Missouri HB 754: Modifies provisions related to the virtual school program

Bill Text

FIRST REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 754
101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1309H.02C DANA RADEMAN MILLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal section 161.670, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the
virtual school program.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 161.670, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu
2 thereof, to be known as section 161.670, to read as follows:
161.670. 1. Notwithstanding any other law, prior to July 1, 2007, the state board of
2 education shall establish the "Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program" to serve
3 school-age students residing in the state. The state board of education and the department
4 of elementary and secondary education shall refer to the program as the Missouri course
5 access and virtual school program or the "MCAVSP". The Missouri course access and
6 virtual school program shall offer non-classroom based instruction in a virtual setting using
7 technology, intranet, [and/or] or internet methods of communication. Any student under the age
8 of twenty-one in grades kindergarten through twelve who resides in this state shall be eligible
9 to enroll in the Missouri course access and virtual school program pursuant to subsection 3 of
10 this section.
11 2. For purposes of calculation and distribution of state school aid, students enrolled in
12 the Missouri course access and virtual school program shall be included in the student enrollment
13 of the school district in which the student physically is enrolled under subsection 3 of this
14 section. The Missouri course access and virtual school program shall report to the district of
15 residence the following information about each student served by the Missouri course access and
16 virtual school program: name, address, eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch, limited
17 English proficiency status, special education needs, and the number of courses in which the
18 student is enrolled. The Missouri course access and virtual school program shall promptly notify
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended
to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.

HCS HB 754 2
19 the resident district when [a] any student discontinues enrollment. A "full-time equivalent
20 student" is a student who [successfully has completed] is enrolled in the instructional equivalent
21 of six credits per regular term. Each Missouri course access and virtual school program course
22 shall count as one class and shall generate that portion of a full-time equivalent that a comparable
23 course offered by the school district would generate. Full-time equivalent students shall not
24 be required by the resident school district to be present at any specific physical location for
25 any ongoing instructional activity. In no case shall more than the full-time equivalency of a
26 regular term of attendance for a single student be used to claim state aid. Full-time equivalent
27 student credit completed shall be reported to the department of elementary and secondary
28 education in the manner prescribed by the department. If a school district or charter school
29 fails to comply with its payment obligations under this section by not making full payment
30 on the semester invoice from the provider within sixty days of being invoiced, the provider
31 may notify the department, which shall immediately pay the Missouri course access and
32 virtual school program the total amount invoiced. Any such department payments shall
33 be offset by withholding the amount so paid from its next disbursement of funding to the
34 nonpaying school district or charter school. The department shall provide an annual
35 written report on November first to the joint committee on education detailing each
36 occasion during the prior school year that a provider notified the department to make
37 payment for an unpaid invoice and shall include the name of the provider, the name of the
38 school district or charter school, the amount due, and how quickly the department made
39 full payment to the provider after receiving the request. Nothing in this section shall prohibit
40 students from enrolling in additional courses under a separate agreement that includes terms for
41 paying tuition or course fees. A full-time virtual school program serving full-time equivalent
42 students shall participate in the statewide assessment system as defined in section 160.518.
43 The academic performance of students enrolled in a full-time virtual school program shall
44 be assigned to the designated attendance center of the full-time virtual school program.
45 3. (1) A school district or charter school shall allow any [eligible] student who is
46 eligible to enroll in a Missouri public school and who resides in such district to enroll in
47 Missouri course access