Senate sends virtual instruction bill to governor
The Senate on Tuesday concurred with House amendments to the virtual instruction bill, sending it on to the governor.
SB 15 (Taylor) would allow schools to create their own virtual instruction programs for students who live within their district/charter attendance zones as long as the district or charter has earned at least a C in the state accountability rating system during the previous year or the last time a rating was assigned.
The House amended the bill last week to require that, in order to count a student’s attendance in a virtual program for purposes of funding, students must have passed all STAAR exams the previous year (if the student did not take STAAR exams, then an assessment designed to show grade-level proficiency in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) and must have earned a C or higher in their foundation curriculum courses taken virtually during the preceding year. The House also amended the original bill to:
- Prohibit schools from counting for funding purposes the attendance of students enrolled in virtual instruction who have 10 or more unexcused absences.
- Allow a school to require a teacher to provide both virtual and in-person instruction during the same class period for enrichment courses.
- Specify that schools, for purposes of determining the number of students who may be enrolled in virtual programs, must count students who spent at least half of their instructional time in remote instruction (not including TxVSN) – including students who are medically fragile; placed in virtual instruction by an admission, review, and dismissal committee; or receiving a 504 accommodation (equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities).
- Clarify that performance ratings assigned to schools for their virtual education programs, which would be given separate ratings under SB 15, would not be used to impose interventions or sanctions under the accountability system.
- Allow schools that operated a full-time virtual program outside of the TxVSN with at least 10 percent of their enrollment consisting of students from outside their geographic areas to continue operating their programs; apply the same enrollment and transfer criteria used during the 2020-21 school year; and offer the program to students in grades K-12 as long as the program includes at least one grade level for which a STAAR exam is administered.
- Prohibit a school from directly or indirectly coercing a teacher to teach a full-time local remote learning program.
Students must still have access to extracurricular activities, in-person services, and any special services required by state or federal law, such as special education. School administrators would be allowed to bring a student back to campus if the student is not meeting academic performance standards or other requirements set by the school as long as enough notice and opportunities for input are provided to parents and students. Schools would be able to enter into agreements with other schools to provide virtual instruction. Districts/charters would be prohibited from enrolling more than 10 percent of their total 2021-22 student enrollment in virtual programs. The bill also prohibits a teacher from being assigned to teach a virtual class unless the teacher agrees in writing or the assignment is specifically stated in the employee’s contract. This law would expire on Sept. 1, 2023.