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REFERENCE TITLE: foreign exchange programs; student count |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session 2024
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HB 2395 |
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Introduced by Representatives Gress: Pawlik
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An Act
amending section 15-823, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to school admission requirements.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 15-823, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
15-823. Admission; residents of other school districts; nonresidents of this state; tuition
A. Except as provided in subsections B, C, D, E, F, G and H of this section, children of nonresidents of this state may be admitted on payment of a reasonable tuition fixed by the governing board.
B. The governing board shall admit children of nonresident teaching and research faculty of community college districts and state universities and children of nonresident graduate or undergraduate students of community college districts and state universities whose parent's presence at the district or university is of international, national, state or local benefit without payment of tuition.
C. The governing board shall admit children who are residents of the United States but who are nonresidents of this state without payment of tuition if evidence indicates that the child's physical, mental, moral or emotional health is best served by placement with a grandparent, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, aunt or uncle who is a resident within the school district, unless the governing board determines that the placement is solely for the purpose of obtaining an education in this state without payment of tuition.
D. The governing board may admit nonresident foreign students who are in exchange programs without payment of tuition or as it may otherwise prescribe.
E. Notwithstanding subsection D of this section section 15-901, beginning in the 2016-2017 2024-2025 school year the governing board may admit the same number of nonresident foreign students who are in exchange programs and who are recipients of a J-1 visa pursuant to federal law, that is equal to the number of resident students enrolled in that local education agency who are currently participating in a foreign exchange program, as determined by the department, without the payment of tuition and may include these students in the school district's or charter school's average daily membership under section 15-901 if either of the following applies:
1. The school district or charter school seeks to include the same number of nonresident foreign students in the school district's or charter school's average daily membership as the number of resident students who are enrolled in the school district or charter school and who are participating in a foreign exchange program during the same period. A school district or charter school must apply to the department of education for approval before including a nonresident foreign student in the school district's or charter school's average daily membership under this paragraph.
2. The department of education approves a school district's or charter school's application to include an identifiable nonresident foreign student who is in an exchange program and who is a recipient of a J-1 visa pursuant to federal law in the school district's or charter school's average daily membership. For the purposes of this paragraph, a nonresident foreign student is identifiable if the school district or charter school reports the student's legal name and date of birth. The department shall approve applications under this paragraph on a first-come, first-served basis and may approve applications for up to one hundred full-time students as defined in section 15-901 per school year.
F. The governing board may admit children who are residents of the United States without payment of tuition if evidence indicates that because the parents are homeless or the child is abandoned, as defined in section 8-201, the child's physical, mental, moral or emotional health is best served by placement with a person who does not have legal custody of the child and who is a resident within the school district, unless the governing board determines that the placement is solely for the purpose of obtaining an education in this state without payment of tuition.
G. The governing board may admit children who are residents of the United States, but who are nonresidents of this state, without payment of tuition if all of the following conditions exist:
1. The child is a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe.
2. The child resides on Indian lands that are under the jurisdiction of the tribe of which the child is a member.
3. The area in the boundaries of the reservation where the child resides is located both in this state and in another state of the United States.
4. The governing board enters into an intergovernmental agreement with the governing board of the school district in another state in which the nonresident child resides. The intergovernmental agreement shall specify the number of nonresident children admitted in this state and the number of resident children that are admitted by the governing board in another state.
H. The governing board may admit children who are residents of the United States, but who are nonresidents of this state, without payment of tuition if all of the following conditions exist:
1. The child is enrolled in a year-round residential boarding academy located in this state specializing in intensive instruction and skill development in sports, music or acting.
2. The child's parents have executed a current notarized guardianship agreement covering the child while enrolled at the academy, which is a condition of enrollment at the academy and authorizes academy representatives to act on behalf of the child's parent or legal guardian in making all decisions on a daily basis as to the child's activities and needs for medical, educational and other personal issues.
I. The governing board shall charge reasonable tuition for the number of nonresident pupils who reside in another state and who are admitted by a governing board in this state pursuant to subsection G of this section that exceeds the number of resident pupils from this state who are admitted into a school district by the other state.
J. The governing board of a school district shall pay reasonable tuition for the number of resident pupils who reside in that school district and who are admitted by a school district in another state pursuant to subsection G of this section that exceeds the number of nonresident pupils from that other state who are admitted by the governing board into that school district in this state.
K. Children admitted under this section shall be counted or not counted as resident pupils as prescribed in section 15-824, subsection D.
L. Except as provided in subsections E, H and K of this section, a school district or a charter school shall not include pupils who are not residents of this state in the district's or charter school's student count and shall not obtain state funding for those pupils.