By: Bell of Kaufman, et al. H.B. No. 1468
        (Senate Sponsor - Taylor, West)
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 28, 2021;
  May 10, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Education; May 24, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable
  Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 1;
  May 24, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1468 By:  Taylor
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to a local remote learning program operated by a public
  school.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 21.051, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
         (g)  Rules proposed by the board under Section 21.044(a) or
  this section may not prohibit a candidate from satisfying
  certification requirements through an internship that provides the
  candidate employment as a teacher for courses offered through a
  local remote learning program under Section 29.9091 or the state
  virtual school network under Chapter 30A. This subsection expires
  September 1, 2023.
         SECTION 2.  Section 25.092, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (a-3) to read as follows:
         (a-3)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school
  may adopt a policy to exempt students from the requirements of this
  section for one or more courses identified in the policy that are
  offered under a local remote learning program under Section
  29.9091. This subsection expires September 1, 2023.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 29.9091 to read as follows:
         Sec. 29.9091.  LOCAL REMOTE LEARNING PROGRAM. (a) A school
  district or open-enrollment charter school assigned an overall
  performance rating of C or higher under Section 39.054 for the
  preceding school year may operate a local remote learning program
  to offer virtual courses outside the state virtual school network
  under Chapter 30A to eligible students.
         (b)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school
  that operates a full-time local remote learning program must
  include in the program:
               (1)  at least one grade level in which an assessment
  instrument is required to be administered under Section 39.023(a),
  including each subject for which an assessment instrument is
  required; or
               (2)  a complete high school program, including each
  course for which an end-of-course assessment instrument is required
  to be administered under Section 39.023(c).
         (c)  A virtual course offered under a local remote learning
  program:
               (1)  may be provided through synchronous instruction,
  asynchronous instruction, or a combination of synchronous and
  asynchronous instruction; and
               (2)  may be provided in combination with in-person
  instruction as appropriate to meet the needs of individual
  students.
         (d)  A student is eligible to enroll in a virtual course
  offered under a local remote learning program if the student:
               (1)  is enrolled in a school district or
  open-enrollment charter school;
               (2)  has reasonable access to in-person services for
  the course at a district or school facility; and
               (3)  meets any additional criteria, including minimum
  academic standards, established by the school district or
  open-enrollment charter school in which the student is enrolled.
         (e)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school
  that operates a local remote learning program:
               (1)  shall periodically assess the performance of
  students enrolled in virtual courses under the program; and
               (2)  subject to Subsection (f), may remove a student
  from virtual courses under the program and return the student to
  in-person instruction if the district or school determines that the
  student does not meet the criteria described by Subsection (d).
         (f)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
  remove a student from virtual courses under Subsection (e)(2) only
  if the district or school establishes a process to ensure that each
  student and the student's parents have sufficient notice and
  opportunity to provide input before the student is removed from
  those courses.
         (g)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
  contract with another school district or open-enrollment charter
  school to allow a student enrolled in the sending district or school
  to enroll in virtual courses offered under the local remote
  learning program of the receiving district or school. A student
  enrolled in virtual courses under an agreement described by this
  subsection is considered enrolled in the sending district or school
  for purposes of average daily attendance and accountability under
  Chapters 39 and 39A.
         (h)  An assessment instrument administered under Section
  39.023 or 39.025 to a student enrolled in a virtual course offered
  under a local remote learning program shall be administered to the
  student in the same manner in which the assessment instrument is
  administered to other school district or open-enrollment charter
  school students.
         (i)  If a school district or open-enrollment charter school
  offers virtual courses under a local remote learning program for
  students receiving special education services, the courses must
  meet the needs of a participating student in a manner consistent
  with Subchapter A of this chapter and with 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).
         (j)  A teacher may not provide instruction for a virtual
  course offered under a full-time local remote learning program
  unless the teacher has completed a professional development course
  on virtual instruction.
         (k)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
  not require a teacher to provide both virtual instruction and
  in-person instruction for a course during the same class period.
         (l)  A student enrolled in a virtual course offered under a
  local remote learning program may participate in an extracurricular
  activity sponsored or sanctioned by the school district or
  open-enrollment charter school in which the student is enrolled or
  by the University Interscholastic League in the same manner as
  other district or school students.
         (m)  A student enrolled in a virtual course offered under a
  local remote learning program shall be counted toward the school
  district's or open-enrollment charter school's average daily
  attendance in the same manner as other district or school students.
  The commissioner shall adopt rules providing for a method of taking
  attendance, once each school day, for students enrolled in a
  virtual course offered under a local remote learning program.
         (n)  Chapter 30A does not apply to a virtual course offered
  under a local remote learning program.
         (o)  This section does not prohibit a student enrolled in a
  school district or open-enrollment charter school that operates a
  local remote learning program from enrolling in courses offered
  through the state virtual school network under Chapter 30A.
         (p)  In determining the performance ratings under Section
  39.054 of a school district or open-enrollment charter school that
  operates a full-time local remote learning program, the
  commissioner shall evaluate the performance of students enrolled in
  the program separately from the performance of other district or
  school students and assign separate campus overall and domain
  performance ratings for the program.
         (q)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school
  that operates a local remote learning program may not enroll in the
  program more than 10 percent of the district's or school's enrolled
  students.
         (r)  This section expires September 1, 2023.
         SECTION 4.  Section 39.301, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
         (c-1)  In addition to the indicators described by Subsection
  (c), the indicators for reporting purposes must include, for each
  school district and campus, the performance of students who spend
  at least half of the students' instructional time in virtual
  courses offered under a local remote learning program under Section
  29.9091. This subsection expires September 1, 2023.
         SECTION 5.  Section 48.005, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsections (m-1) and (m-2) to read as follows:
         (m-1)  This subsection applies only to a dropout recovery
  school or program operating under Section 12.1141(c) or 39.0548
  that is provided as a local remote learning program under Section
  29.9091. For a dropout recovery school or program to which this
  subsection applies, the commissioner shall establish an
  asynchronous progression funding method for determining average
  daily attendance based on full and partial semester course
  completion.
         (m-2)  Subsection (m-1) and this subsection expire September
  1, 2023.
         SECTION 6.  Section 48.053, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) to read as follows:
         (b-1)  This subsection applies only to a special-purpose
  district described by Subsection (a) that existed before September
  1, 2019, and that operates a local remote learning program under
  Section 29.9091. For a local remote learning program of a district
  to which this subsection applies, the commissioner shall establish
  an asynchronous progression funding method that may be used to
  determine the amount of the district's entitlement under Subsection
  (b) based on full and partial semester course completion.
         (b-2)  Subsection (b-1) and this subsection expire September
  1, 2023.
         SECTION 7.  This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022
  school year.
         SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
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