HB2781sam001 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Michael Connelly

Filed: 5/7/2015

09900HB2781sam001 LRB099 07673 NHT 35234 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2781

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2781 by replacing line 14 on page 3 through line 22 on page 4 with the following:

"(a) The State Board of Education shall establish and maintain, for implementation in selected school districts during the 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018 school years, a pilot program for use of electronic-learning (e-learning) days, as described in this Section. The State Superintendent of Education shall select up to 3 school districts for this program, at least one of which may be an elementary or unit school district. The use of e-learning days may not begin until the second semester of the 2015-2016 school year, and the pilot program shall conclude with the end of the 2017-2018 school year. On or before June 1, 2019, the State Board shall report its recommendation for expansion, revision, or discontinuation of the program to the Governor and General Assembly.

(b) The school board of a school district selected by the State Superintendent of Education under subsection (a) of this Section may, by resolution, adopt a research-based program or research-based programs for e-learning days district-wide that shall permit student instruction to be received electronically while students are not physically present in lieu of the district's scheduled emergency days as required by Section 10-19 of this Code. The research-based program or programs may not exceed the minimum number of emergency days in the approved school calendar and must be submitted to the State Superintendent for approval on or before September 1st annually to ensure access for all students. The State Superintendent shall approve programs that ensure that the specific needs of all students are met, including special education students and English learners, and that all mandates are still met using the proposed research-based program. The e-learning program may utilize the Internet, telephones, texts, chat rooms, or other similar means of electronic communication for instruction and interaction between teachers and students that meet the needs of all learners.".