Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1) All Sections of this rule apply to each
private alternative education program approved by a school district board on or
after July 1, 2007. For the purposes of this rule, the term "program" includes
"school."
(2) For the purposes of
ORS 336.635(1), all
private alternative education programs receiving public school funds must
comply with Private Alternative Education Standards established by the Oregon
State Board of Education. Before contracting with or receiving public funds
from any public school district, each private alternative program must register
with the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) under this rule and must have an
institution identification number assigned by the Department.
(3) New registration and renewal applications
must be received each year by a date to be determined by the Department.
Annually by March 1, the Oregon Department of Education will provide
registration renewal application forms to private alternative programs
registered with the Department.
(4)
Each private alternative education program must apply to the Department for
approval of registration renewal and the application for registration or
renewal of registration must include information or documentation as required
by the Department that the private alternative program meets:
(a) Local and state fire, safety, health and
occupancy codes and standards;
(b)
Health and safety standards and rules including, but not limited to, sanitation
and prevention of communicable disease;
(c) The requirements of:
(A) OAR 581-022-2225 (emergency plans and
safety programs);
(B) OAR
581-022-2230 (asbestos management plans);
(C) OAR 581-022-2220 (communicable
diseases);
(D) ORS
339.870 and OAR 581-021-0037
(administration of medications);
(E) OAR 437-002-1030 (Oregon Occupational
Safety and Health Division - blood borne pathogens);
(F) OAR 581-022-2220 (health
services);
(G) ORS
337.150,
339.141,
339.147 and
339.155 (tuition and
fees);
(H) ORS
181.539,
326.603,
326.607,
336.631, and
342.232 (criminal records
checks) for all subject individuals as defined in OAR 581-022-2430, including
private alternative school/program owner/operators who have direct,
unsupervised contact with students;
(I) ORS
433.235 through
433.284 and OAR 333-050-0010
through 333-050-0120 (immunization records and reports); and
(J) ORS
659.850 and
659.855(discrimination).
(5) The annual application must also include
assurances and verifying documentation, as required by the Department, that the
private alternative program:
(a) Has a mission
statement;
(b) Maintains commercial
general liability insurance with policy limits of at least $1,000,000 and
annually provides ODE with requested information or documentation showing the
name of the insurance company, the number of the insurance policy, the policy
limits covered by the policy, and the effective term of the policy;
(c) Identifies the grade levels to be
served;
(d) Identifies which
students will be served consistent with OAR 581-022-2505;
(e) Assists the contracting district in
meeting its planned K12 instructional program in compliance with OAR
581-022-2030;
(f) Provides
instruction in the academic content standards adopted by the State Board of
Education and that students participate in district and state assessments of
achievement for the grade level(s) the program serves;
(g) Assists students in earning diploma
credits consistent with OAR 581-022-2000 and 581-022-2025;
(h) Uses curriculum content, teaching
practices, facilities, and management practices that do not violate
constitutional prohibitions on religious entanglement;
(i) Develops, implements, and, if necessary,
modifies an education plan consistent with OAR 581-022-2000, Diploma
Requirements, for each student approved for placement in the program by the
student's contracting district;
(j)
In cooperation with each student's contracting district and parent, guardian,
or other responsible adult, includes criteria in the student's education plan
for determining if, how, when, and where the student may transition from the
alternative education program;
(k)
At least annually reports the results of each student's performance on
district-wide and state-wide assessments to the student, the student's parents
or legal guardians, and to the student's contracting district;
(l) Collects and reports to each contracting
district and the state the student's local and state assessment, attendance,
behavior, graduation, dropout, and other data required by the district and the
state;
(m) If providing special
education services or related services identified in any child's IEP, is
approved by the ODE under OAR 581-015-2270;
(n) Maintains the confidentiality of student
records consistent with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 34 CFR
99 et. seq. and maintains student records in compliance with Oregon
Administrative Rules on student records;
(o) The school shall provide training for all
students which is designed to prevent child abuse.
(p) The school shall include training for all
school employees on the prevention and identification of child abuse and on the
obligations of school employees to report child abuse based on policies adopted
by the school board or governing body. This training shall be updated and
presented to all employees on an annual basis.
(q) The school shall make the training
detailed in section (o) of this rule available to parents and legal guardians
of children who attend a school operated by the education provider. The
training shall be provided separately from the training provided to school
employees under section (p) of this rule.
(r) Has procedures in place regarding staff
hiring and evaluation that require:
(A)
Checking personal and professional references for all potential
employees;
(B) Criminal background
checks in compliance with OAR 581-022-2430 and ORS
181.539,
326.603,
326.607 and
342.232 and to comply with
section (9) of this rule, for all employees;
(C) A regular schedule of staff evaluations
of the competencies of all employees that work with children; and
(D) Staff licensing/registration by the
Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission in compliance with OAR
584-200-0010;
(s) For
purposes of claiming state school funds, has policies and procedures to ensure
that:
(A) Students enrolled in a public
school district and receiving instruction in the district's comprehensive
planned K12 curriculum consistent with OAR 581-022-2030 and who are
individually placed by the school district in the alternative education program
under ORS 336.635 are accounted for in
compliance with OAR 581-023-0006(7);
(B) Students enrolled in schools consistent
with ORS 336.135 and students enrolled in
nonpublic schools or taught by a private teacher or parent under ORS
339.035 and who are
supplementing their home, private, or other instruction by attending the
alternative program part-time are accounted for in compliance with OAR
581-023-0006(6)(a); and
(C) The
activities claimed for state school funds by the program are one or more of
those in OAR 581-023-0008 as approved by the contracting school district;
and
(t) Complies with
each statute, rule or school district policy specified in a contract between
the school district board and the private alternative education program;
and
(u) Notifies the ODE and each
contracting public school district of any written complaint it receives
alleging non-compliance with this private alternative program registration
rule.
(6) Each annual
renewal application must include a copy of the written annual evaluation of the
applicant private alternative program completed by each contracting public
school district for the prior school year.
(7) Each private alternative program must
provide an annual statement of program expenditures to each contracting
district consistent with ORS
336.635(2).
(8) The Oregon Department of Education may
monitor the procedure used by the private alternative program for reporting
Full Time Equivalent (FTE) student enrollment for the purposes of basic school
support.
(9) The Department of
Education may deny, suspend, or revoke a private alternative program
registration consistent with OAR 581-021-0073.
(10) No registered private alternative
school/program shall be owned by or employ an individual who is not of good
moral character and reputation.
(a) Upon
review by the Department, the Superintendent may find a person not to be of
good moral character and reputation when the person:
(A) Has been convicted of a felony or a
misdemeanor that involves the illegal use, sale or possession of a controlled
substance, or that involves any sexual offense, or any violent
offense;
(B) Has been convicted of
an offense involving fraud or misrepresentation, or has committed fraud,
misrepresentation, or deceit or has committed unfair, deceptive, or unlawful
trade practices regulated by the Oregon Unlawful Trade Practices Act (ORS
646.605646.652); or
(C) Is
currently subject to suspension or revocation under OAR 581-021-0073.
(b) The Superintendent shall not
make a finding that a person is not of good moral character and reputation
solely for the reason that the person has been convicted of a crime, but shall
consider the relationship of the facts that support the conviction and all
intervening circumstances as they relate to the specific occupational standards
and requirements.
(11) As
of the effective date of this rule, the Private Alternative Education Standards
adopted by the State Board of Education December 5, 2002, are rescinded and
replaced by sections (2)-(5) of this rule.
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 181, 539,
326.603,
326.607,
327.109,
336.615 -
336.665 &
337.150
