S.F. 2310 Section 1. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph a, Code 1 2020, is amended to read as follows: 2 a. Requirements that all school districts and accredited 3 nonpublic schools develop, implement, and file with the 4 department a comprehensive school improvement plan that 5 includes, but is not limited to, demonstrated school, parental, 6 and community involvement in assessing educational needs, 7 establishing local education standards and student achievement 8 levels, and, as applicable, the consolidation of federal and 9 state planning, goal-setting, and reporting requirements. 10 Each school district and accredited nonpublic school shall 11 include in its comprehensive school improvement plan a list 12 and description of the online coursework offered by the school 13 district or accredited nonpublic school to which the student 14 is enrolled. 15 Sec. 2. Section 256.7, subsection 32, paragraph a, Code 16 2020, is amended to read as follows: 17 a. Adopt rules for online learning in accordance with 18 sections 256.42 section 256.11, subsection 17, and section 19 256.43 , and criteria for waivers granted pursuant to section 20 256.42 256.11, subsection 17 . 21 Sec. 3. Section 256.7, subsection 32, Code 2020, is amended 22 by adding the following new paragraph: 23 NEW PARAGRAPH . c. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection 24 shall require that online learning coursework offered by school 25 districts, accredited nonpublic schools, and area education 26 agencies be rigorous, high-quality, aligned with the Iowa 27 core and core content requirements and standards and the 28 national standards of quality for online courses issued by 29 an internationally recognized association for kindergarten 30 through grade twelve online learning, and taught by a teacher 31 licensed under chapter 272 who has specialized training or 32 experience in online learning, including but not limited to an 33 online-learning-for-Iowa-educators-professional-development 34 project offered by area education agencies, a teacher 35 -1- LSB 5150SV (3) 88 kh/jh 1/ 8

S.F. 2310 preservice program, or comparable coursework. 1 Sec. 4. Section 256.9, subsection 55, Code 2020, is amended 2 to read as follows: 3 55. a. Develop and establish an online learning 4 program model in accordance with rules adopted pursuant 5 to section 256.7, subsection 32 , and in accordance with 6 section 256.43 . The director shall maintain a list of 7 approved online providers that meet the standards of 8 section 256.42, subsection 6 , and provide course content 9 through an online learning platform taught by a teacher 10 licensed under chapter 272 who has specialized training or 11 experience in online learning including but not limited to an 12 online-learning-for-Iowa-educators-professional-development 13 project offered by area education agencies, a teacher 14 preservice program, or comparable coursework, and whose online 15 learning coursework meets the requirements established by 16 rule pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 32, paragraph “c” . 17 Providers shall apply for approval annually or as determined 18 by the department. 19 b. Each school district and accredited nonpublic school 20 providing online learning coursework not purchased or accessed 21 through an approved provider shall submit its online curricula 22 to the department for review. The department shall evaluate 23 alignment of the courses with the Iowa core and core content 24 requirements and standards, as well as national standards 25 of quality for online courses issued by an internationally 26 recognized association for kindergarten through grade twelve 27 online learning. 28 Sec. 5. Section 256.11, Code 2020, is amended by adding the 29 following new subsection: 30 NEW SUBSECTION . 17. a. The provisions of subsection 5 31 shall not apply for up to two specified subjects at a school 32 district or accredited nonpublic school if any of the following 33 apply: 34 (1) The school district or accredited nonpublic school 35 -2- LSB 5150SV (3) 88 kh/jh 2/ 8

S.F. 2310 makes every reasonable and good faith effort to employ a 1 teacher licensed under chapter 272 for the specified subject 2 and is unable to employ such a teacher. 3 (2) Fewer than ten students typically register for 4 instruction in the specified subject at the school district or 5 accredited nonpublic school. 6 b. The department may waive for one school year the 7 applicability of subsection 5, at its discretion, two 8 additional specified subjects for a school district or 9 accredited nonpublic school that proves to the satisfaction of 10 the department that the school district or accredited nonpublic 11 school has made every reasonable effort, but is unable to 12 meet the requirements of subsection 5. A school district or 13 accredited nonpublic school may apply for an annual waiver each 14 year. 15 c. If the provisions of subsection 5 are made inapplicable 16 under paragraph “a” , or are waived under paragraph “b” , the 17 specified subject shall be provided by an area education agency 18 under section 273.16, or by the school district or accredited 19 nonpublic school if an online alternative satisfying the 20 requirements of subparagraph (1) or (2) can be made available 21 by the school district or accredited nonpublic school. Any 22 course not required under subsection 5 may also be provided by 23 an area education agency under section 273.16 or by the school 24 district or accredited nonpublic school. However, in either 25 case, if offered by the school district or accredited nonpublic 26 school, the specified subject or course shall be offered 27 through either of the following means: 28 (1) An online learning platform if the course is developed 29 by the school district or accredited nonpublic school itself 30 or is developed by a partnership or consortium of schools 31 that have developed the course individually or cooperatively, 32 provided the course is taught and supervised by a teacher 33 licensed under chapter 272 who has online learning experience 34 and the course content meets the requirements established by 35 -3- LSB 5150SV (3) 88 kh/jh 3/ 8

S.F. 2310 rule pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 32, paragraph “c” . 1 A partnership or consortium of schools may include two or 2 more school districts or accredited nonpublic schools, or any 3 combination thereof. 4 (2) A private provider utilized to provide the course 5 that meets the standards of this section and is approved in 6 accordance with section 256.9, subsection 55. 7 d. For purposes of this subsection, “good faith effort” 8 means the same as defined in section 279.19A, subsection 9. 9 Sec. 6. Section 256.43, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code 10 2020, is amended to read as follows: 11 c. Private providers utilized to provide courses by a school 12 district or accredited nonpublic school in accordance with 13 this section shall meet the standards of section 256.42 Iowa 14 core and core content requirements and standards, as well as 15 national standards of quality for online courses issued by an 16 internationally recognized association for kindergarten through 17 grade twelve online learning, and be approved in accordance 18 with section 256.9, subsection 55 . 19 Sec. 7. Section 261E.1, subsection 1, paragraph e, Code 20 2020, is amended to read as follows: 21 e. Internet-based courses offered for college credit , 22 including but not limited to courses within the Iowa learning 23 online initiative . 24 Sec. 8. NEW SECTION . 273.16 Online learning program. 25 1. Subject to an appropriation of funds by the general 26 assembly for this purpose, the area education agencies may 27 offer, separately or in collaboration or other area education 28 agencies, or in partnership with school districts and 29 accredited nonpublic schools, to provide an online learning 30 program to deliver distance education to Iowa’s secondary 31 students, including students receiving independent private 32 instruction as defined in section 299A.1, subsection 2, 33 paragraph “b” , competent private instruction under section 34 299A.2, or private instruction by a nonlicensed person under 35 -4- LSB 5150SV (3) 88 kh/jh 4/ 8

S.F. 2310 section 299A.3. 1 2. Coursework offered under this section must meet the 2 requirements established by rule pursuant to section 256.7, 3 subsection 32, paragraph “c” . 4 3. To participate in an online learning program offered 5 by an area education agency, a student must be enrolled 6 in a participating school district or accredited nonpublic 7 school or be receiving private instruction under chapter 8 299A as described in subsection 1. The school district or 9 accredited nonpublic school in which the student is enrolled 10 is responsible for recording a student’s program coursework 11 grades in the student’s permanent record, awarding high school 12 credit for program coursework, and issuing a high school 13 diploma to a student enrolled in the district or school who 14 participates and completes coursework under the program. Each 15 school that participates in the program shall identify a site 16 coordinator to serve as a student advocate and as a liaison 17 between the program staff and teachers and the school district 18 or accredited nonpublic school. The individual providing 19 instruction to a student under chapter 299A as described in 20 subsection 1 shall receive the student’s score for completed 21 program coursework. 22 4. School districts and accredited nonpublic schools shall 23 pay to area education agencies the cost of providing coursework 24 under an online learning program offered in accordance with 25 this section. 26 Sec. 9. REPEAL. Section 256.42, Code 2020, is repealed. 27 EXPLANATION 28 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 29 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 30 This bill repeals Code section 256.42, which establishes 31 the Iowa learning online initiative in the department of 32 education, maintains the current standards, requirements, and 33 rules relating to online learning programs and coursework 34 provided at the secondary school level, and authorizes the 35 -5- LSB 5150SV (3) 88 kh/jh 5/ 8

S.F. 2310 area education agencies (AEAs) to offer, separately or in 1 collaboration with other AEAs, or in partnership with school 2 districts and accredited nonpublic schools, to provide an 3 online learning program to deliver distance education to Iowa’s 4 secondary students, including students receiving independent 5 private instruction, competent private instruction, or private 6 instruction by a nonlicensed person. The bill makes conforming 7 changes. 8 STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION. The bill moves from Code section 9 256.42 to Code section 256.7(21)(a) a requirement that each 10 school district and accredited nonpublic school include in its 11 comprehensive school improvement plan a list and description 12 of the online coursework offered by the school district or 13 accredited nonpublic school to which the student is enrolled, 14 and maintains requirements that the board adopt rules relating 15 to online learning and that the online learning coursework 16 offered by school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, 17 and AEAs be rigorous, high-quality, aligned with the Iowa 18 core and core content requirements and standards and the 19 national standards of quality for online courses issued by 20 an internationally recognized association for K-12 online 21 learning, and taught by a licensed teacher who has specialized 22 training or experience in online learning. 23 DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. The bill 24 eliminates a requirement that the director of the department 25 of education develop and establish an online learning program 26 model. However, the bill requires the director, in developing 27 and maintaining the list of approved online providers, to 28 require that the course content provided through an online 29 learning platform be taught by a licensed teacher and meet 30 other requirements relating to professional development, 31 preservice, and online learning coursework. Each school 32 district and accredited nonpublic school providing online 33 learning coursework not purchased or accessed through an 34 approved provider must submit its online curricula to the 35 -6- LSB 5150SV (3) 88 kh/jh 6/ 8

S.F. 2310 department for review. 1 EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS. The bill moves to Code section 2 256.11 the provisions of Code section 256.42 that provided 3 that the education standards for high school courses shall not 4 apply for up to two specified subjects at a school district or 5 accredited nonpublic school if either every reasonable and good 6 faith effort to employ a licensed teacher failed or fewer than 7 10 students typically register for the subject. 8 Under the bill, the department continues to have the 9 authority to grant renewable one-year waivers, at its 10 discretion, for additional specified subjects under the 11 educational standards if every reasonable effort was made but 12 the school district or accredited nonpublic school is unable to 13 meet high school educational standards for specified subjects. 14 Under such circumstances, the specified subject shall be 15 provided by an AEA or by the school district or accredited 16 nonpublic school if an online alternative satisfying statutory 17 requirements can be made available by the school district or 18 accredited nonpublic school. Any course not required under the 19 high school educational standards may also be provided by an 20 AEA or by the school district or accredited nonpublic school. 21 All such coursework, however, must meet the state board’s 22 requirements and be offered either by an approved private 23 provider, or by using an online learning platform if the course 24 is developed by the school district, a school, or a partnership 25 or consortium of schools. 26 Private providers must continue to meet Iowa core and 27 core content requirements and standards, as well as national 28 standards of quality for online courses issued by an 29 internationally recognized association for kindergarten through 30 grade 12 online learning, and be approved by the director of 31 the department. 32 ONLINE LEARNING PROGRAMS OFFERED BY AEAs. Coursework 33 offered by AEAs must meet the requirements adopted by rule by 34 the state board. Participating students must be enrolled in a 35 -7- LSB 5150SV (3) 88 kh/jh 7/ 8

S.F. 2310 participating school district or accredited nonpublic school 1 or be receiving private instruction. The school district or 2 accredited nonpublic school is responsible for recording a 3 student’s grades in the student’s permanent record, awarding 4 high school credit for program coursework, and issuing a 5 high school diploma to a participating student. However, 6 for a student receiving private instruction, the individual 7 providing the instruction shall receive the student’s scores. 8 Each participating school must identify a site coordinator. 9 Participating school districts and accredited nonpublic schools 10 must pay AEAs the cost of providing online learning program 11 coursework. 12 -8- LSB 5150SV (3) 88 kh/jh 8/ 8