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February 19, 2013

Deployed Parents School Act heads to Senate floor

Transcript Staff The Norman Transcript

NORMAN — A bill aimed at cutting through red tape for military families seeking to enroll their children in a new school has passed its first test. Sen. Anthony Sykes is the principal author of Senate Bill 759, the Deployed Parents School Act of 2013.

“We have many Oklahomans who have been deployed, and their spouse and children may return from an out-of-state military base to live with family members here in Oklahoma,” said Sykes, R-Moore. “Unfortunately, what we’ve seen is that school districts can sometimes throw up roadblocks when these families try to enroll their children. My bill would keep that from happening.”

Sykes said he was contacted by a military family who’d moved back to Oklahoma to live with her in-laws while her husband was deployed, but the school said she didn’t meet their resident requirements and that she couldn’t use the grandparent’s address.

“SB 759 would require school districts to adopt a policy regarding the transfer of the children of deployed military members,” Sykes said. “These families are already making a tremendous sacrifice on behalf of their country. This legislation helps them more easily transition into a new school without having to jump bureaucratic hurdles while a parent is deployed.”

Sykes’ bill now moves to the full Senate for further consideration.

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