Teacher Rights and Instructional Quality
• Prohibits requiring teachers to teach in-person and virtual students simultaneously but allows live streaming of in-person classes only if teachers are not expected to interact with students watching the live stream
• Requires professional development for hybrid / virtual teachers unless they already have sufficient experience
• Prohibits reassigning a teacher to hybrid / virtual roles without consent
• Requires hybrid / virtual courses to align with TEKS, meet grade-level standards, and follow Commissioner or national quality standards
• Requires virtual courses for special education students to meet their educational needs
Enrollment Eligibility and ADA Funding
• Allows any student eligible for public school to eligible to enroll in a full-time hybrid campus
• Allows enrollment in full-time virtual campuses only if the student: o Attended Texas public school at least six weeks the prior year o Is entering 1st grade o Recently moved to Texas o Is a dependent of a deployed military service member o Is in state care
• Calculates ADA for full-time virtual / hybrid campuses using the district ' s average attendance rate
• Requires school boards to set participation criteria for course credit / grades
• Excludes students in virtual programs from the fast growth allotment
• Requires the Commissioner to adopt attendance rules that do not require in-person or synchronous instruction for full funding equivalence
District and Provider Oversight
• Requires districts to o Engage in a year of planning before offering a course o Develop academic plans that incorporate TEKS aligned curriculum and instructional practices, progress monitoring, methods for meeting student need in special populations and compliance with state law o Develop operations plans addressing staffing, designation of leadership, professional development, family engagement, calendars and schedules, enrollment eligibility, cybersecurity and data privacy, and education services provided by a third party o Demonstrate capacity to successfully implement the plan
• Requires campuses to include at least one grade with state assessments or another Commissionerapproved evaluation measure or to include sufficient grade levels to allow for evaluation of student performance
• Prohibits districts from changing a campus designation for a full-time hybrid or virtual campus during or after the approval process
• Allows the Commissioner to approve full-time hybrid or virtual campuses only if they are likely to improve student outcomes
• Makes campus authorization indefinite, revocable only if: o The campus receives a " needs improvement " or " unacceptable " performance ratings for three consecutive years o A special investigation finds cause o A whole program provider is ruled ineligible without Commissioner-approved replacement
• Requires districts to notify TEA of third-party provider use and changes for third-parties acting as a whole program provider
• Requires the Commissioner to set standards for provider eligibility and prohibits use of ineligible providers without approval
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