Committee considers guidelines for virtual courses after growth in Center for Distance Education enrollments

The House Education Committee opened a hearing on House Bill 1105, introduced by Representative Jonas, to require school districts to establish policies governing virtual instruction when the district pays for a student’s enrollment in North Dakota Center for Distance Education (NDCDE) or other approved virtual providers.

Representative Jonas said the 2023 legislation that expanded access to virtual courses had produced unintended consequences. He told the committee that students were using open enrollment to move into online courses at varying points in the term, sometimes to avoid an in-person course or teacher, and that districts needed guidelines on enrollment windows, timing limits, eligibility criteria and financial responsibility for failed courses.

Supporters, including principals and superintendents from large and small districts, urged guardrails. Dr. Pam Cronin, principal at Horace High School, said about 50 students from her 750-student school took at least one online course in the fall; roughly 15% of those enrollments had failed by the time she testified, leaving…