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Senate Engrossed House Bill |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-fourth Legislature First Regular Session 2019
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CHAPTER 128
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HOUSE BILL 2303 |
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AN ACT
AMENDING section 15‑249.12, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to school curricula.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 15-249.12, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
15-249.12. Computer science professional development program fund; requirements; uses; reports
A. The computer science professional development program fund is established consisting of monies appropriated by the legislature and grants, gifts, devises and donations from any public or private source. The department of education shall administer the fund. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated and are exempt from the provisions of section 35‑190 relating to lapsing of appropriations. On notice from the department, the state treasurer shall invest and divest monies in the fund as provided by section 35‑313, and monies earned from investment shall be credited to the fund. Monies in the fund are subject to state auditing as prescribed by law.
B. The department of education shall distribute grants on a first‑come, first‑served basis from the computer science professional development program fund to school districts and charter public schools that do not currently provide high school computer science instruction courses to fund quality training for prospective computer science teachers. Subject to review and approval by the state board of education, the department shall establish application procedures for school districts and charter public schools that offer instruction in grades nine through twelve to apply for grants from the fund. A school district or charter public school that applies for a grant shall demonstrate how it plans to use monies from the fund to provide quality training to prospective computer science teachers. A school district or charter public school that receives grant monies from the fund must provide evidence that training provided to prospective computer science teachers with grant monies addresses academic standards for computer science, as adopted by the state board of education.
C. The grant application process established by the department of education shall prioritize awards to eligible public schools that either:
1. Have at least sixty percent of students enrolled who are eligible for free and reduced-priced lunches under the national school lunch and child nutrition acts (42 United States Code sections 1751 through 1785).
2. Are rural schools as defined in section 15-249.13.
C. D. The department of education may not distribute grant monies in an amount that is more than fifty percent of the total state general fund appropriation to the computer science professional development program fund in any fiscal year unless matching monies gifts, grants or donations of monies or in‑kind services are received from private sources to carry out the purposes of this section. The value of training provided by a private entity at no cost to this state or any other public school in this state shall count as matching monies in any fiscal year in which this training is provided.
E. The department may use up to two percent of the monies deposited in the fund each fiscal year for administrative purposes.
D. F. On or before June 30 of each year, each school district and charter public school that receives grant monies from the computer science professional development program fund shall submit a report to the department of education on the outcomes achieved with prospective computer science teachers and how the grant monies were spent. On or before November 15 of each year, the department shall submit a report to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives and the governor on the amount of grant monies awarded from the fund, the outcomes achieved and how the monies were spent. The department shall provide a copy of this report to the secretary of state.
Sec. 2. State board of education; Arizona board of regents; mathematics and science courses; graduation and admissions requirements; delayed repeal
A. The state board of education and the Arizona board of regents, in cooperation with the universities under its jurisdiction, shall develop guidelines for charter schools and school districts on the necessary rigor and content that a mathematics or science course must have in order to meet high school graduation requirements established by the state board of education and university admission requirements established by the Arizona board of regents. The boards shall prioritize developing guidelines for computer science and integrated science courses and shall work with the appropriate mathematics and science teaching communities and representatives from related workforce industries to develop the guidelines. The guidelines shall be made available to the public.
B. The Arizona board of regents shall review its current process for charter schools and school districts to submit courses for review to determine whether a course meets university admissions standards to ensure that the process is both timely and transparent.
C. This section is repealed from and after June 30, 2020.
Sec. 3. Emergency
This act is an emergency measure that is necessary to preserve the public peace, health or safety and is operative immediately as provided by law.
APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR APRIL 24, 2019.
FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE APRIL 24, 2019.