HOUSE BILL 633
47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005
INTRODUCED BY
Hector H. Balderas
AN ACT
RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; CREATING THE THREE-YEAR CIMARRON ONLINE SCHOOL PILOT PROJECT TO DETERMINE THE EFFICACY OF PROVIDING ONLINE CLASSES TO HOME-SCHOOLED AND NONTRADITIONAL STUDENTS IN GRADES KINDERGARTEN THROUGH TWELVE; PROVIDING FOR PILOT PROJECT STAFFING, EQUIPMENT, CURRICULUM AND EVALUATION; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. CIMARRON ONLINE SCHOOL--PILOT PROJECT.--
A. The "Cimarron online school" pilot project is created as a three-year program to provide Cimarron municipal school district-approved curriculum and developed course work as online classes for grades kindergarten through twelve to home-schooled and nontraditional students. The purpose of Cimarron online school is to provide classes and programs to students statewide who would not otherwise have access to these classes and programs and at a cost that is less than schooling at traditional "brick and mortar" school facilities. For the purposes of this section, "nontraditional students" include school-age parents, working students, students under expulsion or suspension and students with medical conditions that prevent them from attending regular school.
B. The pilot project shall be administered by the Cimarron municipal school district and shall provide funding for online classes for forty students from the Cimarron municipal school district or from other parts of the state, two part-time online teachers, a part-time online education coordinator, computers, printers, internet access and educational software.
C. The Cimarron municipal school district shall provide in-kind services, including online registration, an online counselor, technical support, administrative support, partial internet access costs, computer virus protection and other internet security protocols, server costs and computer hardware for the teachers, the coordinator and for student placement or level testing.
D. The part-time teachers shall be online with each student at scheduled class times, provide weekly parent conferences by telephone and identify and organize existing software and curriculum into a standards-based educational program, including student level placement. The teachers shall hold appropriate licenses to teach. The part-time coordinator shall coordinate the teachers, conduct student placement evaluation and testing and identify world wide web software vendors.
E. Students participating in the Cimarron online school shall be provided with an educational program aligned with New Mexico educational standards and benchmarks and shall take state-mandated accountability tests. Online students shall participate in placement testing and be appropriately placed. The Cimarron municipal school district shall loan to each student in the pilot project a computer, monitor and printer and shall reimburse each student up to twenty-five dollars ($25.00) a month for an internet access service. Students may be part time or full time and shall attend the online school during the school calendar approved for the Cimarron municipal school district.
F. The Cimarron municipal school district shall establish reporting and evaluation requirements to determine whether students in the Cimarron online school have achieved the mastery of subject matter appropriate to their grade level and the cost per student of operating the online school. The district shall provide interim and final reports annually to the legislature, the public education department and the governor on the efficacy of the pilot project.
Section 2. APPROPRIATION.--Two hundred thirty-six thousand three hundred dollars ($236,300) is appropriated from the general fund to the public education department for the Cimarron municipal school district in fiscal year 2006 to pay the costs of establishing and operating the Cimarron online school. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2006 shall revert to the general fund.
- 4 -