HF 2009 (LSB 5183YH (2) 86)

HOUSE FILE 2009

BY  WILLS

A BILL FOR

An Act requiring the department of education to distribute a handbook of educational options.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 256.9, subsection 24, Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   24.  a.  Classify and define the various schools under the supervision of the department, formulate suitable courses of study, and publish and distribute the classifications and courses of study and promote their use.
   b.  The director shall publish on the department’s internet site a handbook describing, in English and Spanish, educational options available to parents and guardians of children who are between five and twenty-one years of age and who have not yet graduated from secondary school. The department shall send the handbook annually by ordinary mail to the parents and guardians of such children and shall make the handbook available at all public offices, including but not limited to United States postal service offices, public libraries, and public schools. The educational options described shall include but are not limited to public school districts, open enrollment, charter schools, private schools, private instruction, dual enrollment, school tuition organizations, and the senior year plus program. The handbook shall also provide instructions for accessing each of the educational options and shall include contact information for department personnel assigned to administer the educational options described in the handbook.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill requires the director of the department of education to publish on the agency’s internet site a handbook describing, in English and Spanish, the educational options available to parents and guardians of children who are between 5 and 21 years of age and who have not yet graduated from secondary school. The department must also send, by ordinary mail, a copy of the handbook to the parents and guardians of such children and must make the handbook available at all public offices.
   The handbook must describe how to access the educational options and must include contact information for department personnel assigned to administer the educational options described in the handbook.