81R3088 CAS-D
By: Seliger S.B. No. 400
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an electronic course pilot program in the Amarillo
Independent School District.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.9091 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.9091. AMARILLO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
ELECTRONIC COURSE PILOT PROGRAM. (a) In this section:
(1) "Electronic course" has the meaning assigned by
Section 29.909(a).
(2) "District" or "school district" means the Amarillo
Independent School District.
(3) "Program" means the pilot program offered by the
Amarillo Independent School District in which district students
participating in the program take only or primarily electronic
courses.
(b) The board of trustees of the Amarillo Independent School
District shall develop and implement a pilot program under which
district students participating in the program enroll in electronic
courses for the students' full academic course load. A student
participating in the program is not required to take an electronic
course in the case of a course that requires a student's physical
presence, such as band, choir, or a physical education course.
(c) The school district may offer the program's electronic
courses through one or more designated campuses or by serving
students throughout the district.
(d) The board of trustees of the school district shall
select students to participate in the program based on criteria the
board adopts and applications submitted by the students. The board
shall establish the form of the application and the procedure and
any deadline for submitting an application to the board.
(e) The school district may not:
(1) require a student to participate in the program;
or
(2) permit more than 20 district students to
participate in the program each school year.
(f) The board of trustees of the school district shall:
(1) establish a method to verify completion of course
work and attendance in a course by students participating in the
program;
(2) ensure that a student participating in the program
is:
(A) placed in the appropriate academic level; and
(B) enrolled in courses that the student is
required or permitted to take under Subchapter A, Chapter 28; and
(3) ensure that each course in which a student
participating in the program is enrolled meets the essential
knowledge and skills requirement under Subchapter A, Chapter 28.
(g) The school district may not impose a charge on a student
participating in the program that is not authorized by this code to
be imposed on a district student who is not participating in the
program.
(h) The school district's average daily attendance includes
a student participating in the program to the same extent as if the
student were participating in regular district courses. The
district is entitled to receive state funding for a student
participating in the program in an amount equal to the funding the
district would be entitled to receive if the student were
participating in regular courses in the district.
(i) The board of trustees of the school district shall
cooperate with the commissioner, the comptroller, the Department of
Information Resources, or any other state agency or commission in
adopting technical standards for auditing or verifying student
attendance in an electronic course in the program.
(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, on
application of the board of trustees of the school district, the
commissioner may waive a requirement, restriction, or prohibition
imposed by this code or by a rule adopted under this code to the
extent necessary to implement or administer the program.
(k) This section expires September 1, 2011.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.