Bill Text: TX HB172 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 2nd Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to virtual and off-campus electronic instruction at a public school, the satisfaction of teacher certification requirements through an internship teaching certain virtual courses, and the allotment for certain special-purpose school districts under the Foundation School Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-08-23 - Referred to Public Education [HB172 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB172-Introduced.html
| By: Guillen | H.B. No. 172 | |
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| relating to virtual and off-campus electronic instruction at a | ||
| public school, the satisfaction of teacher certification | ||
| requirements through an internship teaching certain virtual | ||
| courses, and the allotment for certain special-purpose school | ||
| districts under the Foundation School Program. | ||
| 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 allow a candidate to satisfy 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-4) to read as follows: | ||
| (a-4) 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 or the most recent school year in which a | ||
| performance rating was assigned 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: | ||
| (1) include in the program: | ||
| (A) 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 | ||
| (B) 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); and | ||
| (2) offer the option for a student's parent or person | ||
| standing in parental relation to select in-person instruction for | ||
| the student. | ||
| (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 parent or person standing in parental | ||
| relation 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 assign a teacher to teach a full-time local remote learning | ||
| program unless the teacher agrees to the assignment in writing or | ||
| the assignment is specifically stated in the employment contract of | ||
| the teacher for the academic school year. A district or school may | ||
| not directly or indirectly coerce any teacher to agree to an | ||
| assignment to teach a full-time local remote learning program. | ||
| (l) 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. | ||
| (m) 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. | ||
| (n) 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. | ||
| (o) Chapter 30A does not apply to a virtual course offered | ||
| under a local remote learning program. | ||
| (p) 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. | ||
| (q) In evaluating under Section 39.054 the performance of a | ||
| school district or open-enrollment charter school that operates a | ||
| full-time local remote learning program, the commissioner shall | ||
| assign the program separate overall and domain performance ratings | ||
| as if the program were a campus of the district or school. For | ||
| purposes of assigning performance ratings under this subsection, | ||
| only students who spend at least half of the students' | ||
| instructional time in virtual courses offered under the program are | ||
| considered enrolled in the program. | ||
| (r) A school district or open-enrollment charter school | ||
| that operates a local remote learning program may not enroll in the | ||
| program a number of students that exceeds 10 percent of the total | ||
| number of students enrolled in the district or school during the | ||
| 2021-2022 school year. The commissioner may waive this subsection: | ||
| (1) on application by a school district or | ||
| open-enrollment charter school; or | ||
| (2) in response to a public health emergency. | ||
| (s) 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 | ||
| amending Subsection (h) and adding Subsections (m-1) and (m-2) to | ||
| read as follows: | ||
| (h) Subject to rules adopted by the commissioner under | ||
| Section 48.007(b), time that a student participates in an | ||
| off-campus instructional program approved under Section 48.007(a) | ||
| or a course or program provided under Section 48.007(c) shall be | ||
| counted as part of the minimum number of instructional hours | ||
| required for a student to be considered a full-time student in | ||
| average daily attendance for purposes of this section. | ||
| (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. The heading to Section 48.007, Education Code, | ||
| is amended to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 48.007. OFF-CAMPUS COURSES OR PROGRAMS COUNTED | ||
| [ |
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| SECTION 7. Section 48.007, Education Code, is amended by | ||
| amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c), (d), and (e) to | ||
| read as follows: | ||
| (b) The commissioner shall adopt by rule verification and | ||
| reporting procedures to report student participation [ |
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| approved under Subsection (a) or courses or programs provided under | ||
| Subsection (c). | ||
| (c) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may | ||
| provide one or more off-campus electronic courses, an off-campus | ||
| electronic program, or an instructional program that combines | ||
| in-person instruction and off-campus electronic instruction to | ||
| students enrolled in the district or school who have reasonable | ||
| access to in-person services at a district or school facility. | ||
| Off-campus electronic instruction for a course or program provided | ||
| under this subsection may be provided synchronously or | ||
| asynchronously. A student enrolled in a course or program provided | ||
| under this subsection shall be counted toward the district's or | ||
| school's average daily attendance in the same manner as other | ||
| district or school students. In adopting rules under Subsection | ||
| (b), the commissioner shall provide for a method of taking | ||
| attendance, once each school day, for students enrolled in a course | ||
| or program provided under this subsection. | ||
| (d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school | ||
| that operated during the 2020-2021 school year a full-time virtual | ||
| program outside the state virtual network under Chapter 30A may: | ||
| (1) continue to operate the virtual program on a | ||
| full-time basis; | ||
| (2) apply the same enrollment and transfer criteria | ||
| used during the 2020-2021 school year; and | ||
| (3) offer the program to students in any grade level or | ||
| combination of grade levels from kindergarten through grade 12 as | ||
| long as the program includes at least one grade level for which an | ||
| assessment instrument is administered under Section 39.023. | ||
| (e) Subsection (d) and this subsection expire September 1, | ||
| 2023. | ||
| SECTION 8. 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. For 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 9. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022 | ||
| school year. | ||
| SECTION 10. 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 on the 91st day after the last day of | ||
| the legislative session. | ||
