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Amend CSSB 1108 by adding the following appropriately
numbered SECTIONS and renumbering the subsequent SECTIONS of the
bill accordingly:
SECTION ____. Section 29.903, Education Code, as added by
Chapter 944, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001,
is renumbered as Section 29.909, Education Code, and is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 29.909 [29.903]. ELECTRONIC COURSES. (a) In this
section, "electronic course" means an educational program or
course:
(1) that includes use of [available to students
primarily through] the Internet or other electronic media; and
(2) in which a student and a teacher are in different
locations for a majority of the student's instructional period
[enrolled in the course is not physically present in the classroom
for all or part of the course].
(b) The commissioner shall implement a program under which a
school district may offer [an] electronic courses [course] to
students enrolled in the district or to students enrolled in
another district, as provided by an agreement between the
districts. A district may not require a student to enroll in an
electronic course. The district may offer the electronic courses
through a designated campus or through a full-time program serving
students throughout the district.
(c) The commissioner shall select school districts to
participate in the program based on applications submitted by the
districts. The commissioner may not require a district to
participate in the program. The commissioner may determine the
number of districts permitted to participate in the program,
provided that the commissioner shall to the extent possible permit
the participation of rural and urban districts with a higher than
average:
(1) number of at-risk students, as determined by the
commissioner;
(2) dropout rate; or
(3) population of underserved gifted and talented
students, as determined by the commissioner.
(d) A school district seeking to participate in the program
must submit a written application to the commissioner not later
than July 1 preceding the school year the district proposes to begin
participation [participate] in the program, or an earlier date set
by the commissioner. The application must include:
(1) a proposed budget for the program;
(2) a method to be used to verify student attendance;
(3) [an accountability plan;
[(4) a description of each electronic course to be
offered by the district;
[(5) a description of the students expected to be
enrolled in each electronic course;
[(6)] any requested waiver of a requirement,
restriction, or prohibition imposed by this code or by a rule of the
State Board of Education or the commissioner, [;] and
[(7)] the period for which any requested waiver [under
Subdivision (6)] is proposed to be in effect; and
(4) the information required under Subsection (f).
(e) The commissioner may collect from each district that
submits an application under Subsection (d) a reasonable fee
sufficient to pay the costs of administering this section.
(f) Not later than a date determined by the commissioner,
each school district participating in the program shall create and
maintain on the district's Internet website an "informed choice"
report in a format determined by the commissioner. The agency shall
maintain on its Internet website a link to each district report
under this subsection. Each report must include a description of:
(1) each course of instruction offered to students in
the program, including the number of lessons, the expected duration
of each lesson, and a description of each lesson that requires use
of a computer;
(2) all materials required for each course offered in
the program;
(3) the process used to ensure that each course meets
the essential knowledge and skills requirements under Subchapter A,
Chapter 28, including any consultation with a district curriculum
specialist;
(4) the process used to place students in the
appropriate academic levels of the program, including:
(A) sample placement evaluations;
(B) information related to each person
responsible for placement of a student;
(C) the circumstances in which a student may be
placed in different academic levels for different course subjects
during a school year; and
(D) the circumstances in which a student may
complete more than one course level during a school year;
(5) any technology provided by the program to each
student enrolled in the program, including any computer, computer
software, or Internet access;
(6) the method used to report attendance in the
program;
(7) the method used to authenticate student course
work and attendance;
(8) the location and content of each scheduled meeting
between parents or guardians of students enrolled in the program
and teachers or other school officials, and the method used to
notify parents and guardians of the time and location of each
meeting;
(9) the program policies relating to:
(A) computer security and privacy; and
(B) truancy, absences, discipline, withdrawal,
and expulsion of students;
(10) any extracurricular activities provided by the
program, including activities held on a campus in the school
district;
(11) the teaching model used by the program,
including:
(A) each teacher's responsibilities;
(B) minimum teacher qualifications;
(C) minimum hours of training provided to
teachers;
(D) average and maximum student/teacher ratios;
(E) hours of teacher availability; and
(F) for each grade level, minimum and expected
amounts of contact between teachers and parents and between
teachers and students;
(12) any academic services that the program expects a
student's parent or guardian to provide to the student;
(13) each standardized assessment instrument, in
addition to any assessment instrument required under Chapter 39,
that the student is required to complete during the school year and,
if available, the location for administration of the instrument;
(14) a summary of the results of each assessment
instrument administered to students in the program during the
school year preceding the year the report is submitted; and
(15) the school year calendar for the program,
including any options for continued participation outside of the
standard school district calendar.
(g) A school district is entitled to receive federal, state,
and local funding for a student enrolled in an electronic course in
an amount equal to the funding the district is otherwise entitled to
receive for a student enrolled in the district. A school district
may calculate the average daily attendance of a student enrolled in
an electronic course based on:
(1) hours of contact with the student;
(2) the student's successful completion of a course;
or
(3) a method approved by the commissioner.
(h) [(e)] The commissioner may waive any requirement,
restriction, or prohibition imposed by this code [relating to the
computation of daily attendance] to the extent necessary to
implement a program under this section.
(i) [(f)] The commissioner may cooperate with the
comptroller, the Department of Information Resources, or any other
state agency or commission in adopting technical standards for
auditing or verifying student attendance in an electronic course.
(j) [(g)] Not later than December 1, 2006 [2002], the
commissioner shall submit a report to the lieutenant governor and
the speaker of the house of representatives. The report must
include:
(1) [proposed] methods proposed by school districts
for funding electronic courses, including an evaluation of the
fiscal costs or benefits of each method;
(2) available methods of verifying student attendance
in an electronic course, including biometric attendance methods;
(3) any security or privacy issues involved in
providing an electronic course;
(4) the educational benefits of an electronic course;
(5) a list of any waiver requests submitted to the
commissioner by school districts under Subsection (d)(3) [(d)(6)];
and
(6) a list of any provisions waived by the
commissioner in the implementation of a program under this section.
(k) [(h)] This subsection and Subsection (j) expire January
[section expires September] 1, 2007 [2003].
SECTION ____. Section 29.909(e), Education Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to a district that applies for
participation in the electronic course program under Section
29.909, Education Code, as renumbered by this Act, on or after the
effective date of this Act.