1| STATE OF OKLAHOMA |
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2| 1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023) |
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3|HOUSE BILL 2180 By: Lowe (Dick) |
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4| |
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5| |
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6| AS INTRODUCED |
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7| An Act relating to virtual charter schools; amending |
| 70 O.S. 2021, Section 3-145.8, which relates to |
8| virtual charter school attendance; modifying |
| attendance requirements for virtual charter school |
9| alternative education programs; defining term; |
| clarifying timing requirement for completion of |
10| instructional activities; authorizing virtual charter |
| school alternative education program to request a |
11| certain student waiver; directing office of |
| accreditation to review the request and make a |
12| determination; requiring continued attendance while |
| waiver is being reviewed; updating internal |
13| references; and providing an effective date. |
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14| |
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15| |
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16|BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA: |
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17| SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 3-145.8, is |
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18|amended to read as follows: |
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19| Section 3-145.8 A. It shall be the duty of each virtual |
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20|charter school approved and sponsored by the Statewide Virtual |
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21|Charter School Board pursuant to the provisions of Section 3-145.3 |
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22|of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes this title to keep a full and |
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23|complete record of the attendance of all students enrolled in the |
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24|virtual charter school in one of the student information systems |
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1|approved by the State Department of Education and locally selected |
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2|by the virtual school from the approved list. |
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3| B. By July 1, 2020, the governing body of each virtual charter |
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4|school shall adopt an attendance policy. The policy may allow |
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5|attendance to be a proportional amount of the required attendance |
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6|policy provisions based upon the date of enrollment of the student. |
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7|The attendance policy shall include the following provisions: |
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8| 1. The first date of attendance and membership shall be the |
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9|first date the student completes an instructional activity. |
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10| 2. A student who attends a virtual charter school shall be |
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11|considered in attendance for a quarter if the student: |
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12| a. completes instructional activities on no less than |
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13| ninety percent (90%) of the days within the quarter, |
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14| b. is on pace for on-time completion of the course as |
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15| defined by the governing board of the virtual charter |
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16| school, or |
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17| c. completes no less than seventy-two instructional |
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18| activities within the quarter of the academic year. |
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19| 3. For a student who does not meet any of the criteria set |
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20|forth in paragraph 1 or 2 of this subsection, the amount of |
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21|attendance recorded shall be the greater of: |
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22| a. the number of school days during which the student |
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23| completed the instructional activities during the |
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24| quarter, |
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1| b. the number of school days proportional to the |
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2| percentage of the course that has been completed, or |
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3| c. the number of school days proportional to the |
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4| percentage of the required minimum number of completed |
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5| instructional activities during the quarter. |
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6| C. For the purposes of this section, "instructional activities" |
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7|shall include instructional meetings with a teacher, completed |
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8|assignments that are used to record a grade for a student that is |
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9|factored into the student's grade for the semester during which the |
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10|assignment is completed, testing and school-sanctioned field trips, |
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11|and orientation. |
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12| D. A student enrolled in a virtual charter school alternative |
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13|education program designated by the State Department of Education |
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14|who attends a full abbreviated school day shall be counted in full |
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15|attendance for purposes of computing the average daily attendance |
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16|and average daily membership of the virtual charter school. For |
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17|purposes of this subsection, "full abbreviated school day" shall |
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18|mean one hundred eighty-nine (189) hours per quarter or seven |
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19|hundred fifty-six (756) hours per school year. |
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20| E. Each statewide virtual charter school approved and sponsored |
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21|by the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board pursuant to the |
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22|provisions of Section 3-145.3 of this title shall offer a student |
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23|orientation, notify the parent or legal guardian and each student |
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24|who enrolls in that school of the requirement to participate in the |
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1|student orientation, and require all students enrolled to complete |
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2|the student orientation prior to completing any other instructional |
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3|activity. The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board shall |
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4|promulgate rules to develop materials for orientation. |
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5| E. F. Any student that who is behind pace and does not complete |
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6|an instructional activity for a fifteen-school-day period fifteen |
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7|(15) consecutive days, including weekends, shall be withdrawn for |
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8|truancy. The virtual charter school shall submit a notification to |
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9|the parent or legal guardian of a student who has been withdrawn for |
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10|truancy or is approaching truancy.F. A G. 1. Except as provided in paragraph 2 of this |
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12|subsection, a student who is reported for truancy two times in the |
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13|same school year shall be withdrawn and prohibited from enrolling in |
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14|the same virtual charter school for the remainder of the school |
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15|year. |
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16| 2. If a student is enrolled in a virtual charter school |
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17|alternative education program designated by the State Department of |
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18|Education, the virtual charter school may request a waiver of the |
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19|enrollment prohibition from the Department on behalf of a student |
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20|enrolled at the virtual charter school who is reported for truancy |
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21|two times in the same school year. The office of accreditation |
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22|shall review the waiver request and determine whether the student |
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23|should be allowed to continue attending the virtual charter school. |
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24|The student shall continue attending the virtual charter school |
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1|while the waiver is being reviewed and until a final determination |
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2|is made. |
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3| G. H. The governing body of each statewide virtual charter |
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4|school shall develop, adopt and post on the school's website a |
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5|policy regarding consequences for a student's failure to attend |
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6|school and complete instructional activities. The policy shall |
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7|state, at a minimum, that if a student fails to consistently attend |
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8|school and complete instructional activities after receiving a |
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9|notification pursuant to subsection E F of this section and |
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10|reasonable intervention strategies have been implemented, a student |
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11|shall be subject to certain consequences including withdrawal from |
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12|the school for truancy. |
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13| H. I. If a statewide virtual charter school withdraws a student |
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14|pursuant to subsections F and G and H of this section, the virtual |
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15|charter school shall immediately notify the student's resident |
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16|district in writing of the student's disenrollment. |
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17| I. J. The provisions of subsections F, G, H, and H I of this |
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18|section shall not be in effect until the implementation of |
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19|subsection H of Section 3-145.3 of this title. |
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20| J. K. The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board may promulgate |
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21|rules to implement the provisions of this section. |
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22| SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023. |
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23| |
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24| 59-1-5774 EK 01/17/23 |
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