HOUSE FILE 264

BY  FORRISTALL

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to foreign language unit requirements under the educational standards applicable to school districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

   Section 1.  Section 256.11, subsection 5, paragraph f, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   f.  Four sequential units of one foreign language other than American sign language.
   (1)  Provision of instruction in American sign language shall be in addition to and not in lieu of provision of instruction in other foreign languages.
   (2)  The department may waive the third and fourth years of the foreign language requirement on an annual basis upon the request of the board of directors of a school district or the authorities in charge of a nonpublic school if the board or authorities are able to prove that a licensed teacher was employed and assigned a schedule that would have allowed students to enroll in a foreign language class, the foreign language class was properly scheduled, students were aware that a foreign language class was scheduled, and no students enrolled in the class.
   (3)  If the syllabus for any of the four sequential units of a foreign language offered by a school district in accordance with this lettered paragraph is equivalent to a community college course syllabus for instruction in the foreign language, the school district and the community college may participate in the district-to-community college sharing or concurrent enrollment program established pursuant to section 261E.8, and be eligible for funding under section 257.11, subsection 3, for any foreign language unit offered by the school district that is equivalent to the community college foreign language course as provided in this subparagraph (3).
   Sec. 2.  Section 257.11, subsection 3, paragraph b, subparagraph (1), Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   (1)  Supplementing, not supplanting, high school courses required to be offered pursuant to section 256.11, subsection 5, except as provided in section 256.11, subsection 5, paragraph “f”, subparagraph (3).
EXPLANATION
   This bill allows a school district offering four sequential units of a foreign language in grades nine through 12, as required under the educational standards by which schools are accredited, to participate in and receive supplementary weighting under the district-to-community college sharing or concurrent enrollment program for any foreign language unit it offers if the unit’s syllabus is equivalent to the community college’s foreign language course syllabus.
   Currently, the Code prohibits school districts from receiving supplementary weighting for entering into an agreement with a community college to provide such a course to the school district’s students. The only exceptions to the restriction are for career and technical education courses.