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Substitute for Course Choice law would carve out private-school portion and move funding to grants line, staff say
Summary
The substitute to Senate Bill 137 removes private‑school students from the statewide online education program and requires an independent program manager; the change would shift roughly $7 million into a contracted grants line, officials said.
Sam Urey described the substitute to Senate Bill 137 and how it would change funding and oversight for private‑school students taking online courses through the statewide online education program (SOEP/SOEP).
"This substitute just carves out the private school portion of that, and requires an an independent program manager for those private school students taking SOEP courses," Urey said.
Under the substitute described at the briefing, the private‑school portion of statewide online course funding would be removed from the existing state board line that currently supports SOEP and instead be transferred into a contracted-grants-and-initiatives line item. Urey said the current appropriation is about $8 million and, after removing home‑school students (estimated at roughly $1 million), about $7 million would move to the grants line under the substitute.
Board members raised administrative questions, including whether students receiving other scholarships (such as a voucher-like scholarship program referenced in the briefing) could double‑dip into both the scholarship and the online program funding. Urey said staff would verify mechanics and return with clarification; he told the board the department would follow similar verification procedures to those used for charter and public-school dual‑enrollment tracking.
The presenters emphasized the substitute is focused on program management and contract oversight rather than a change in per‑student entitlement; they said additional rules and guidance would be needed to avoid duplicate funding for students using multiple funding streams.
