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Senate Education Committee hears House Bill 1105 to set guardrails for virtual learning
Summary
Representative Mark Jonas urged the Senate Education Committee to support House Bill 1105, which would let school districts adopt policies and give state rulemaking authority for virtual instruction, after witnesses described rapid enrollment growth at the North Dakota Center for Distance Education and fiscal strain on districts.
Representative Mark Jonas, sponsor of House Bill 1105, opened the Senate Education Committee hearing describing the bill as a response to rapid growth in virtual enrollments and to what he called “unintended consequences” that strained school budgets.
"It ensures students' academic needs are met while maintaining fiscal responsibility," Representative Jonas said, describing the bill as a framework for districts to adopt virtual-instruction policies and for the state superintendent to adopt related rules.
The bill would allow a school district board or governing board of a nonpublic school to adopt a policy that permits students to engage in virtual instruction, require districts to align virtual-course registration with district registration schedules and deadlines, and direct the superintendent of public instruction to adopt implementing rules. Testimony at the hearing detailed how those provisions aim to reduce duplicate district spending when students shift from in-person to online courses mid‑term.
Alyssa Martin, state director of the North Dakota Center for Distance Education (CDE), said the…
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