SP0206
LD 675
Second Regular Session - 125th Maine Legislature
 
LR 1850
Item 1
Bill Tracking, Additional Documents Chamber Status

An Act To Establish Multidistrict Online Classes in Maine

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §19154, sub-§2,  as enacted by PL 2009, c. 330, §4, is amended to read:

2. Eligibility.  A kindergarten to grade 12 student enrolled in a public school residing in the State who is 20 years of age or younger is eligible to enroll in the an online learning program offered by any school administrative unit. A school administrative unit offering an online learning program must give preference to a student who is a resident of the school administrative unit and use a random lottery to select among students who are not residents of the school administrative unit if the program is oversubscribed, giving preference to the sibling of a student who is already enrolled in the program. When a student who is not a resident of a school administrative unit that is offering an online learning program enrolls in that program, the school board of the school administrative unit of residence for that student must pay tuition, as established in chapter 219, to the school administrative unit that has enrolled the student in the online learning program.

Sec. 2. Stakeholder group to be established. The Department of Education shall create a group of stakeholders to study the opportunities in and challenges of creating one online school for the State for students in kindergarten to grade 12. For purposes of this section, "stakeholders" includes teachers, administrators, parents, information technology specialists and any other person, group or entity that has an interest in online learning. No later than January 4, 2012, the Department of Education shall report the findings of its study along with any suggested legislation to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs. The Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs may submit a bill regarding the study required under this section to the Second Regular Session of the 125th Legislature.

summary

This bill allows nonresident students to enroll in a school administrative unit's online learning program, with the school administrative unit of residence for that student to pay the enrolling school administrative unit the student's tuition for the program. The bill also directs the Department of Education to create a stakeholder group to study the opportunities in and challenges of creating one online learning program for the State and to report to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs by January 4, 2012.


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