Req. No. 8671 Page 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 STATE OF OKLAHOMA 2nd Session of the 58th Legislature (202 2) HOUSE BILL 3645 By: Dills AS INTRODUCED An Act relating to virtual charter schools ; amending 70 O.S. 2021, Section 3-145.8, which relates to virtual charter schoo l attendance; modifying attendance requirements for virtual charter school alternative education program s; defining term; clarifying timing requirement for completion of instructional activities; authorizing virtual charter school alternative education program to request a certain student waiver; directing regional accreditation office r to review the request and make a determination; requiring continued attendance while waiver is being reviewed; updating internal references; and providing an effective date. BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA: SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 3 -145.8, is amended to read as follows: Section 3-145.8 A. It shall be the duty of each virtual charter school approved and sponsored by the Statewide Virtual School Board pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 -145.3 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Sta tutes this title to keep a full and complete record of the attendance of all students enrolled in the v irtual charter school in one of the s tudent information systems approved by Req. No. 8671 Page 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 the State Department of Education and locally selected by the virtual school from the ap proved list. B. By July 1, 2020, the governing body of each virtual charter school shall adopt an attendance policy. The policy may allow attendance to be a proportional amount of the required attendance policy provisions based upon the date of enrollmen t of the student. The attendance policy shall include the following provisions: 1. The first date of attendance and membership shall be the first date the student completes an instructional activity. 2. A student who attends a virtual charter school sha ll be considered in attendance for a quarter if the student: a. completes instructional acti vities on no less than ninety percent (90%) of the days within the quarter, b. is on pace for on-time completion of the course as defined by the governing board of the virtual charter school, or c. completes no less than seventy -two instructional activities within the quarter of the academic year. 3. For a student who does not meet any of the criteria set forth in paragraph 1 or 2 of this subsection, the amount of attendance recorded shall be the greater of: a. the number of school days during which the st udent completed the instructional act ivities during the quarter, Req. No. 8671 Page 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 b. the number of school days proportional to the percentage of the course that has been completed, or c. the number of school days proportional to the percentage of the required minimum numbe r of completed instructional activiti es during the quarter. C. For the purposes of this section, "instructional activities " shall include instructional meetings wi th a teacher, completed assignments that are used to record a grade for a student that is factored into the student's grade for the semester during which the assignment is completed, testing and school -sanctioned field trips, and orientation. D. A student enrolled in a virtual charter school alternative education program designated by the State Department of Education who attends a full abbreviated school day shall be counted in full attendance for purposes of computing the average daily attendance and average daily me mbership of the virtual charter school . For the purposes of this subsection, "full abbreviated school day" shall mean one hundred eighty -nine (189) hours per quarter or seven hundred fifty-six (756) hours per school year. E. Each statewide virtual charter school approved and sponsored by the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board p ursuant to the provisions of Section 3-145.3 of this title shall offer a student orientation, notify the parent or legal guardian and each student who enrolls in that school of the requirement to participate in the Req. No. 8671 Page 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 student orientation, and require all stud ents enrolled to complete the student orientation prior to completing any other instructional activity. The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board shall promulgate rules to develop materials for orientation. E. F. Any student that who is behind pace and does not complete an instructional activity for a fifteen-school-day period (15) consecutive days, including weekends, shall be withdrawn for truancy. The virtual charter schoo l shall submit a notification to the parent or legal guardian of a student who has been withdrawn for truancy or is approaching truancy. F. A G. 1. Except as provid ed in paragraph 2 of this subsection, a student who is reported for truancy two times in the same school year shall be withdrawn and prohibited from enrolling in the same virtual charter school for the rem ainder of the school year. 2. If a student is enrolled in a virtual charter school alternative education program designated by the State Depart ment of Education, the virtual charter school may request a waiver of the enrollment prohibition from the Department on behalf of a student enrolled at the virtual charter school who is reported for truancy two times in the same school year. The regional accreditation officer shall review the waiver request and determine whet her the student should be allowed to con tinue attending the virtual charter school. The student shall continue attending the virtual charter Req. No. 8671 Page 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 school while the waiver is being re viewed and until a final determination is made. G. H. The governing body of each statewide virtual charter school shall develop, adopt and post on the school 's website a policy regarding consequences for a student 's failure to attend school and complete ins tructional activities. The policy shall state, at a minimum, that if a student fails to consistently attend school and complete instructional activities afte r receiving a notification pursuant to subsection E F of this section and reasonable intervention st rategies have been implemented, a student shall be subject to certain conseque nces including withdrawal from the school for truancy. H. I. If a statewide virtual charter school withdraws a student pursuant to subsections F and G and H of this section, the vi rtual charter school shall immediately notify the student 's resident district in writing of the student's disenrollment. I. J. The provisions of subsect ions F, G and, H and I of this section shall not be in effect until the implementation of subsection H of Sect ion 3-145.3 of this title. J. K. The Statewide Virtual Charter Scho ol Board may promulgate rules to implement the provisions of this section. SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2022. 58-2-8671 EK 01/16/22