elementary

districts, substitute a course in music for the above-required
empowered to exempt all or a

portion of this requirement if an undue hardship would result to the

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools Page 527

school district. Provided, further, that any student who has

exceptional talent in music may, with the approval of the

superintendent of schools in independent districts or in elementary

districts, substitute a course in music for the above-required

physical education course;

4. The teaching of the conservation of natural resources of the

state and the nation that are necessary and desirable to sustain

life and contribute to the comfort and welfare of the people now

living and those who will live here in the future, such as soil,

water, forests, minerals, oils, gas, all forms of wildlife, both

plant and animal, and such other natural resources as may be

considered desirable to study;

5. The teaching of vocational education, by the study of the

various aspects of agriculture, through courses and farm youth

organizations, such as FFA and 4-H clubs, homemaking and home

economics, trades and industries, distributive education, mechanical

and industrial arts and such other aspects of vocational education

as will promote occupational competence among school children and

adults as potential and actual citizens of the state and nation; and

6. The teaching of such other aspects of human living and

citizenship as will achieve the legitimate objectives and purposes

of public education.