1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education finance; providing funding 
  1.3             mechanisms for virtual schools; proposing coding for 
  1.4             new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 125B.  
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [125B.26] [VIRTUAL SCHOOLS.] 
  1.7      Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) "On-line course" means a 
  1.8   single course involving the delivery of instruction to one or 
  1.9   more students via the Internet or in a virtual or remote setting.
  1.10     (b) "Virtual school" means a program established by a 
  1.11  Minnesota school district or a charter school located in 
  1.12  Minnesota that uses technology to deliver a significant portion 
  1.13  of instruction through on-line courses.  
  1.14     (c) "Student" means, for purposes of this section, a 
  1.15  resident of Minnesota between the ages of five and 19 and 
  1.16  includes a pupil enrolled in a public school district or charter 
  1.17  school, a pupil attending a traditional nonpublic school, and a 
  1.18  pupil who is home-schooled. 
  1.19     (d) "On-line student" means a student who is taking one or 
  1.20  more on-line courses offered by a virtual school.  
  1.21     (e) "Full-time on-line student" means a student who is 
  1.22  enrolled full-time in a virtual school. 
  1.23     (f) "Part-time on-line student" means a student who is 
  1.24  taking one or more courses offered by a virtual school but is 
  1.25  not enrolled full-time in a virtual school.  
  2.1      (g) "Enrolled district" means, for purposes of this 
  2.2   section, the school district or charter school in which an 
  2.3   on-line student is enrolled.  
  2.4      Subd. 2.  [AUTHORIZING VIRTUAL SCHOOLS.] A Minnesota school 
  2.5   district or a charter school located in Minnesota may establish 
  2.6   a virtual school. 
  2.7      Subd. 3.  [FULL-TIME ENROLLMENT IN VIRTUAL SCHOOLS.] (a) A 
  2.8   student may enroll full-time in a virtual school established 
  2.9   within the student's district of residence in the same manner 
  2.10  required by the school board for enrollment in any other 
  2.11  educational program within the district. 
  2.12     (b) A student may enroll full-time in a virtual school 
  2.13  established in a district other than the student's district of 
  2.14  residence in the same manner as for any other educational 
  2.15  program in accordance with the enrollment options program 
  2.16  established by section 124D.03. 
  2.17     (c) A student may enroll full-time in a virtual school 
  2.18  established by a charter school in the same manner as for any 
  2.19  other charter school under section 124D.10.  
  2.20     Subd. 4.  [VIRTUAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION.] (a) A virtual 
  2.21  school shall maintain an administrative office within the 
  2.22  district in which it is established and shall be considered to 
  2.23  be a school site for purposes of section 120B.02, paragraph (a). 
  2.24     (b) Each virtual school teacher shall be licensed by the 
  2.25  state of Minnesota and, whenever possible, shall be a resident 
  2.26  of Minnesota while employed by the virtual school. 
  2.27     (c) Each student enrolled in a virtual school shall have 
  2.28  access to a singular, consistent curriculum that meets or 
  2.29  exceeds the state's academic standards and that has an 
  2.30  interactive program with significant on-line components.  
  2.31  Nothing in this provision prohibits a student from working at a 
  2.32  different grade level in a subject within the singular 
  2.33  curriculum. 
  2.34     (d) The virtual school may limit enrollment to on-line 
  2.35  courses. 
  2.36     (e) Each student enrolled in a virtual school must be 
  3.1   assessed an average of at least once per week in the virtual 
  3.2   school program in core academic subjects of language arts, math, 
  3.3   science, and history. 
  3.4      Subd. 5.  [VIRTUAL SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY REQUIREMENTS.] A 
  3.5   Minnesota school district or charter school that establishes a 
  3.6   virtual school shall annually evaluate the virtual school based 
  3.7   on the following criteria: 
  3.8      (1) the extent to which the virtual school demonstrates 
  3.9   increases in student achievement according to its internal goals 
  3.10  and state academic standards; 
  3.11     (2) the accountability and viability of the virtual school, 
  3.12  as demonstrated by its academic, fiscal, and operational 
  3.13  performance; and 
  3.14     (3) information on the virtual school's students' 
  3.15  performance on statewide assessments and other standardized test 
  3.16  scores. 
  3.17     Subd. 6.  [ON-LINE STUDENTS.] (a) On-line students who are 
  3.18  age 17 or younger must have written permission from a parent or 
  3.19  guardian in order to be enrolled in an on-line course.  
  3.20     (b) The district in which a virtual school is located must 
  3.21  notify an on-line student's enrolled district at least 30 days 
  3.22  prior to the on-line student beginning an on-line course offered 
  3.23  by the virtual school. 
  3.24     (c) On-line students may participate fully in 
  3.25  extracurricular activities in their enrolled district.  
  3.26     Subd. 7.  [ENROLLED DISTRICT RESPONSIBILITIES.] (a) A 
  3.27  resident district may not prohibit a student from taking on-line 
  3.28  courses offered by the school district or from open enrolling 
  3.29  into an on-line program offered by a different district.  
  3.30     (b) The enrolled district shall determine the specific 
  3.31  graduation requirements, consistent with state graduation 
  3.32  requirements, for on-line students and must provide other 
  3.33  nonacademic services for the student.  If an on-line student 
  3.34  successfully completes an on-line course that meets or exceeds a 
  3.35  graduation standard or grade progression requirement at the 
  3.36  enrolled district, that standard or requirement shall be 
  4.1   considered met.  The enrolled district shall use the same 
  4.2   criteria for accepting on-line credits or courses as it does for 
  4.3   accepting credits or courses for transfer students under section 
  4.4   124D.03, subdivision 9. 
  4.5      (c) The enrolled district may establish a maximum number of 
  4.6   on-line courses that an on-line student may take within one 
  4.7   school year.  The maximum number of courses under this paragraph 
  4.8   may not be less than eight courses for a single student within 
  4.9   one school year.  A student may exceed this limit if the student 
  4.10  has reached an agreement with the virtual school to pay for the 
  4.11  course by other means. 
  4.12     (d) The enrolled district is not required to provide an 
  4.13  on-line student taking an on-line course through a virtual 
  4.14  school with access to a computer or to the Internet.  The 
  4.15  enrolled district must provide equal access to school computer 
  4.16  equipment for students taking on-line courses as it does for 
  4.17  other students enrolled in a public school in the district.  
  4.18     Subd. 8.  [FUNDING FOR FULL-TIME STUDENTS.] A district or 
  4.19  charter school in which a student is enrolled full-time in a 
  4.20  virtual school is entitled to the same amount of revenue for the 
  4.21  student as if the student were enrolled full-time in any other 
  4.22  program within the school district or charter school.  For 
  4.23  purposes of calculating site-based revenue, such as compensatory 
  4.24  revenue, the virtual school shall be considered a site.  
  4.25     Subd. 9.  [PART-TIME ENROLLMENT IN VIRTUAL SCHOOLS.] A 
  4.26  student may enroll in a virtual school program on a part-time 
  4.27  basis.  If a virtual school accepts a student for part-time 
  4.28  enrollment, the virtual school shall send written notice to the 
  4.29  student, the student's school district, and the commissioner 
  4.30  within ten days of acceptance.  The notice must indicate the 
  4.31  courses and hours of enrollment.  
  4.32     Subd. 10.  [FUNDING FOR PART-TIME STUDENTS.] For a student 
  4.33  enrolled in a course on a part-time basis, the department must 
  4.34  make payments according to this subdivision for courses that 
  4.35  were taken for credit.  The department must not make payments to 
  4.36  a virtual school for a course from which a student officially 
  5.1   withdraws during the first 14 days of the quarter.  A virtual 
  5.2   school shall receive an amount equal to the following: 
  5.3      (1) for a virtual school granting quarter credit, the 
  5.4   reimbursement per credit hour shall be an amount equal to 88 
  5.5   percent of the product of the general education basic formula 
  5.6   allowance, multiplied by 1.3, and divided by 45; or 
  5.7      (2) for a virtual school granting semester credit, the 
  5.8   reimbursement per credit hour shall be an amount equal to 88 
  5.9   percent of the product of the general education basic formula 
  5.10  allowance, multiplied by 1.3, and divided by 30. 
  5.11     The department must pay to each virtual school 100 percent 
  5.12  of the amount in clause (1) or (2) within 30 days of receiving 
  5.13  initial enrollment information each quarter or semester.  If 
  5.14  changes in enrollment occur during a quarter or semester, the 
  5.15  change shall be reported by the virtual school at the time the 
  5.16  enrollment information for the succeeding quarter or semester is 
  5.17  submitted.  
  5.18     The remainder of the funds generated by the part-time 
  5.19  on-line student must be paid to the enrolled district.  
  5.20     Subd. 11.  [SHARED TIME FUNDING.] On-line courses offered 
  5.21  to nonpublic students are eligible for shared time aid in 
  5.22  accordance with the provisions of section 126C.19.