BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center	S.B. 2084
85R13209 CAE-D	By: Taylor, Larry
	Education
	4/25/2017
	As Filed

 

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

Blended learning students elect to earn school credit through workforce training, including internships, apprenticeships, and college courses, but no clear mechanism exists to ensure these students are accurately counted towards average daily attendance. Schools implementing blended learning programs require the flexibility to capture student attendance at various times to be counted as present for ADA (average daily attendance) purposes.

 

S.B. 2084 instructs the commissioner of education to create rules that allow for accurate school attendance to be taken of students enrolled in a blended learning program and workforce learning opportunities.

 

As proposed, S.B. 2084 amends current law relating to attendance of public school students in blended learning programs and attendance through the state virtual school network.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

Rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the commissioner of education in SECTION 1 (Section 42.005, Education Code) of this bill.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1. Amends Section 42.005, Education Code, by adding Subsection (g-1), to require the commissioner of education to adopt rules to calculate average daily attendance for students participating in a blended learning program in which classroom instruction is supplemented with applied workforce learning opportunities, including participation of students in internships, externships, and apprenticeships.

 

SECTION 2. Amends Section 30A.153(a), Education Code, to delete existing text providing that certain funding to which a school district or open-enrollment charter school is entitled is subject to the limitation imposed under Subsection (a-1) (relating to certain limits on entitled funding for a district or open-enrollment charter school).

 

SECTION 3. Amends Section 30A.155(a), Education Code, to delete existing text authorizing a school district or open-enrollment charter school to charge a fee for enrollment in certain electronic courses to a student who resides in this state and elects to enroll in an electronic course provided through a certain network for which the district or charter school in which the student is enrolled as a full-time student declines to pay the cost, as authorized by Section 26.0031(c-1) (relating to authorizing a school district or open-enrollment charter school to decline to pay for the costs of certain courses).

 

SECTION 4. Repealers: Sections 26.0031(c-1) and 30A.153(a-1), Education Code.

 

SECTION 5. Provides that this Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018 school year.

 

SECTION 6. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2017.