Texas Statutes
Subchapter Z. Miscellaneous Programs
Section 29.9091. Local Remote Learning Program

Sec. 29.9091. LOCAL REMOTE LEARNING PROGRAM. (a) A school district or open-enrollment charter school assigned an overall performance rating of C or higher under Section 39.054 for the preceding school year or the most recent school year in which a performance rating was assigned may operate a local remote learning program to offer virtual courses outside the state virtual school network under Chapter 30A to eligible students.
(b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school that operates a full-time local remote learning program must:
(1) include in the program:
(A) at least one grade level in which an assessment instrument is required to be administered under Section 39.023(a), including each subject for which an assessment instrument is required; or
(B) a complete high school program, including each course for which an end-of-course assessment instrument is required to be administered under Section 39.023(c); and
(2) offer the option for a student's parent or person standing in parental relation to select in-person instruction for the student.
(c) A virtual course offered under a local remote learning program:
(1) may be provided through synchronous instruction, asynchronous instruction, or a combination of synchronous and asynchronous instruction; and
(2) may be provided in combination with in-person instruction as appropriate to meet the needs of individual students.
(d) A student is eligible to enroll in a virtual course offered under a local remote learning program if the student:
(1) is enrolled in a school district or open-enrollment charter school;
(2) has reasonable access to in-person services for the course at a district or school facility; and
(3) meets any additional criteria, including minimum academic standards, established by the school district or open-enrollment charter school in which the student is enrolled.
(e) A school district or open-enrollment charter school that operates a local remote learning program:
(1) shall periodically assess the performance of students enrolled in virtual courses under the program;
(2) subject to Subsection (f), may remove a student from virtual courses under the program and return the student to in-person instruction if the district or school determines that the student does not meet the criteria described by Subsection (d); and
(3) may not count a student for purposes of calculating the district's or school's average daily attendance if the student has 10 or more unexcused absences in the program in a six-month period.
(f) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may remove a student from virtual courses under Subsection (e)(2) only if the district or school establishes a process to ensure that each student and the student's parent or person standing in parental relation have sufficient notice and opportunity to provide input before the student is removed from those courses.
(g) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may contract with another school district or open-enrollment charter school to allow a student enrolled in the sending district or school to enroll in virtual courses offered under the local remote learning program of the receiving district or school. A student enrolled in virtual courses under an agreement described by this subsection is considered enrolled in the sending district or school for purposes of average daily attendance and accountability under Chapters 39 and 39A.
(h) An assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023 or 39.025 to a student enrolled in a virtual course offered under a local remote learning program shall be administered to the student in the same manner in which the assessment instrument is administered to other school district or open-enrollment charter school students.
(i) If a school district or open-enrollment charter school offers virtual courses under a local remote learning program for students receiving special education services, the courses must meet the needs of a participating student in a manner consistent with Subchapter A of this chapter and with federal law, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400 et seq.) and Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794).
(j) A teacher may not provide instruction for a virtual course offered under a full-time local remote learning program unless the teacher has completed a professional development course on virtual instruction.
(k) A district or school may not directly or indirectly coerce any teacher to agree to an assignment to teach a full-time local remote learning program.
(l) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may not require a teacher to provide both virtual instruction and in-person instruction for a course during the same class period. The commissioner may waive the requirements of this subsection for courses included in the enrichment curriculum under Section 28.002.
(m) A student enrolled in a virtual course offered under a local remote learning program may participate in an extracurricular activity sponsored or sanctioned by the school district or open-enrollment charter school in which the student is enrolled or by the University Interscholastic League in the same manner as other district or school students.
(n) Except as otherwise provided under Subsection (e)(3), a student enrolled in a virtual course offered under a local remote learning program shall be counted toward the school district's or open-enrollment charter school's average daily attendance in the same manner as other district or school students. The commissioner shall adopt rules providing for a method of taking attendance, once each school day, for students enrolled in a virtual course offered under a local remote learning program.
(o) Chapter 30A does not apply to a virtual course offered under a local remote learning program.
(p) This section does not prohibit a student enrolled in a school district or open-enrollment charter school that operates a local remote learning program from enrolling in courses offered through the state virtual school network under Chapter 30A.
(q) A school district or open-enrollment charter school that operates a local remote learning program may not enroll in the program a number of students that exceeds 10 percent of the total number of students enrolled in the district or school during the 2021-2022 school year. The commissioner may waive this subsection:
(1) on application by a school district or open-enrollment charter school; or
(2) in response to a public health emergency.
(r) In calculating under Subsection (q) the number of students that may be enrolled in a local remote learning program, a school district or open-enrollment charter school shall count students who spend at least half of the student's instructional time during the 2021-2022 school year or 2022-2023 school year, as applicable, enrolled in virtual courses or receiving remote instruction, other than by enrollment in electronic courses offered through the state virtual school network under Chapter 30A, including students enrolled in virtual courses or who received remote instruction during the 2021-2022 school year or 2022-2023 school year, as applicable, because the student was:
(1) medically fragile;
(2) placed in a virtual setting by an admission, review, and dismissal committee; or
(3) receiving accommodations under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794).
(s) This section expires September 1, 2023.
Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., 2nd C.S., Ch. 5 (S.B. 15), Sec. 3, eff. September 9, 2021.