By: Bell of Kaufman, et al. H.B. No. 1468
(Senate Sponsor - Taylor, West)
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 28, 2021;
May 10, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on
Education; May 24, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0;
May 24, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1468 By: Taylor
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a local remote learning program operated by a public
school.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.051, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) Rules proposed by the board under Section 21.044(a) or
this section may not prohibit a candidate from satisfying
certification requirements through an internship that provides the
candidate employment as a teacher for courses offered through a
local remote learning program under Section 29.9091 or the state
virtual school network under Chapter 30A. This subsection expires
September 1, 2023.
SECTION 2. Section 25.092, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-3) to read as follows:
(a-3) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
may adopt a policy to exempt students from the requirements of this
section for one or more courses identified in the policy that are
offered under a local remote learning program under Section
29.9091. This subsection expires September 1, 2023.
SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.9091 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.9091. LOCAL REMOTE LEARNING PROGRAM. (a) A school
district or open-enrollment charter school assigned an overall
performance rating of C or higher under Section 39.054 for the
preceding school year may operate a local remote learning program
to offer virtual courses outside the state virtual school network
under Chapter 30A to eligible students.
(b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
that operates a full-time local remote learning program must
include in the program:
(1) at least one grade level in which an assessment
instrument is required to be administered under Section 39.023(a),
including each subject for which an assessment instrument is
required; or
(2) a complete high school program, including each
course for which an end-of-course assessment instrument is required
to be administered under Section 39.023(c).
(c) A virtual course offered under a local remote learning
program:
(1) may be provided through synchronous instruction,
asynchronous instruction, or a combination of synchronous and
asynchronous instruction; and
(2) may be provided in combination with in-person
instruction as appropriate to meet the needs of individual
students.
(d) A student is eligible to enroll in a virtual course
offered under a local remote learning program if the student:
(1) is enrolled in a school district or
open-enrollment charter school;
(2) has reasonable access to in-person services for
the course at a district or school facility; and
(3) meets any additional criteria, including minimum
academic standards, established by the school district or
open-enrollment charter school in which the student is enrolled.
(e) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
that operates a local remote learning program:
(1) shall periodically assess the performance of
students enrolled in virtual courses under the program; and
(2) subject to Subsection (f), may remove a student
from virtual courses under the program and return the student to
in-person instruction if the district or school determines that the
student does not meet the criteria described by Subsection (d).
(f) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
remove a student from virtual courses under Subsection (e)(2) only
if the district or school establishes a process to ensure that each
student and the student's parents have sufficient notice and
opportunity to provide input before the student is removed from
those courses.
(g) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
contract with another school district or open-enrollment charter
school to allow a student enrolled in the sending district or school
to enroll in virtual courses offered under the local remote
learning program of the receiving district or school. A student
enrolled in virtual courses under an agreement described by this
subsection is considered enrolled in the sending district or school
for purposes of average daily attendance and accountability under
Chapters 39 and 39A.
(h) An assessment instrument administered under Section
39.023 or 39.025 to a student enrolled in a virtual course offered
under a local remote learning program shall be administered to the
student in the same manner in which the assessment instrument is
administered to other school district or open-enrollment charter
school students.
(i) If a school district or open-enrollment charter school
offers virtual courses under a local remote learning program for
students receiving special education services, the courses must
meet the needs of a participating student in a manner consistent
with Subchapter A of this chapter and with federal law, including
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section
1400 et seq.) and Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.
Section 794).
(j) A teacher may not provide instruction for a virtual
course offered under a full-time local remote learning program
unless the teacher has completed a professional development course
on virtual instruction.
(k) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
not require a teacher to provide both virtual instruction and
in-person instruction for a course during the same class period.
(l) A student enrolled in a virtual course offered under a
local remote learning program may participate in an extracurricular
activity sponsored or sanctioned by the school district or
open-enrollment charter school in which the student is enrolled or
by the University Interscholastic League in the same manner as
other district or school students.
(m) A student enrolled in a virtual course offered under a
local remote learning program shall be counted toward the school
district's or open-enrollment charter school's average daily
attendance in the same manner as other district or school students.
The commissioner shall adopt rules providing for a method of taking
attendance, once each school day, for students enrolled in a
virtual course offered under a local remote learning program.
(n) Chapter 30A does not apply to a virtual course offered
under a local remote learning program.
(o) This section does not prohibit a student enrolled in a
school district or open-enrollment charter school that operates a
local remote learning program from enrolling in courses offered
through the state virtual school network under Chapter 30A.
(p) In determining the performance ratings under Section
39.054 of a school district or open-enrollment charter school that
operates a full-time local remote learning program, the
commissioner shall evaluate the performance of students enrolled in
the program separately from the performance of other district or
school students and assign separate campus overall and domain
performance ratings for the program.
(q) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
that operates a local remote learning program may not enroll in the
program more than 10 percent of the district's or school's enrolled
students.
(r) This section expires September 1, 2023.
SECTION 4. Section 39.301, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c-1) In addition to the indicators described by Subsection
(c), the indicators for reporting purposes must include, for each
school district and campus, the performance of students who spend
at least half of the students' instructional time in virtual
courses offered under a local remote learning program under Section
29.9091. This subsection expires September 1, 2023.
SECTION 5. Section 48.005, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (m-1) and (m-2) to read as follows:
(m-1) This subsection applies only to a dropout recovery
school or program operating under Section 12.1141(c) or 39.0548
that is provided as a local remote learning program under Section
29.9091. For a dropout recovery school or program to which this
subsection applies, the commissioner shall establish an
asynchronous progression funding method for determining average
daily attendance based on full and partial semester course
completion.
(m-2) Subsection (m-1) and this subsection expire September
1, 2023.
SECTION 6. Section 48.053, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) to read as follows:
(b-1) This subsection applies only to a special-purpose
district described by Subsection (a) that existed before September
1, 2019, and that operates a local remote learning program under
Section 29.9091. For a local remote learning program of a district
to which this subsection applies, the commissioner shall establish
an asynchronous progression funding method that may be used to
determine the amount of the district's entitlement under Subsection
(b) based on full and partial semester course completion.
(b-2) Subsection (b-1) and this subsection expire September
1, 2023.
SECTION 7. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022
school year.
SECTION 8. 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, 2021.
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