Regulation 2000.1R
Instruction
It is the policy of Tacoma Public Schools to at times, contract with an entity other than a school district to provide education to its students. When this occurs, the following will occur:
- The board of directors will adopt a resolution that concludes it is in the best interest of the students to expand the options available by providing an appropriate basic education program pursuant to the contract and sets forth the rationale in support of the conclusion. (Not required for on-line courses purchased by the district from an on-line provider approved by OSPI).
- The district will retain full responsibility for compliance with all state and federal laws;
- The contractor will comply with all relevant state and federal laws that are applicable to the district;
- The contractor will provide instruction free of sectarian or religious influence or control;
- The contractor will not charge district students tuition for enrollment;
- Enrollment is voluntary;
- No student or person will be unlawfully excluded from participation in the program offered by the contractor on the grounds of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, marital status, or presence of any sensory, mental, or physical handicap;
- Each high school student will be working toward course credits which satisfy high school graduation requirements;
- If the contractor is a state higher education institution, a state-funded education center, or any other state-funded entity, the contractor will not claim enrollment of the student or be receiving direct state support for the contracted instruction reported pursuant to this section;
- The curriculum offered by the contractor will be approved by the district. (Not required for an online course, the curriculum is not required for online courses offered by an online provider approved by OSPI);
- The contractor will provide enrollment reports to the district that comply with relevant Washington Administrative Code provisions;
- The contractor will maintain and have available for audit or review by the district, state, or federal authorities documentation of enrollment, hours of instructional activity participated in by the students, personnel data, and financial data including all revenues and expenditures pertaining to the contract with the district;
- If a certificated employee employed by a contractor other than an institution of higher education spends more than twenty-five percent of a full-time equivalent time with students for a given district at any time during the school year, the district will report the individual contractor certificated employee as required by the OSPI annual personnel reporting system for calculation of state funding, staff ratios, and statistics;
- The district and contractor will execute a written contract that is consistent with relevant Washington Administrative Code provisions, and that sets forth the duties of the contractor in detail sufficient to hold the contractor accountable to the district;
- The district and contractor will establish a process for periodic monitoring by the district for compliance with this section and other terms of the contract between the district and contractor unless the course at issue is an exempt online course or program through OSPI;
- Contracts for services for students with disabilities will comply with Washington Administrative Code provisions related to the same;
- Full-time equivalent enrollment reported for students served under a contract with a higher education institution will be based on the number of hours of instruction meeting in accordance with relevant Washington Administrative Code provisions;
- Full-time equivalent enrollment reported for students served under contract with a community or technical college as defined in RCW 28B.50.030 will be based on the credits generated by the student consistent with WAC 392-169-025 if the program meets the following standards:
- The student is earning credits applicable to a high school diploma.
- The program is focused on serving credit deficient students.
- The student population served is considered at-risk and meet the following
- criteria:
- The students have already dropped out of high school; or
- (ii) The students have not demonstrated success in the traditional high school environment.
- The district requires the contractor to clearly state in all of the contractor’s advertising, publicity, or public statements regarding the contracted service that the service is being offered by the district under contract.
Legal Reference:
- WAC 392-121-188 Instruction Provided Under Contract.
Adopted 11/27/12