SB 993 - This act modifies provisions relating to elementary and secondary education. SCHOOL ACCREDITATION: When the State Board of Education assigns classification designations to school districts, it must use one of the following designations: unaccredited, provisionally accredited, accredited, and accredited with distinction. This section is identical to SB 856 (2014) and a provision contained in CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493, 485, 495, 516, 534, 545, 595, 616 & 624 (2014). (Section 161.086) SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE BOARDS: This act requires that any special administrative board established by the State Board of Education to govern an unaccredited school district consist of five members. The Governor must appoint the members with the advice and consent of the Senate. Two members must be members of the district's elected school board. Three members must not be members of the elected school board. (Section 162.081) ONLINE TUTORING SERVICES: This act allows a school district to enter into a contract with a public library to provide online tutoring services through a third party vendor or a non-profit organization for the district's students. Tutoring services must be conducted through compatible computers to participating students who have a library card, both within and without the public library facility. Online tutoring services may include assistance with homework, collaboration and study tools in various school subjects, access to writing assistance productivity software, and test preparation tools. A contract may allow dedicated access to assistance during specified hours of the day and specified days of the week. A contract may allow students to submit questions to tutors or join online study groups. Online tutoring services must be designed and implemented to protect student privacy, prohibit voice communication between the parties, and prohibit face-to-face visual communication. In addition, employees of third party vendors or nonprofit organizations with which a public library has contracted for the tutoring services are prohibited from soliciting personally identifiable information from participating students. School districts offering tutoring services must maintain an archive of all communications between students and tutors for two years that is accessible to district officials and tutoring supervisors. This provision is identical to a provision contained in CCS/HCS/SCS/SBs 493, 485, 495, 516, 534, 545, 595, 616 & 624 (2014). (Section 170.215) MICHAEL RUFF
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