An Act
ENROLLED SENATE
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 certai n full-
time virtual education program; subjecting certain
transfer student to certain pro visions; requiring
certain board of education to adopt certai n 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 re sidents of the
district; providing an effective date; an d 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 l aw, 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.
ENR. S. B. NO. 1238 Page 2
B. A school day for nursery, early childhood education,
kindergarten, and alternative educa tion 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 regula r 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 t hrough 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;
ENR. S. B. NO. 1238 Page 3
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 associ ation
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 cours es 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 acce ss,
unless the district chooses to provide the equipment. Credit may
not be granted for such courses except u pon 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 d istrict in which the student resides to another
school district pursuant to the Education Open Tr ansfer Act from
enrolling in a full-time virtual education program offered by the
ENR. S. B. NO. 1238 Page 4
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 t he
capacity to accept in each grade level, as provided for in S ection
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 schoo l 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 stude nts 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 Sta tewide 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 State wide Virtual Charter School Board.
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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 c harter 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 Boar d 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.
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Passed the Senate the 22nd day of March, 2022.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representa tives 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: _______________________________ __