Amend CSHB 6 by inserting the following new SECTIONS, appropriately numbered, and renumbering the subsequent SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION ____. Subchapter A, Chapter 30A, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 30A.007 to read as follows:
Sec. 30A.007. LOCAL POLICY ON ELECTRONIC COURSES. (a) A school district or open-enrollment charter school shall adopt a policy that provides district or school students with the opportunity to enroll in electronic courses provided through the state virtual school network. The policy must be consistent with the requirements imposed by Section 26.0031.
(b) For purposes of a policy adopted under Subsection (a), the determination of whether or not an electronic course will meet the needs of a student with a disability shall be made by the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee in a manner consistent with state and federal law, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400 et seq.) and Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794).
SECTION ____. Subchapter C, Chapter 30A, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 30A.1021 to read as follows:
Sec. 30A.1021. PUBLIC ACCESS TO USER COMMENTS REGARDING ELECTRONIC COURSES. (a) The administering authority shall provide students who have completed or withdrawn from electronic courses offered through the virtual school network and their parents with a mechanism for providing comments regarding courses that are part of the foundation curriculum under Section 28.002(a)(1).
(b) The administering authority may provide students who have completed or withdrawn from electronic courses offered through the virtual school network and their parents with a mechanism for providing comments regarding courses that are part of the enrichment curriculum under Section 28.002(a)(2).
(c) The mechanism required by Subsection (a) and authorized by Subsection (b) must include a quantitative rating system and a list of verbal descriptors that a student or parent may select as appropriate.
(d) The administering authority shall provide public access to the comments submitted by students and parents under this section. The comments must be in a format that permits a person to sort the comments by teacher, electronic course, and provider school district or school.
SECTION ____. Section 30A.104, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 30A.104. COURSE ELIGIBILITY IN GENERAL. (a) A course offered through the state virtual school network must:
(1) be in a specific subject that is part of the required curriculum under Section 28.002(a);
(2) be aligned with the essential knowledge and skills identified under Section 28.002(c) for a grade level at or above grade level three; and
(3) be the equivalent in instructional rigor and scope to a course that is provided in a traditional classroom setting during:
(A) a semester of 90 instructional days; and
(B) a school day that meets the minimum length of a school day required under Section 25.082.
(b) For purposes of Subsection (a)(2), a course is considered in compliance with the requirement imposed under that subdivision if:
(1) the course contains at least 80 percent of the applicable essential knowledge and skills; and
(2) the provider school district or school provides written documentation that the remaining 20 percent of the applicable essential knowledge and skills will be provided by the teacher of the course and instructional materials.
(c) If the essential knowledge and skills with which an approved course is aligned in accordance with Subsection (a)(2) are modified, the provider school district or school must be provided the same time period to revise the course and instructional materials to achieve alignment with the modified essential knowledge and skills as is provided for the modification of a course provided in a traditional classroom setting.
SECTION ____. Section 30A.105, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) and amending Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(a-1) The administering authority shall publish the schedule established under Subsection (a)(1), including any deadlines specified in that schedule, and any guidelines applicable to the submission and approval process for electronic courses.
(a-2) The evaluation required by Subsection (a)(2) must include review of each electronic course component, including off-line material proposed to be used in the course.
(d) If the agency determines that the costs of evaluating and approving a submitted electronic course will not be paid by the agency due to a shortage of funds available for that purpose, the school district, open-enrollment charter school, or public or private institution of higher education that submitted the course for evaluation and approval may pay a fee equal to the amount of the costs in order to ensure that evaluation of the course occurs. The agency shall establish and publish a fee schedule for purposes of this subsection.