By: Shapiro S.B. No. 1483

(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2011; March 22, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 26, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 4; April 26, 2011, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1483 By: Shapiro

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the state virtual school network and virtual high schools.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. 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 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.

SECTION 2. 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 (a) The administering authority shall provide students who have completed or withdrawn from electronic courses offered through the virtual school network and their parents with a mechanism for providing comments regarding the courses.

(b) The mechanism required by Subsection (a) must include a quantitative rating system and a list of verbal descriptors that a student or parent may select as appropriate.

(c) 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 3. 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.

(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 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 4. 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.

SECTION 5. Subchapter D, Chapter 30A, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 30A.153 to read as follows:

Sec. 30A.153. FOUNDATION SCHOOL PROGRAM FUNDING. (a) A school district or open-enrollment charter school in which a student is enrolled is entitled to funding under Chapter 42 for the student's enrollment in an electronic course offered through the state virtual school network in the same manner that the district or school is entitled to funding for the student's enrollment in courses provided in a traditional classroom setting, provided that the student successfully completes the electronic course.

(b) The commissioner, after considering comments from school district and open-enrollment charter school representatives, shall adopt a standard agreement that governs payment of funds and other matters relating to a student's enrollment in an electronic course offered through the state virtual school network. The agreement may not require a school district or open-enrollment charter school to pay the provider the full amount until the student has successfully completed the electronic course.

(c) A school district or open-enrollment charter school shall use the standard agreement adopted under Subsection (b) unless:

(1) the district or school requests from the commissioner permission to modify the standard agreement; and

(2) the commissioner authorizes the modification.

(d) The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to implement this section, including rules regarding attendance accounting.

SECTION 6. Subtitle F, Title 2, Education Code, is amended by adding Chapter 30B to read as follows:

CHAPTER 30B. VIRTUAL HIGH SCHOOLS

Sec. 30B.001. CREATION OF VIRTUAL HIGH SCHOOLS. (a) The commissioner by rule shall establish a process under which an eligible entity that seeks to operate a virtual high school must submit an application to the commissioner for authorization.

(b) The commissioner may authorize not more than 10 virtual high schools.

(c) A virtual high school must be accredited in a manner comparable to the manner in which a school district is accredited under Subchapter C, Chapter 39.

(d) A virtual high school authorized by the commissioner and accredited as required by Subsection (c) may:

(1) grant high school diplomas to students who meet the requirements for a diploma imposed under this title, including requirements imposed by rules adopted under this title; and

(2) act as a provider school district or school under Chapter 30A, notwithstanding Section 30A.001(7).

(e) If the commissioner determines that the costs of evaluating an application for authorization to operate a virtual high school cannot be paid by the agency due to a shortage of funds available for that purpose, the eligible entity that submitted the application may pay a fee equal to the amount of the costs in order to ensure that evaluation of the application occurs. The agency shall establish and publish a fee schedule for purposes of this subsection.

Sec. 30B.002. ELIGIBLE ENTITIES. The following entities are eligible to apply for authorization to operate a virtual high school:

(1) a school district;

(2) an open-enrollment charter school;

(3) a public junior college, as defined by Section 61.003; and

(4) a public senior college or university, as defined by Section 61.003.

Sec. 30B.003. ELIGIBLE STUDENTS. (a) Subject to Subsection (b), a student may enroll in a virtual high school if the student resides in this state, is under 26 years of age, and is not enrolled in another public school.

(b) At the time of initial enrollment in a virtual high school, a student described by Subsection (a) is eligible to enroll only if the student was enrolled in a public school in this state in the preceding school year.

(c) A virtual high school may also elect to admit a student who resides in this state and is 26 years of age or older.

Sec. 30B.004. CURRICULUM. (a) A virtual high school shall permit students to enroll in courses provided through the state virtual school network under Chapter 30A in addition to courses offered directly by the virtual high school.

(b) A course or program offered by a virtual high school must include the essential knowledge and skills and any other content required under Subchapter A, Chapter 28. If the commissioner finds that a course or program does not comply with this subsection, the commissioner may prohibit the virtual high school from offering the course or program.

(c) A virtual high school may develop a community-based course in physical education or fine arts. A course developed under this subsection must be approved by the agency before the virtual high school may offer the class to a student for academic credit.

Sec. 30B.005. ACCOUNTABILITY. (a) A virtual high school is subject to Subchapter B, Chapter 39, and the eligible entity authorized to operate the virtual high school shall comply with the procedures established under Section 39.0301 in addition to all other applicable requirements. For purposes of assessment instruments administered by a virtual high school, the commissioner may modify the procedures established under Section 39.0301 if necessary.

(b) The commissioner shall assign a virtual high school a performance rating under Section 39.054 on the basis of the performance of students enrolled in the virtual high school under Section 30B.003(a). The commissioner may not use the alternative performance criteria under Section 39.054(d-1) for purposes of this subsection.

Sec. 30B.006. SANCTIONS. (a) If a virtual high school fails to satisfy accreditation criteria under Section 39.052, academic performance standards under Section 39.053 or 39.054, or any financial accountability standard, as determined by the commissioner, the commissioner shall take any of the following actions to the extent the commissioner determines necessary:

(1) order the virtual high school to issue public notice of the deficiency to a parent of or person standing in parental relationship to each student enrolled in the virtual high school;

(2) order the preparation of a student achievement improvement plan that addresses each student achievement indicator under Section 39.053(c) for which the virtual high school's performance is insufficient, the submission of the plan to the commissioner for approval, and implementation of the plan;

(3) order a hearing to be held before the commissioner or the commissioner's designee at which the chief executive officer of the eligible entity authorized to operate the virtual high school, or that officer's designee, shall appear and explain the virtual high school's low performance, lack of improvement, and plans for improvement; or

(4) appoint an agency monitor to participate in and report to the agency on the activities of the eligible entity authorized to operate the virtual high school.

(b) If the virtual high school fails for three consecutive years to satisfy accreditation criteria under Section 39.052, academic performance standards under Section 39.053 or 39.054, or any financial accountability standard, as determined by the commissioner, the commissioner shall revoke the authorization to operate the virtual high school.

Sec. 30B.007. FUNDING. (a) Subject to Subsection (c), a virtual high school is entitled to funding under Chapter 42 for each student in weighted average daily attendance, excluding enrichment funding under Section 42.302, as if the school were a school district without a tier one local share for purposes of Section 42.253 and without any local revenue for purposes of Section 42.2516. In determining funding under this subsection, adjustments under Sections 42.102, 42.103, 42.104, and 42.105 are based on the average adjustment for the state.

(b) Subject to Subsection (c), in addition to the funding provided under Subsection (a), a virtual high school is entitled to receive enrichment funding under Section 42.302 based on the state average tax effort.

(c) A virtual high school may not receive funding under this section:

(1) for students described by Section 30B.003(c); or

(2) on the basis of a student's enrollment in a course that the student does not successfully complete.

(d) A virtual high school may:

(1) charge a fee for enrollment to students described by Section 30B.003(c); or

(2) use adult basic education funds to pay the costs of enrollment of students described by Section 30B.003(c), if those funds are available for that purpose.

(e) If the commissioner revokes a virtual high school's authorization under Section 30B.006(b), the commissioner shall immediately discontinue funding to the virtual high school under this section.

Sec. 30B.008. RULES. The commissioner may adopt rules necessary to implement this chapter, including rules governing student admission, verification of the participation of a student enrolled in a course or program of a virtual high school, course completion criteria, assessment administration, attendance accounting, funding, financial accountability, and intervention and sanctions for virtual high schools.

SECTION 7. Subsection (a), Section 42.003, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A student is entitled to the benefits of the Foundation School Program if, on September 1 of the school year, the student is 5 years of age or older and under 21 years of age and has not graduated from high school, or is at least 21 years of age and under 26 years of age and has been admitted by a virtual high school under Chapter 30B or a school district to complete the requirements for a high school diploma.

SECTION 8. Subsection (a), Section 42.302, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Each school district is guaranteed a specified amount per weighted student in state and local funds for each cent of tax effort over that required for the district's local fund assignment up to the maximum level specified in this subchapter. The amount of state support, subject only to the maximum amount under Section 42.303, is determined by the formula:

GYA = (GL X WADA X DTR X 100) - LR

where:

"GYA" is the guaranteed yield amount of state funds to be allocated to the district;

"GL" is the dollar amount guaranteed level of state and local funds per weighted student per cent of tax effort, which is an amount described by Subsection (a-1) or a greater amount for any year provided by appropriation;

"WADA" is the number of students in weighted average daily attendance, which is calculated by dividing the sum of the school district's allotments under Subchapters B and C, less any allotment to the district for transportation, any allotment under Section 42.158[, 42.159,] or 42.160, and 50 percent of the adjustment under Section 42.102, by the basic allotment for the applicable year;

"DTR" is the district enrichment tax rate of the school district, which is determined by subtracting the amounts specified by Subsection (b) from the total amount of maintenance and operations taxes collected by the school district for the applicable school year and dividing the difference by the quotient of the district's taxable value of property as determined under Subchapter M, Chapter 403, Government Code, or, if applicable, under Section 42.2521, divided by 100; and

"LR" is the local revenue, which is determined by multiplying "DTR" by the quotient of the district's taxable value of property as determined under Subchapter M, Chapter 403, Government Code, or, if applicable, under Section 42.2521, divided by 100.

SECTION 9. Section 42.159, Education Code, is repealed.

SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.

* * * * *