05 LC 33
0577_EC
Senate
Bill 33
By: Senators Moody of the 56th, Douglas of the 17th, Balfour of the 9th, Hooks of the 14th, Bulloch of the 11th and others
By: Senators Moody of the 56th, Douglas of the 17th, Balfour of the 9th, Hooks of the 14th, Bulloch of the 11th and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, the "Quality Basic Education Act," so as to change certain provisions
relating to determination of enrollment by institutional programs; to authorize
the establishment of the Georgia Virtual School; to provide for rules and
regulations; to provide for a Georgia Virtual School grant account; to provide
for statutory construction; to provide for related matters; to provide an
effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, the
"Quality Basic Education Act," is amended by striking subsection (a) of Code
Section 20_2_160, relating to determination of enrollment by institutional
programs, and inserting in its place a new subsection (a) to read as
follows:
"(a)
The State Board of Education shall designate the specific dates upon which two
counts of students enrolled in each instructional program authorized under this
article shall be made each school year and by which the counts shall be reported
to the Department of Education. The initial enrollment count shall be made after
October 1 but prior to November 17 and the final enrollment count after March 1
but prior to May 1. The report shall indicate the student´s specific
assigned program for each one_sixth segment of the school day on the designated
reporting date. No program shall be indicated for a student for any one_sixth
segment of the school day that the student is assigned to a study hall; a
noncredit course; a course recognized under this article or by state board
policy as an enrichment course, except a driver education course; a course which
requires participation in an extracurricular activity for which enrollment is on
a competitive basis; a course in which the student serves as a student assistant
to a teacher, in a school office, or in the media center, except when such
placement is an approved work site of a recognized career or vocational program;
an individual study course for which no outline of course objectives is prepared
in writing prior to the beginning of the course;
a course taken
through the Georgia Virtual School pursuant to Code Section 20_2_319;
or any other course or activity so
designated by the state board. For the purpose of this Code section, the term
'enrichment course' means a course which does not dedicate a major portion of
the class time toward the development and enhancement of one or more student
competencies as adopted by the state board under Code Section 20_2_140. A
program shall not be indicated for a student for any one_sixth segment of the
school day for which the student is not enrolled in an instructional program or
has not attended a class or classes within the preceding ten days; nor shall a
program be indicated for a student for any one_sixth segment of the school day
for which the student is charged tuition or fees or is required to provide
materials or equipment beyond those authorized pursuant to Code Section
20_2_133. A student who is enrolled in an eligible institution under the program
established in Code Section 20_2_161.1 may be counted for the high school
program for only that portion of the day that the student is attending the high
school for those segments that are eligible to be counted under this subsection.
The state board shall adopt such regulations and criteria as necessary to ensure
objective and true counts of students in state approved instructional programs.
The state board shall also establish criteria by which students shall be counted
as resident or nonresident students, including specific circumstances which may
include, but not be limited to, students attending another local school system
under court order or under the terms of a contract between two local school
systems. If a local school system has a justifiable reason, it may seek
authority from the state board to shift full_time equivalent program counts from
the designated date to a requested alternate
date."
SECTION
2.
Said
article is further amended in Part 14, relating to other educational programs
under the "Quality Basic Education Act," by inserting at the end thereof a new
Code Section 20_2_319 to read as follows:
"20_2_319.
(a)
The State Board of Education is authorized to establish the Georgia Virtual
School whereby students may enroll in state funded courses via the Internet or
in any other manner not involving on_site interaction with a teacher. The State
Board of Education is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations pertaining
to the Georgia Virtual School. Such rules and regulations, if established,
shall include, at a minimum, a process for students to enroll in Georgia Virtual
School courses, including provisions allowing for students to participate in
such courses outside of regular school hours at a tuition rate to be established
by the State Board of Education, and a process whereby a student´s grade in
the course is reported on the student´s transcript.
(b)
The department is authorized to establish a Georgia Virtual School grant account
with funds appropriated by the General Assembly. The amount of funds requested
by the state board for this account shall be the amount that the participating
students would have earned under this article if those students had been in
equivalent instructional programs in a local school system for that portion of
the instructional day in which the students were actually enrolled in a Georgia
Virtual School course. The department shall use funds from this grant account
to pay for costs associated with the Georgia Virtual School incurred by the
department, including, but not limited to, actual costs of tuition, materials,
and fees directly related to the approved courses taken by the students through
the Georgia Virtual School.
(c)
The Georgia Virtual School shall not be considered a school for purposes of
Article 2 of Chapter 14 of this
title."
SECTION
3.
This
Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its
becoming law without such approval.
SECTION
4.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.