CHAPTER 3310: EDUCATIONAL CHOICE SCHOLARSHIP PILOT PROGRAM

As used in sections 3310.01 to 3310.17 of the Revised Code:

(A) “Chartered nonpublic school” means a nonpublic school that holds a valid charter issued by the state board of education under section 3301.16 of the Revised Code and meets the standards established for such schools in rules adopted by the state board.

(B) An “eligible student” is a student who satisfies the conditions specified in section 3310.03 of the Revised Code.

(C) “Parent” has the same meaning as in section 3313.98 of the Revised Code.

(D) “Resident district” means the school district in which a student is entitled to attend school under section 3313.64 or 3313.65 of the Revised Code.

(E) “School year” has the same meaning as in section 3313.62 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005

The educational choice scholarship pilot program is hereby established. Under the program, the department of education annually shall pay scholarships to attend chartered nonpublic schools in accordance with section 3310.08 of the Revised Code for up to fourteen thousand eligible students . If the number of students who apply for a scholarship exceeds fourteen thousand, the department shall award scholarships in the following order of priority:

(A) First, to eligible students who received scholarships in the prior school year;

(B) Second, to eligible students with family incomes at or below two hundred per cent of the federal poverty guidelines, as defined in section 5101.46 of the Revised Code, who qualify under division (A) of section 3310.03 of the Revised Code. If the number of students described in this division who apply for a scholarship exceeds the number of available scholarships after awards are made under division (A) of this section, the department shall select students described in this division by lot to receive any remaining scholarships.

(C) Third, to other eligible students who qualify under division (A) of section 3310.03 of the Revised Code. If the number of students described in this division who apply for a scholarship exceeds the number of available scholarships after awards are made under divisions (A) and (B) of this section, the department shall select students described in this division by lot to receive any remaining scholarships.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005; 03-30-2007

(A) A student is an “eligible student” for purposes of the educational choice scholarship pilot program if the student’s resident district is not a school district in which the pilot project scholarship program is operating under sections 3313.974 to 3313.979 of the Revised Code and the student satisfies one of the following conditions:

(1) The student is enrolled in a school building that is operated by the student’s resident district and to which both of the following apply:

(a) The building was declared, in at least two of the three most recent ratings of school buildings published prior to the first day of July of the school year for which a scholarship is sought , to be in a state of academic emergency or academic watch under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code;

(b) The building was not declared to be excellent or effective under that section in the most recent rating published prior to the first day of July of the school year for which a scholarship is sought.

(2) The student is eligible to enroll in kindergarten in the school year for which a scholarship is sought and otherwise would be assigned under section 3319.01 of the Revised Code to a school building described in division (A)(1) of this section .

(3) The student is enrolled in a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code but otherwise would be assigned under section 3319.01 of the Revised Code to a building described in division (A)(1) of this section.

(4) The student is enrolled in a school building that is operated by the student’s resident district or in a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code and otherwise would be assigned under section 3319.01 of the Revised Code to a school building described in division (A)(1) of this section in the school year for which the scholarship is sought.

(5) The student is eligible to enroll in kindergarten in the school year for which a scholarship is sought, or is enrolled in a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, and all of the following apply to the student’s resident district :

(a) The district has in force an intradistrict open enrollment policy under which no student in kindergarten or the community school student’s grade level, respectively, is automatically assigned to a particular school building;

(b) In at least two of the three most recent ratings of school districts published prior to the first day of July of the school year for which a scholarship is sought , the district was declared to be in a state of academic emergency under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code;

(c) The district was not declared to be excellent or effective under that section in the most recent rating published prior to the first day of July of the school year for which a scholarship is sought.

(B) A student who receives a scholarship under the educational choice scholarship pilot program remains an eligible student and may continue to receive scholarships in subsequent school years until the student completes grade twelve, so long as all of the following apply:

(1) The student’s resident district remains the same, or the student transfers to a new resident district and otherwise would be assigned in the new resident district to a school building described in division (A)(1) of this section;

(2) The student takes each state test prescribed for the student’s grade level under section 3301.0710 or 3301.0712 of the Revised Code while enrolled in a chartered nonpublic school;

(3) In each school year that the student is enrolled in a chartered nonpublic school, the student is absent from school for not more than twenty days that the school is open for instruction, not including excused absences .

(C) The department shall cease awarding first-time scholarships pursuant to divisions (A)(1) to (4) of this section with respect to a school building that, in the most recent ratings of school buildings published under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code prior to the first day of July of the school year, ceases to meet the criteria in division (A)(1) of this section. The department shall cease awarding first-time scholarships pursuant to division (A)(5) of this section with respect to a school district that, in the most recent ratings of school districts published under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code prior to the first day of July of the school year, ceases to meet the criteria in division (A)(5) of this section. However, students who have received scholarships in the prior school year remain eligible students pursuant to division (B) of this section.

(D) The state board of education shall adopt rules defining excused absences for purposes of division (B)(3) of this section.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005; 03-30-2006; 03-30-2007

Any eligible student who is enrolled in a chartered nonpublic school and for whom a scholarship under the educational choice scholarship pilot program has been awarded shall be entitled to transportation to and from the chartered nonpublic school by the student’s resident district in the manner prescribed in section 3327.01 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005

A scholarship under the educational choice scholarship pilot program is not available for any student whose resident district is a school district in which the pilot project scholarship program is operating under sections 3313.974 to 3313.979 of the Revised Code. The two pilot programs are separate and distinct. The general assembly has prescribed separate scholarship amounts for the two pilot programs in recognition of their differing eligibility criteria. The pilot project scholarship program operating under sections 3313.974 to 3313.979 of the Revised Code is a district-wide program that may award scholarships to students who do not attend district schools that face academic challenges, whereas the educational choice scholarship pilot program established under sections 3310.01 to 3310.17 of the Revised Code is limited to students of individual district school buildings that face academic challenges.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005

It is the policy adopted by the general assembly that the educational choice scholarship pilot program shall be construed as one of several educational options available for students enrolled in academic emergency or academic watch school buildings. Students may be enrolled in the schools of the student’s resident district, in a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, in the schools of another school district pursuant to an open enrollment policy adopted under section 3313.98 of the Revised Code, in a chartered nonpublic school with or without a scholarship under the educational choice scholarship pilot program, or in other schools as the law may provide.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005; 03-30-2006

Any parent, or any student who is at least eighteen years of age, who is seeking a scholarship under the educational choice scholarship pilot program shall notify the department of education of the student’s and parent’s names and address, the chartered nonpublic school in which the student has been accepted for enrollment, and the tuition charged by the school.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005

(A) The amount paid for an eligible student under the educational choice scholarship pilot program shall be the lesser of the tuition of the chartered nonpublic school in which the student is enrolled or the maximum amount prescribed in section 3310.09 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) The department shall pay to the parent of each eligible student for whom a scholarship is awarded under the program, or to the student if at least eighteen years of age, periodic partial payments of the scholarship.

(2) The department shall proportionately reduce or terminate the payments for any student who withdraws from a chartered nonpublic school prior to the end of the school year.

(C)(1) The department shall deduct from the payments made to each school district under Chapter 3317. and, if necessary, sections 321.24 and 323.156 of the Revised Code one of the following amounts, as applicable, for each eligible student awarded a scholarship under the educational choice scholarship pilot program who is entitled under section 3313.64 or 3313.65 of the Revised Code to attend school in the district:

(a) For each scholarship student enrolled in kindergarten, two thousand seven hundred dollars;

(b) For each scholarship student enrolled in grades one to twelve, five thousand two hundred dollars.

The amount deducted under division (C)(1) of this section funds scholarships for students under both the educational choice scholarship pilot program and the pilot project scholarship program under sections 3313.974 to 3313.979 of the Revised Code.

(2) If the department reduces or terminates payments to a parent or a student, as prescribed in division (B)(2) of this section, and the student enrolls in the schools of the student’s resident district or in a community school, established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, before the end of the school year, the department shall proportionally restore to the resident district the amount deducted for that student under division (C)(1) of this section.

(D) In the case of any school district from which a deduction is made under division (C) of this section, the department shall disclose on the district’s SF-3 form, or any successor to that form used to calculate a district’s state funding for operating expenses, a comparison of the following:

(1) The district’s state base-cost payment, as calculated under division (A)(1) of section 3317.022 of the Revised Code prior to making the adjustments under divisions (A)(2) and (3) of that section, with the scholarship students included in the district’s formula ADM;

(2) What the district’s state base-cost payment would have been, as calculated under division (A)(1) of that section prior to making the adjustments under divisions (A)(2) and (3) of that section, if the scholarship students were not included in the district’s formula ADM.

This comparison shall display both the aggregate difference between the amounts described in divisions (D)(1) and (2) of this section, and the quotient of that aggregate difference divided by the number of eligible students for whom deductions are made under division (C) of this section.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005; 03-30-2006; 09-28-2006

(A) The maximum amount awarded to an eligible student in fiscal year 2007 under the educational choice scholarship pilot program shall be as follows:

(1) For grades kindergarten through eight, four thousand two hundred fifty dollars;

(2) For grades nine through twelve, five thousand dollars.

(B) In fiscal year 2008 and in each fiscal year thereafter, the maximum amount awarded under the program shall be the applicable maximum amount awarded in the previous fiscal year increased by the same percentage by which the general assembly increased the formula amount, as defined in section 3317.02 of the Revised Code, from the previous fiscal year.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005

A scholarship awarded under section 3310.08 of the Revised Code may be used only to pay tuition to any chartered nonpublic school.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005

(A) Only for the purpose of administering the educational choice scholarship pilot program, the department of education may request from any of the following entities the data verification code assigned under division (D)(2) of section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code to any student who is seeking a scholarship under the program:

(1) The student’s resident district;

(2) If applicable, the community school in which that student is enrolled;

(3) The independent contractor engaged to create and maintain student data verification codes.

(B) Upon a request by the department under division (A) of this section for the data verification code of a student seeking a scholarship or a request by the student’s parent for that code, the school district or community school shall submit that code to the department or parent in the manner specified by the department. If the student has not been assigned a code, because the student will be entering kindergarten during the school year for which the scholarship is sought, the district shall assign a code to that student and submit the code to the department or parent by a date specified by the department. If the district does not assign a code to the student by the specified date, the department shall assign a code to that student.

The department annually shall submit to each school district the name and data verification code of each student residing in the district who is entering kindergarten, who has been awarded a scholarship under the program, and for whom the department has assigned a code under this division.

(C) For the purpose of administering the applicable tests prescribed under sections 3301.0710 and 3301.0712 of the Revised Code, as required by section 3310.14 of the Revised Code, the department shall provide to each chartered nonpublic school that enrolls a scholarship student the data verification code for that student.

(D) The department and each chartered nonpublic school that receives a data verification code under this section shall not release that code to any person except as provided by law.

Any document relative to this program that the department holds in its files that contains both a student’s name or other personally identifiable information and the student’s data verification code shall not be a public record under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 03-30-2006

Except as provided in division (D) of section 3310.11 of the Revised Code, documents relative to the educational choice scholarship pilot program that the department holds in its files are public records under section 149.43 of the Revised Code and may be released pursuant to that section subject to the provisions of section 3319.321 of the Revised Code and the “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974,” 88 Stat. 571, 20 U.S.C. 1232g, as amended.

Effective Date: 03-30-2006

(A) No chartered nonpublic school shall charge any student whose family income is at or below two hundred per cent of the federal poverty guidelines, as defined in section 5101.46 of the Revised Code, a tuition fee that is greater than the total amount paid for that student under section 3310.08 of the Revised Code.

(B) A chartered nonpublic school may charge any other student who is paid a scholarship under that section the difference between the amount of the scholarship and the regular tuition charge of the school. Each chartered nonpublic school shall permit such an eligible student’s family, at the family’s option, to provide volunteer services in lieu of cash payment to pay all or part of the amount of the school’s tuition not covered by the scholarship paid under section 3310.08 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005

Notwithstanding division (K) of section 3301.0711 of the Revised Code, each chartered nonpublic school that enrolls students awarded scholarships under sections 3310.01 to 3310.17 of the Revised Code annually shall administer the tests prescribed by section 3301.0710 or 3301.0712 of the Revised Code to each scholarship student in accordance with section 3301.0711 of the Revised Code. Each chartered nonpublic school shall report to the department of education the results of each test administered to each scholarship student under this section.

Nothing in this section requires a chartered nonpublic school to administer any achievement test, except for an Ohio graduation test prescribed by division (B) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code, as required by section 3313.612 of the Revised Code, to any student enrolled in the school who is not a scholarship student.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005

Effective Date: 03-30-2007

(A) The state board of education shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code prescribing procedures for the administration of the educational choice scholarship pilot program.

(B) The state board and the department of education shall not require chartered nonpublic schools to comply with any education laws or rules or other requirements that are not specified in sections 3310.01 to 3310.17 of the Revised Code or in rules necessary for the administration of the program, adopted under division (A) of this section, and that otherwise would not apply to a chartered nonpublic school.

Effective Date: 03-30-2007

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Alternative public provider” means either of the following providers that agrees to enroll a child in the provider’s special education program to implement the child’s individualized education program and to which the child’s parent owes fees for the services provided to the child:

(a) A school district that is not the school district in which the child is entitled to attend school;

(b) A public entity other than a school district.

(2) “Entitled to attend school” means entitled to attend school in a school district under section 3313.64 or 3313.65 of the Revised Code.

(3) “Formula ADM” and “category six special education ADM” have the same meanings as in section 3317.02 of the Revised Code.

(4) ” Preschool child with a disability” and “individualized education program” have the same meanings as in section 3323.01 of the Revised Code.

(5) “Parent” has the same meaning as in section 3313.64 of the Revised Code, except that “parent” does not mean a parent whose custodial rights have been terminated.

(6) “Preschool scholarship ADM” means the number of preschool children with disabilities reported under division (B)(3)(h) of section 3317.03 of the Revised Code.

(7) “Qualified special education child” is a child for whom all of the following conditions apply:

(a) The school district in which the child is entitled to attend school has identified the child as autistic. A child who has been identified as having a “pervasive developmental disorder – not otherwise specified (PPD-NOS)” shall be considered to be an autistic child for purposes of this section.

(b) The school district in which the child is entitled to attend school has developed an individualized education program under Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code for the child.

(c) The child either:

(i) Was enrolled in the school district in which the child is entitled to attend school in any grade from preschool through twelve in the school year prior to the year in which a scholarship under this section is first sought for the child; or

(ii) Is eligible to enter school in any grade preschool through twelve in the school district in which the child is entitled to attend school in the school year in which a scholarship under this section is first sought for the child.

(8) “Registered private provider” means a nonpublic school or other nonpublic entity that has been approved by the department of education to participate in the program established under this section.

(9) “Special education program” means a school or facility that provides special education and related services to children with disabilities.

(B) There is hereby established the autism scholarship program. Under the program, the department of education shall pay a scholarship to the parent of each qualified special education child upon application of that parent pursuant to procedures and deadlines established by rule of the state board of education. Each scholarship shall be used only to pay tuition for the child on whose behalf the scholarship is awarded to attend a special education program that implements the child’s individualized education program and that is operated by an alternative public provider or by a registered private provider. Each scholarship shall be in an amount not to exceed the lesser of the tuition charged for the child by the special education program or twenty thousand dollars. The purpose of the scholarship is to permit the parent of a qualified special education child the choice to send the child to a special education program, instead of the one operated by or for the school district in which the child is entitled to attend school, to receive the services prescribed in the child’s individualized education program once the individualized education program is finalized. A scholarship under this section shall not be awarded to the parent of a child while the child’s individualized education program is being developed by the school district in which the child is entitled to attend school, or while any administrative or judicial mediation or proceedings with respect to the content of the child’s individualized education program are pending. A scholarship under this section shall not be used for a child to attend a public special education program that operates under a contract, compact, or other bilateral agreement between the school district in which the child is entitled to attend school and another school district or other public provider, or for a child to attend a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code. However, nothing in this section or in any rule adopted by the state board shall prohibit a parent whose child attends a public special education program under a contract, compact, or other bilateral agreement, or a parent whose child attends a community school, from applying for and accepting a scholarship under this section so that the parent may withdraw the child from that program or community school and use the scholarship for the child to attend a special education program for which the parent is required to pay for services for the child. A child attending a special education program with a scholarship under this section shall continue to be entitled to transportation to and from that program in the manner prescribed by law.

(C)(1) As prescribed in divisions (A)(2)(h), (B)(3)(g), and (B)(10) of section 3317.03 of the Revised Code, a child who is not a preschool child with a disability for whom a scholarship is awarded under this section shall be counted in the formula ADM and the category six special education ADM of the district in which the child is entitled to attend school and not in the formula ADM and the category six special education ADM of any other school district. As prescribed in divisions (B)(3)(h) and (B)(10) of section 3317.03 of the Revised Code, a child who is a preschool child with a disability for whom a scholarship is awarded under this section shall be counted in the preschool scholarship ADM and category six special education ADM of the school district in which the child is entitled to attend school and not in the preschool scholarship ADM or category six special education ADM of any other school district.

(2) In each fiscal year, the department shall deduct from the amounts paid to each school district under Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code, and, if necessary, sections 321.24 and 323.156 of the Revised Code, the aggregate amount of scholarships awarded under this section for qualified special education children included in the formula ADM, or preschool scholarship ADM, and in the category six special education ADM of that school district as provided in division (C)(1) of this section. The scholarships deducted shall be considered as an approved special education and related services expense for the purpose of the school district’s compliance with division (C)(5) of section 3317.022 of the Revised Code.

(3) From time to time, the department shall make a payment to the parent of each qualified special education child for whom a scholarship has been awarded under this section. The scholarship amount shall be proportionately reduced in the case of any such child who is not enrolled in the special education program for which a scholarship was awarded under this section for the entire school year. The department shall make no payments to the parent of a child while any administrative or judicial mediation or proceedings with respect to the content of the child’s individualized education program are pending.

(D) A scholarship shall not be paid to a parent for payment of tuition owed to a nonpublic entity unless that entity is a registered private provider. The department shall approve entities that meet the standards established by rule of the state board for the program established under this section.

(E) The state board shall adopt rules under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code prescribing procedures necessary to implement this section, including, but not limited to, procedures and deadlines for parents to apply for scholarships, standards for registered private providers, and procedures for approval of entities as registered private providers.

Effective Date: 2006 HB699 03-29-2007; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007