SB17-070 Summary

• Transitions certification responsibility from multi-district online schools to their authorizers effective January 1, 2018, requiring school districts, groups of districts, boards of cooperative services, and the state charter school institute to obtain division certification before authorizing online schools.

• Establishes authorizer certification standards covering commitment and capacity, application review and approval processes, and continuing oversight with rigorous performance standards aligned to state accreditation systems.

• Certifications are valid for five years and may be renewed; allows two-year continuation period if an authorizer loses certification while the division facilitates transition to a new authorizer.

• Requires drop-in centers (in addition to learning centers) to have memoranda of understanding with school districts, with standard MOU forms to be revised by October 1, 2017.

• Directs the division to study student mobility into and out of online schools by December 2018 and collect data on authorizer and school operations to identify and disseminate best practices in online education.