1-1     By:  Shapleigh                                         S.B. No. 975
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 27, 2001; March 1, 2001, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Education; March 29, 2001,
 1-4     reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0;
 1-5     March 29, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to electronic courses in public schools.
 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10           SECTION 1.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
1-11     amended by adding Section 29.903 to read as follows:
1-12           Sec. 29.903.  ELECTRONIC COURSES.  (a)  In this section,
1-13     "electronic course" means an educational program or course:
1-14                 (1)  available to students primarily through the
1-15     Internet or other electronic media; and
1-16                 (2)  in which a student enrolled in the course is not
1-17     physically present in the classroom for all or part of the course.
1-18           (b)  The commissioner shall implement a program under which a
1-19     school district may offer an electronic course to students enrolled
1-20     in the district or to students enrolled in another district, as
1-21     provided by an agreement between the districts.  A district may not
1-22     require a student to enroll in an electronic course.
1-23           (c)  The commissioner shall select school districts to
1-24     participate in the program based on applications submitted by the
1-25     districts.  The commissioner may not require a district to
1-26     participate in the program.  The commissioner may determine the
1-27     number of districts permitted to participate in the program,
1-28     provided that the commissioner shall to the extent possible permit
1-29     the participation of rural and urban districts with a higher than
1-30     average:
1-31                 (1)  number of at-risk students, as determined by the
1-32     commissioner; or
1-33                 (2)  dropout rate.
1-34           (d)  A school district seeking to participate in the program
1-35     must submit a written application to the commissioner not later
1-36     than January 1 preceding the school year the district proposes to
1-37     participate in the program, or an earlier date set by the
1-38     commissioner.  The application must include:
1-39                 (1)  a proposed budget for the program;
1-40                 (2)  a method to be used to verify student attendance;
1-41                 (3)  an accountability plan;
1-42                 (4)  a description of each electronic course to be
1-43     offered by the district;
1-44                 (5)  a description of the students expected to be
1-45     enrolled in each electronic course;
1-46                 (6)  any requested waiver of a requirement,
1-47     restriction, or prohibition imposed by this code or by a rule of
1-48     the State Board of Education or the commissioner; and
1-49                 (7)  the period for which any requested waiver under
1-50     Subdivision (6) is proposed to be in effect.
1-51           (e)  The commissioner may waive any requirement, restriction,
1-52     or prohibition imposed by this code relating to the computation of
1-53     daily attendance to the extent necessary to implement a program
1-54     under this section.
1-55           (f)  The commissioner may cooperate with the comptroller, the
1-56     Department of Information Resources, or any other state agency or
1-57     commission in adopting technical standards for auditing or
1-58     verifying student attendance in an electronic course.
1-59           (g)  Not later than December 1, 2002, the commissioner shall
1-60     submit a report to the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the
1-61     house of representatives.  The report must include:
1-62                 (1)  proposed methods for funding electronic courses,
1-63     including the fiscal costs or benefits of each method;
1-64                 (2)  available methods of verifying student attendance
 2-1     in an electronic course, including biometric attendance methods;
 2-2                 (3)  any security or privacy issues involved in
 2-3     providing an electronic course;
 2-4                 (4)  the educational benefits of an electronic course;
 2-5                 (5)  a list of any waiver requests submitted to the
 2-6     commissioner by school districts under Subsection (d)(6); and
 2-7                 (6)  a list of any provisions waived by the
 2-8     commissioner in the implementation of a program under this section.
 2-9           (h)  This section expires September 1, 2003.
2-10           SECTION 2.  Not later than May 1, 2002, the commissioner of
2-11     education shall implement the program required by Section 29.903,
2-12     Education Code, as added by this Act.
2-13           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
2-14     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
2-15     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
2-16     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
2-17     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
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