An Act To Establish Multidistrict Online Classes in Maine
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0675
Committee Amendment CA_A-SA_B_S366 (Senate)
Amends: 20-A MRSA §19154, 20-A MRSA §19154-A

SENATE AMENDMENT" B " to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to S.P. 206, 
L.D. 675, Bill, "An Act To Establish Multidistrict Online Classes in Maine" 
Amend the amendment by striking out everything after the title and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §19154, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 330, §4, is 
amended to read: 
3. Agreements to share access to programs and courses. &7fleel Notwithstanding 
any other provision of this section, school administrative units may develop agreements 
to share access to online learning courses and programs offered by other sehool 
administrative units. 
Sec. 2. 20-A MRS A §19154, sub-§5 is enacted to read: 
5. Pilot project for full-time online enrollment. A student may enroll full time in 
an online program during the 2012-2013 school year, the 2013-2014 school year and the 
2014-2015 school year, as long as: 
A. The online course is consistent with the content standards and the parameters for 
essential instruction established pursuant to section 6209; 
B. The student notifies the school administrative unit in which the student resides by 
the April 1st before the start of the school year that the student elects to enroll full 
time in an online program; 
c. No more than 5% of students in a school administrative unit are enrolled full time 
in an online program; and 
D. The total cost for the online program taken by an individual student does not 
exceed the state average tuition rate calculated under section 5804 for elementary 
students or section 5805 for secondary students. 
In the case of a school administrative unit that offers an online program exclusively to 
students who reside, and whose parents reside, outside of the State, those students are not 
subject to the cost limitation in paragraph D. 
SENATE AMENDMENT 
SENATE AMENDMENT "'B"to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to S.P. 206, L.D. 675 
This subsection is repealed July 1, 2015. 
Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §19154-A is enacted to read: 
§19154-A. School administrative unit online learning program 
1. Course offerings. A school administrative unit may offer an online learning 
program to students in other school administrative units within and outside of the State as 
long as: 
A. The provider of the online learning program is either a school administrative unit 
in the State, a private school approved for tuition purposes that enrolls at least 60% 
publicly funded students or an online learning provider approved by the department 
in accordance with section 19153; 
B. 
The school administrative unit offering the online learning program provides 
public notice of the availability of the program through the department website 
established pursuant to subsection 2; 
C. If a program is oversubscribed, the school administrative unit gives preference 
first to a student who is a resident of the school administrative unit and second to 
other public school students in this State who are not residents of the school 
administrative unit through the use of a random lottery to select among students; 
D. A teacher employed by a school administrative unit or a private school approved 
for tuition purposes that enrolls at least 60% publicly funded students and provides 
instruction through an online learning program to students holds a valid teaching 
certificate in each content area being taught or receive approval from the 
commissioner to teach a course; and 
E. A teacher employed by a school administrative unit or a private school approved 
for tuition purposes that enrolls at least 60% publicly funded students receives 
appropriate preservice and in-service training pertaining to the organization of the 
online classroom, programs and courses, the technical aspects of online education, 
the monitoring of student assessment and other pertinent training. 
In the case of a school administrative unit that offers an online learning program or 
course exclusively to students who reside, and whose parents reside, outside of the State, 
those students are not subject to the lottery and enrollment preference provisions 
established for an oversubscribed program in paragraph C. 
2. 
Department website. 
The department shall maintain a publicly accessible 
website listing the online learning program or courses that are made available by school 
administrative units in accordance with this section. School administrative units offering 
an online course to students in other school administrative units shall provide the 
department with the name of the online course, the name of the provider of the online 
course, a link to more information about the online course, the number of slots available 
to students in other school administrative units and the tuition rate for each online course. 
The department shall make this information available on its publicly accessible website 
and shall update the website regularly. 
This section is repealed July 1, 2015. 
SENATE AMENDMENT 
~~. 
~. 
SENATE AMENDMENT "B "to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to S.P. 206, L.D. 675 
Sec. 4. 
Department of Education to establish working group. 
The 
Department of Education shall create a working group to study the opportunities in and 
challenges of creating one online school for the State for students in kindergarten to grade 
12. 
This working group must include teachers, administrators, parents, information 
technology specialists and other persons, groups or entities that have an interest in online 
learning. No later than January 4, 2012, the Department of Education shall report the 
findings of the working group along with any suggested legislation to the Joint Standing 
Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs. 
The Joint Standing Committee on 
Education and Cultural Affairs may submit a bill regarding the subject of the study to the 
Sec. 5. Online learning program evaluation. The Department of Education 
shall evaluate the implementation of the online learning programs as set forth in the 
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, sections 19154 and 19154-A. No later than January 
31, 2015, the Department of Education shall report the findings of its evaluation along 
with any suggested legislation to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over education matters. The joint standing committee may submit a bill 
regarding the evaluation required under this section to the First Regular Session of the 
127th Legislature.' , 
SUMMARY 
This amendment removes the provisions in the committee amendment that require 
school administrative units to pay up to $5,000 for students that choose to take online 
courses provided by other school administrative units. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
~ 
SPONSORE~~ 
_-/ 
(Senator HILL) 
COUNTY: York 
SENA TE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 06/28111 
hac::.. 
LD675 
LR 1850(06) 
An Act To Establish Multidistrict Online Classes in Maine 
Fiscal Note for Senate Amendment "$' to Committee Amendment "A" S -
3~cp 
Sponsor: Sen. Hill of York 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Eliminates unfunded state mandate 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Removing the requirement that school administrative units pay up to $5,000 for resident students that choose to take 
on-line courses that meet certain criteria that are offered by non-resident school administrative units eliminates the 
unfunded state mandate. 
LRI850(06) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1