Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Virtual Learning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
AOE seeks to codify virtual learning as a flexible pathway and preserve ADM for virtual students
Summary
Agency of Education staff told the House Education Committee that the draft miscellaneous bill would add virtual learning to the flexible‑pathways statutes and explicitly allow schools to retain average daily membership for virtual students.
Agency of Education staff asked the House Education Committee on Feb. 26 to add a statutory home for virtual learning within the state’s flexible pathways laws and to clarify how average daily membership (ADM) is counted for students enrolled in virtual learning.
Lindsay Hedges told the committee the proposed new section is “not meant to increase the prevalence of or reliance on virtual learning, but rather is meant to clarify virtual learning in statute, and to make sure that AOE has, you know, financial and administrative support of virtual learning continues and that it is a flexible pathway that is accessible to all students.” She said the provision “clarifies that schools can maintain ADM for students enrolled in virtual learning.” Committee members repeatedly asked whether the draft requires AOE to undertake rulemaking. Legislative counsel, Beth St. James, explained that the draft includes a “shall” delegation for rulemaking and that the only rule series the agency currently automatically administers is district quality standards; she said she was not aware of a specific flexible‑pathways rule series currently assigned to AOE and that some program details are handled through agency policies and handbooks rather than formal rulemaking.
Why it matters: Committee members expressed concern about both preserving the option of virtual learning where appropriate and protecting district ADM funding. The clarification on ADM is intended to remove a disincentive for schools to approve virtual learning when it is the best pathway for a student.
Committee counsel and AOE staff agreed to follow up with a review of existing rule series and whether the proposed statutory delegation represents a new rulemaking obligation for the agency. No vote was taken at the hearing.
Ending: AOE and counsel will return with clarified drafting and a memo describing whether existing rule series cover virtual learning or if a new delegation is needed.
