HF 2369 (LSB 5212HV (1) 86)

HOUSE FILE 2369

BY  COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 635)

A BILL FOR

An Act concerning instruction provided through the Iowa learning online initiative.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 256.42, subsection 7, Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   7.  The department may waive for one year the provisions of section 256.11, subsection 5, which require that specified subjects be offered and taught by professional staff of a school district or school, if the school district or school makes every reasonable and good faith good-faith effort to employ a teacher licensed under chapter 272 for such a subject, and the school district or school proves to the satisfaction of the department that the school district or school is unable to employ such a teacher. The specified subject shall be provided by the initiative.  The specified subject may instead be provided by the school district or school if all of the following conditions are met:
   a.  The course content is provided through an online learning platform by a licensed teacher with online learning experience.
   b.  The course content provided is aligned with school district or school standards.
   c.  The course is not offered by the initiative pursuant to this section, or the course offered by the initiative lacks the capacity to accommodate additional students.
   d.  The course is the sole course per semester that the school district or school is providing instead of the initiative pursuant to this subsection.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Current law permits the state department of education to waive a requirement that specified subjects available through the Iowa learning online initiative be offered and taught by professional staff of a school district or school if the school district or school makes every reasonable and good-faith effort to employ a teacher licensed for such a subject, and the school district or school proves to the satisfaction of the department that the school district or school is unable to employ such a teacher. The specified subject can only be provided by the initiative.
   This bill provides that if the department grants such a waiver, the specified subject may be provided by the district or school instead of the initiative if certain conditions specified in the bill are met.