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. 2-18 * * * * *