HOUSE FILE 2107

BY  KOESTER

A BILL FOR

An Act authorizing students in a district-to-community college sharing or concurrent enrollment program to decline college credit.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 257.11, subsection 3, paragraph b, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   If the school budget review committee certifies to the department of management that the class would not otherwise be implemented without the assignment of additional weighting, pupils, except those pupils who have elected to decline college credit under section 261E.8, subsection 4A, attending a community college-offered class or attending a class taught by a community college-employed instructor are assigned a weighting of the percentage of the pupil’s school day during which the pupil attends class in the community college or attends a class taught by a community college-employed instructor times seventy hundredths for career and technical courses or forty-six hundredths for liberal arts and sciences courses. The following requirements shall be met for the purposes of assigning an additional weighting for classes offered through a sharing agreement between a school district and community college. The class must be:
    Sec. 2.  Section 260C.14, subsection 21, paragraph a, Code 2011, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
   NEW SUBPARAGRAPH.  (4A)  Unduplicated headcount of eligible students participating in the district-to-community college sharing or concurrent enrollment program who have elected to decline college credit under section 261E.8, subsection 4A, and the total high school credits earned by such students from courses taken through the program.
    Sec. 3.  Section 261E.8, Code Supplement 2011, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  4A.  A student enrolled in a course under this section for both college credit and high school credit may, prior to the date designated by the community college for withdrawing from or dropping a class, elect to decline the award of college credit for completing the course. If the student makes an election under this subsection, the student shall receive only high school credit for completing the course. An election made under this subsection must be made in writing and received by the school district and the community college on or before the date designated by the community college for withdrawing from or dropping the course. However, to receive high school credit for the course under subsection 4, the student shall otherwise successfully complete the course as determined by the community college.
    Sec. 4.  Section 261E.8, subsection 7, Code Supplement 2011, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  0c.  An unduplicated enrollment count of eligible students participating in the program who have elected to decline college credit under subsection 4A and the total high school credits earned by such students from courses taken through the program.
EXPLANATION
   This bill authorizes a student who is enrolled in a course under a district-to-community college sharing or concurrent enrollment program to, prior to the date designated by the community college for withdrawing from or dropping a class, elect to decline the award of college credit for completing the course, and the student shall receive only high school credit for completing the course. Such an election must be made in writing and received by the school district on or before the date designated by the community college for withdrawing from or dropping the course. In addition, the bill provides that to receive high school credit for the course the student shall otherwise successfully complete the course as determined by the community college.
   The bill provides that a student who declines college credit for a course under a district-to-community college sharing or concurrent enrollment program is not eligible for supplementary weighting under Code section 257.11(3).
   The bill also includes reporting and data gathering requirements for the state board of education and the boards of directors of each community college.