BILL NO. 1238 By: Dugger
of the Senate
and
Ranson
of the House
An Act relating to schools; amending
70 O.S. 2021, Section 1-111, which relates to the school day; clarifying that
nothing shall prohibit certain student who transfers from enrolling in certain
full-time virtual education program; subjecting certain transfer student to certain
provisions; requiring certain board of education to adopt certain policy;
amending 70 O.S. 2021, Section 3-145.5, which relates to full-time virtual
education; removing language prohibiting a school district from offering
certain program to students who are not residents of the district; providing an
effective date; and declaring an emergency.
SUBJECT: Schools
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE
STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 1-111, is amended to
read as follows:
Section 1-111. A.
Except as otherwise provided for by law, a school day shall consist of
not less than six (6) hours devoted to school activities. A district board of education may elect to
extend the length of one (1) or more school days to more than six (6) hours and
reduce the number of school days as long as the total amount of classroom
instruction time is not less than one thousand eighty (1,080) hours per year as
required pursuant to Section 1-109 of this title.
B.
A school day for nursery, early childhood education, kindergarten, and
alternative education programs shall be as otherwise defined by law or as
defined by the State Board of Education.
Except as otherwise provided for in this subsection, not more than one
(1) school day shall be counted for attendance purposes in any twenty-four-hour
period. Two (2) school days, each
consisting of not less than six (6) hours, may be counted for attendance
purposes in any twenty-four-hour period only if one of the school days is for
the purpose of parent-teacher conferences held as provided for in Section 1-109
of this title.
C.
Students absent from school in which they are regularly enrolled may be
considered as being in attendance if the reason for such absence is to
participate in scheduled school activities under the direction and supervision
of a regular member of the faculty or to participate in an online course
approved by the district board of education.
The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to provide for the
implementation of supplemental online courses which shall include, but
not be limited to, provisions addressing the following:
1.
Criteria for student admissions eligibility;
2.
A student admission process administered through the district of
residence, which provides the ability for the student to enroll in individual
courses;
3. A process by which students are not denied
the opportunity to enroll in educationally appropriate courses by school
districts. For the purposes of this
section, “educationally appropriate” means any instruction that is not
substantially a repeat of a course or portion of a course that the student has
successfully completed, regardless of the grade of the student, and regardless
of whether a course is similar to or identical to the instruction that is
currently offered in the school district;
4. Creation of a system which provides ongoing
enrollment access for students throughout the school year;
5. A grace period of fifteen (15) calendar days
from the first day of an online course for student withdrawal from an online
course without academic penalty;
6. Mastery of competencies for course completion
rather than Carnegie units;
7. Student participation in extracurricular
activities in accordance with school district eligibility rules and policies
and any rules and policies of a private organization or association which
provides the coordination, supervision, and regulation of the interscholastic
activities and contests of schools;
8. Parent authorization for release of state
test results to online course providers, on a form developed by the State
Department of Education; and
9. A review process to identify and certify
online course providers and a uniform payment processing system.
D. Each district board of education shall adopt
policies and procedures that conform to rules for online courses as adopted by
the State Board. Such policies shall
include criteria for approval of the course, the appropriateness of the course
for a particular student, authorization for full-time students to enroll in
online courses, and establishing fees or charges. No district shall be liable for payment of
any fees or charges for any online course for a student who has not complied
with the district’s policies and procedures.
School districts shall not deny students the opportunity to enroll in
educationally appropriate courses and shall provide an admissions process which
includes input from the student, the parent or legal guardian of the
student, and school faculty.
E.
Districts shall require students enrolled in online courses to
participate in the Oklahoma School Testing Program Act. Students participating in online courses from
a remote site will be responsible for providing their own equipment and
Internet access, unless the district chooses to provide the equipment. Credit may not be granted for such courses
except upon approval of the State Board of Education and the district board of
education.
F.
Nothing in this section shall prohibit a student who transfers from
the district in which the student resides to another school district pursuant
to the Education Open Transfer Act from enrolling in a full-time virtual
education program offered by the receiving school district. A student who enrolls pursuant to this
subsection shall be subject to the provisions of Section 8-103.2 of this title. The board of education of a school district
with a full-time virtual education program shall adopt a policy to determine
the number of transfer students the program has the capacity to accept in each
grade level, as provided for in Section 8-101.2 of this title.
G. Districts may provide students with
opportunities for blended instruction. “Blended
instruction” shall mean a combination of brick-and-mortar learning and virtual
learning environments that includes elements of a student’s control over place,
pace, and path of learning. A
student in blended instruction may work on virtual courses at home or at school
in a blended flex lab but shall participate in at least one unit or set of
competencies as defined by Section 11-103.6 of this title at a physical school
building in a traditional classroom setting which is the academic equivalent of
one (1) hour per day for each instructional day in the school year as defined
by Section 1-109 of this title.
G.
H. The school day for
kindergarten may consist of six (6) hours devoted to school activities.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 3-145.5, is amended
to read as follows:
Section 3-145.5. A.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, beginning July 1, 2014, no
school district shall offer full-time virtual education to students who are
not residents of the school district or enter into a virtual charter school
contract with a provider to provide full-time virtual education to students who
do not reside within the school district boundaries.
B. Effective July 1, 2014, the Statewide Virtual
Charter School Board shall succeed to any contractual rights and
responsibilities incurred by a school district in a virtual charter school
contract executed prior to January 1, 2014, with a provider to provide
full-time virtual education to students who do not reside within the school
district boundaries. All property,
equipment, supplies, records, assets, current and future liability,
encumbrances, obligations, and indebtedness associated with the contract
shall be transferred to the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board. Appropriate conveyances and other documents
shall be executed to effectuate the transfer of any property associated with
the contract. Upon succession of the
contract, the Board shall assume sponsorship of the virtual charter school for
the remainder of the term of the contract.
Prior to the end of the current term of the contract, the Board shall
allow the provider of the virtual charter school to apply for renewal of the
contract with the Board in accordance with the renewal procedures established
pursuant to Section 3-145.3 of this title.
SECTION
3. This act shall become effective July 1, 2022.
SECTION
4. It being immediately necessary for the
preservation of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and be in full
force from and after its passage and approval.
Passed the Senate the 22nd day of March, 2022.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representatives the 27th day of April, 2022.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office of the Governor
this ____________________ day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______
o'clock _______ M.
By:
_________________________________
Approved by the Governor of the
State of Oklahoma this _________ day of ___________________, 20_______, at
_______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor
of the State of Oklahoma
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary
of State this __________ day of __________________, 20 _______, at _______
o'clock _______ M.
By:
_________________________________