Committee Substitute for HB0201ECS

HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL 201

48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007

AN ACT

RELATING TO EDUCATION; ENACTING THE STATEWIDE CYBER ACADEMY ACT; PROVIDING POWERS AND DUTIES; PROVIDING STANDARDS FOR ALLOCATING THE EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DEFICIENCY CORRECTION FUND.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1 through 7 of this act may be cited as the "Statewide Cyber Academy Act"."

Section 2. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Statewide Cyber Academy Act:

A. "course provider" means a person that supplies educational course content for distance learning courses;

B. "distance learning course" means an educational course that is taught where the student and primary instructor are separated by time or space and linked by technology;

C. "distance learning student" means a qualified student as defined in Section 22-8-2 NMSA 1978 who is enrolled in one or more distance learning courses for credit;

D. "learning management system" means a software application that facilitates online instruction and interaction between teachers and distance learning students;

E. "local distance learning site" means a school district or charter school that offers and grants credit for distance learning courses to distance learning students enrolled in the school district or charter school;

F. "primary enrolling district" means the school district or charter school in which the distance learning student is enrolled;

G. "regional host" means an educational institution, school district or other entity selected by the statewide cyber academy to coordinate the delivery of distance learning courses within a broad geographic region of the state;

H. "service center" means the single central facility where administrative and management functions of the statewide cyber academy are physically located in New Mexico; and

I. "statewide cyber academy" means the department's collaborative program that offers distance learning courses to all local distance learning sites."

Section 3. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] STATEWIDE CYBER ACADEMY CREATED.--The "statewide cyber academy" program is created in the department. The statewide cyber academy is a collaborative program among the department, the higher education department, telecommunications networks and representatives of other state agencies engaged in providing distance education. The statewide cyber academy shall provide distance learning courses for grades six through twelve and professional development for teachers, instructional support providers and school administrators."

Section 4. A new section of the Public School code is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] DEPARTMENT RULES.--The department shall promulgate rules to carry out the provisions of the Statewide Cyber Academy Act."

Section 5. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] STATEWIDE CYBER ACADEMY--DUTIES.--The statewide cyber academy shall:

A. establish a distance learning course delivery system that is efficient and cost-effective and that uses a statewide service center and regional hosts to provide approved distance learning courses;

B. select regional hosts based on pre-existing experience and capacity to facilitate the delivery of distance educational programs, including public post-secondary educational institutions, regional education cooperatives and school districts;

C. provide technical and program support to regional hosts and local distance learning sites;

D. ensure that all distance learning courses offered by course providers are taught by highly qualified teachers or members of the faculty of accredited post-secondary educational institutions and meet state academic content and performance standards;

E. provide for reasonable and equitable means to allocate the costs of distance learning courses among the statewide cyber academy, the course providers and the school districts whose students are enrolled in a distance learning course;

F. give first priority to the delivery of distance learning courses for credit to distance learning students who have the greatest need because of geographic location or circumstances in which a school district may have difficulty delivering essential course instruction due to financial restraints or lack of highly qualified teachers; provided that in fiscal year 2008 the statewide cyber academy shall include, among those distance learning students who are determined to have the greatest need, distance learning students served by school districts that are members of regional education cooperatives three, eight and nine;

G. ensure that the statewide cyber academy's learning management system is compatible with school district and department data collection, analysis and reporting systems;

H. ensure that all deficiencies in the infrastructure, hardware and software in the statewide cyber academy are corrected in accordance with educational technology adequacy standards pursuant to Section 22-15A-11 NMSA 1978;

I. comply with all rules governing privacy and confidentiality of student records for secure record storage;

J. offer distance learning courses to distance learning students;

K. offer professional development via distance learning, using a learning management system;

L. assist the council on technology in education in its development of the statewide plan required by Section 22-15A-7 NMSA 1978, including a statewide cyber academy plan that addresses short- and long-range goals;

M. define and coordinate the roles and responsibilities of the collaborating agencies to establish a distance learning governance and accountability framework; and

N. conduct an annual evaluation and provide an annual report to the department and the legislature that includes a detailed report of expenditures; a description of services provided, including the number and location of local distance learning sites, public schools and distance learning students served; the courses offered; the credits generated by local distance learning sites; and student and teacher accountability reporting data."

Section 6. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENTS.--

A. A student must be enrolled in a public school or a state-supported school and must have the permission of the student's local distance education learning site to enroll in a distance learning course. A distance learning student shall only be counted in the student's primary enrolling district for the purpose of determining the membership used to calculate a school district's state equalization guarantee. A student shall have only one primary enrolling district.

B. A home school student may participate in the statewide cyber academy by enrolling for one-half or more of the minimum course requirements approved by the department for public school students in the school district in which the student resides.

C. A student enrolled in a nonpublic school may participate in the statewide cyber academy if the school in which the student is enrolled enters into a contract with the school district in which the nonpublic school is located.

D. A student who is detained in or committed to a juvenile detention facility or a facility for the long-term care and rehabilitation of delinquent children may participate in the statewide cyber academy if the facility in which the student is enrolled enters into a contract with the school district in which the facility is located."

Section 7. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] EVALUATION OF REGIONAL EDUCATION COOPERATIVE DISTANCE LEARNING NETWORKS.--A network developed by regional education cooperatives three, eight and nine shall serve as a regional host in fiscal year 2008. The statewide cyber academy shall provide a preliminary report to the governor and the legislature by January 1, 2008 on the quality and cost-effectiveness of the provision of distance learning courses by the regional education cooperatives. At the end of fiscal year 2008, the statewide cyber academy shall prepare a final report on the quality and cost-effectiveness of services provided, including whether the services increased the rigor of school district and charter school curricula, and make recommendations for the expansion to other regional education cooperatives."

Section 8. Section 22-15A-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1994, Chapter 96, Section 7) is amended to read:

"22-15A-7. COUNCIL DUTIES.--The council shall:

A. advise the bureau on implementation of the provisions of the Technology for Education Act;

B. work with the bureau to conduct periodic assessments of the need for educational technology in the public school system to support on-site and distance learning and make recommendations to the [state board] department on how to meet those needs;

C. promote the collaborative development and implementation of educational technologies, projects and practices to enhance on-site and distance learning instruction capabilities;

D. develop and recommend to the [state board] department a statewide plan to infuse educational technology into the public school system in support of state and national education goals, including a statewide cyber academy plan that states short- and long-range goals for distance learning; and

E. provide assistance to the bureau in review of school district technology plans to support on-site and distance learning."

Section 9. Section 22-15A-11 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2005, Chapter 222, Section 2) is amended to read:

"22-15A-11. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DEFICIENCIES--CORRECTION.--

A. No later than September 1, 2005, the bureau, with the advice of the council and the office of the chief information officer, shall define and develop minimum educational technology adequacy standards to supplement the adequacy standards developed by the public school capital outlay council for school districts to use to identify outstanding serious deficiencies in educational technology infrastructure.

B. A school district shall use the standards to complete a self-assessment of the outstanding educational technology deficiencies within the school district and provide cost projections to correct the outstanding deficiencies.

C. The bureau shall develop a methodology for prioritizing projects that will correct the deficiencies.

D. After a public hearing and to the extent that money is available in the educational technology deficiency correction fund, the bureau shall approve allocations from the fund on the established priority basis and, working with the school district and pursuant to the Procurement Code, enter into contracts to correct the deficiencies.

E. No allocation shall be made pursuant to this section unless:

(1) the method for prioritizing projects developed by the bureau has been reviewed and approved by the council;

(2) the school district has agreed to consult and coordinate with the public school facilities authority before installing any educational technology infrastructure;

(3) the council has approved the proposed allocation; and

(4) for the 2009 and subsequent fiscal years, the initial assessment required in the Technology for Education Act has been verified by an independent third party as determined in consultation with the public school capital outlay council.

[E.] F. In entering into contracts to correct deficiencies pursuant to this section, the bureau shall include such terms and conditions as necessary to ensure that the state money is expended in the most prudent manner possible consistent with the original purpose."

Section 10. A new section of the Technology for Education Act is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] OBSOLETE COMPUTER REPLACEMENT.--To the extent that money has been appropriated to replace functionally obsolete computers and network devices in public schools, including charter schools, on a five-year cycle, the bureau shall base allocations on a ratio of one computer to three students in each school. Prior to making allocations, the bureau shall compile and maintain an inventory of computer and network devices in public schools, including charter schools, and develop a methodology for prioritizing the replacement of computers and network devices to ensure that state money is expended in the most prudent manner possible consistent with the original purpose."

Section 11. RECOMPILATION.--Section 22-13-27 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 162, Section 2) is recompiled into the Statewide Cyber Academy Act.

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