Sec. 26.0031. RIGHTS CONCERNING STATE VIRTUAL SCHOOL NETWORK

(a) At the time and in the manner that a school district or open-enrollment charter school informs students and parents about courses that are offered in the district's or school's traditional classroom setting, the district or school shall notify parents and students of the option to enroll in an electronic course offered through the state virtual school network under Chapter 30A.

(b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school in which a student is enrolled as a full-time student may not unreasonably deny the request of a parent of a student to enroll the student in an electronic course offered through the state virtual school network under Chapter 30A.

(c) For purposes of Subsection (b), a school district or open-enrollment charter school is not considered to have unreasonably denied a request to enroll a student in an electronic course if:

(1) the district or school can demonstrate that the course does not meet state standards or standards of the district or school that are of equivalent rigor as the district's or school's standards for the same course provided in a traditional classroom setting;

(2) a student attempts to enroll in a course load that:

(A) is inconsistent with the student's high school graduation plan; or

(B) could reasonably be expected to negatively affect the student's performance on an assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023; or

(3) the student requests permission to enroll in an electronic course at a time that is not consistent with the enrollment period established by the school district or open-enrollment charter school providing the course.

(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (c)(3), a school district or open-enrollment charter school that provides an electronic course through the state virtual school network under Chapter 30A shall make all reasonable efforts to accommodate the enrollment of a student in the course under special circumstances.

(e) A parent may appeal to the commissioner a school district's or open-enrollment charter school's decision to deny a request to enroll a student in an electronic course offered through the state virtual school network. The commissioner's decision under this subsection is final and may not be appealed.

Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1337 , Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2007.