Bill Text: AZ HB2493 | 2013 | Fifty-first Legislature 1st Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Schools; online courses; requirements
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-01-30 - Referred to House ED Committee [HB2493 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2013-HB2493-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: schools; online courses; requirements |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-first Legislature First Regular Session 2013
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HB 2493 |
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Introduced by Representatives Boyer, Coleman: Lesko, Thorpe
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AN ACT
Amending Title 15, chapter 8, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 15-808.01; relating to online instruction.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 15, chapter 8, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-808.01, to read:
15-808.01. Online courses; standards; requirements; funding; assessment; exemption; definition
A. School districts and charter schools shall allow each pupil in grades seven through twelve to enroll in an online course. The department of education or an organization selected by the department shall maintain a list of approved assessments, including achievement assessments offered by a nationally recognized nonprofit organization that provides standardized college entrance examinations or other assessments used by accredited higher education institutions, that a pupil enrolled in an online course pursuant to this section shall take after the online course is completed. The department shall display the approved list of eligible assessments on its website.
B. If a pupil earns a passing score on one of the approved assessments, the school district or charter school where the pupil is enrolled shall accept course credits earned through the pupil's online course and apply the credits to the requirements for graduation or grade completion.
C. A pupil who wishes to enroll in an online course pursuant to this section shall notify the school in which the pupil is enrolled at least thirty days before enrollment in an online course.
D. At least thirty days before taking the assessment, a pupil enrolled in an online course pursuant to this section shall notify the school at which the pupil is enrolled of the assessment chosen by the pupil from the approved list.
E. At the time a pupil enrolls in an online course pursuant to this section, the online course provider shall notify the department of the cost that will be charged to enroll the pupil in that online course. The department shall pay the cost of the online course to the online course provider, shall list the cost on its website and shall make the cost available to school districts and charter schools in this state. The maximum cost for an online course shall be equivalent to one‑twelfth of the statewide average per pupil funding amount for high school students for all school districts and charter schools in this state during the prior fiscal year, as determined by the department.
F. The funding for each online course shall be distributed to the school district or charter school where the pupil is enrolled and shall be equivalent to the total state and local funding that would otherwise have been allocated to the school district or charter school if that pupil had taken a course in the same subject matter at a physical location in the school district or at the charter school. A school district or charter school shall distribute the funding for the online course to the online course provider as follows:
1. Fifty per cent on the thirtieth day of the pupil's enrollment in the online course.
2. Thirty per cent when the pupil completes the online course with a grade of c or better, or the equivalent.
3. The remaining twenty per cent when the pupil has demonstrated mastery of the subject matter of the online course through an approved assessment.
G. This section does not require pupils to take all or a portion of an online course at a school site, at the site of the online course provider or at any other specified physical location.
H. Notwithstanding any other law, online course providers that provide instruction to pupils who are enrolled full‑time in Arizona online instruction pursuant to section 15‑808 are not subject to this section and are exempt from the requirements of this section.
I. For the purposes of this section, "demonstrated mastery" means that the pupil obtains one of the following:
1. A grade of A or B, or the equivalent, on an end-of-course assessment. The department may require that a specific end‑of‑course assessment be used to demonstrate mastery pursuant to this section.
2. If the online course awards potential college credits, a score that grants college credit on the final examination.
