ENROLLED
ACT No. 3982019 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 321
BY REPRESENTATIVE SIMON
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 17:236.3, relative to school attendance; to authorize city, parish,
3 and other local public school boards and chartering authorities to adopt policies
4 providing for student attendance at virtual schools for purposes related to habitual
5 absence or tardiness; and to provide for related matters.
6 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
7 Section 1. R.S. 17:236.3 is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
8 ยง236.3. Virtual School; definition; attendance policies
9 A. "Virtual school" means a public school, including a charter school, which
10 has a unique site code assigned by the state Department of Education and which
11 delivers all or a majority of the instruction provided through the internet or other
12 electronic medium such that a student is not necessarily required to be at a specific
13 location in order to receive instruction from a teacher. This does not preclude the
14 ability of the school to include traditional classroom-based instruction or to host
15 face-to-face meetings, including field trips, extracurricular activities, conferences
16 between a student, parents, and teachers, or other related activities or events.
17 However, a school that delivers all or a majority of the instruction provided through
18 the internet or other electronic medium and requires students to be in daily
19 attendance at a specified location to receive such instruction shall not be considered
20 a virtual school.
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HB NO. 321 ENROLLED
1 B.(1) Each city, parish, or other local public school board may adopt a policy
2 that defines attendance at a virtual school for purposes of compliance with R.S.
3 17:233.
4 (2) Each chartering authority may adopt in policy or include in charter
5 agreements a definition of attendance at a virtual charter school which may include
6 provisions for addressing excessive absences, such as parental notification, student
7 engagement and withdrawal from the school for failure to engage, and referrals to
8 child welfare and attendance officers and family and juvenile courts.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.