|
House Bill 1926 |
House Author: King, Ken et al. |
|
Effective: 6-14-13 |
Senate Sponsor: Hegar et al. |
House Bill 1926 amends the Education Code to revise the conditions under which a school district or open-enrollment charter school may deny a request to enroll a student in an electronic course offered through the state virtual school network (VSN). The bill also authorizes a district or charter school to decline to pay the cost for a student of more than three yearlong electronic courses during any school year; limits a district's or charter school's formula funding for a student's enrollment in a VSN course to not more than three VSN courses during any school year; and authorizes a district or charter school to charge a fee for enrollment in a VSN electronic course to a full-time district student who elects to enroll in such a course for which the district or school declines to pay the cost. A student, however, is not restricted from enrolling in additional electronic courses at the student's cost, and a student enrolled in a full-time online program that was operating on January 1, 2013, is exempted from these funding provisions.
House Bill 1926 authorizes a school district or open-enrollment charter school that provides a course through distance learning and seeks to inform other districts or schools of the course's availability to submit course information, including the number of available student positions, to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), which must make that information available on TEA's Internet website. The bill limits the commissioner of education's rulemaking authority regarding these provisions by prohibiting the commissioner from adopting rules governing course pricing, which is to be determined by the districts or charter schools involved.
House Bill 1926 replaces the term "provider school district or school" as it relates to the VSN with the term "course provider"; includes within the term a nonprofit or private entity providing an electronic course through the VSN or an entity providing an electronic professional development course through the VSN; makes a nonprofit or private entity or corporation eligible to act as a course provider only if it complies with all applicable federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination and demonstrates both financial solvency and a history of success in offering online courses to middle school or high school students; but prohibits an entity other than a district or charter school from awarding course credit or a diploma for VSN courses.
House Bill 1926 requires a school district or charter school, at least once per school year, to send to the parents of the district's or school's middle school or high school students, as applicable, a copy of its written policy regarding student enrollment in VSN electronic courses.
House Bill 1926 requires the VSN administrator to develop a comprehensive course numbering system for all VSN courses and authorizes the administrator to enter into a reciprocity agreement with one or more other states to facilitate expedited course approval. The bill removes the annual August 1 deadline for the VSN administrator's approval of electronic courses and instead provides for course submission and approval on a rolling basis and requires a course provider to apply for renewed approval of a previously approved course in accordance with a schedule designed to coincide with revisions to the required state curriculum but not later than the 10th anniversary of the previous course approval.
House Bill 1926 prohibits a course provider from offering any inducements for a student's enrollment in a VSN electronic course and requires the commissioner to revoke approval of electronic courses offered by a course provider that violates this prohibition.
House Bill 1926 requires the VSN administrator's "informed choice" report for each VSN electronic course to include information regarding the course's developer and provider and course completion rates and performance data for students taking the course. The bill also requires the commissioner to conduct a study, to be completed not later than December 1, 2015, to assess the network capabilities of each school district.