Dear Virtual School Family,
Thank you for responding to our request to contact your legislators on two important bills relating to virtual public education. HB2898 would take into account individual student progress toward graduation and HB2720, would create a ‘study’ to evaluate virtual public schools.
We asked you to urge your legislators to support HB2898 and oppose HB2720.
April 18 was the deadline for bills to be considered and passed out of committee. If a House or Senate committee failed to vote on a particular bill, then it was effectively dead for this legislative session.
The House Education Committee held two hearings on HB2898, the graduation bill, however, the committee failed to vote to approve the bill. Therefore, it will not move forward during this session. We are hopeful that the bill will be reintroduced during the 2018 session.
The House Education Committee approved HB2720, the virtual school study bill, and referred it to the Joint Ways and Means Committee. The bill was referred to Ways and Means because it has a fiscal impact and requires state funding to be implemented. The process for allocating funds for specific bills will continue for several more weeks. With so many bills competing for funding, it’s possible that the committee may not be able to find the funds necessary to implement this legislation.
Other bill of note: HB3293A would prohibit a school district from denying participation in interscholastic activities by a student who attends a public charter school. This bill was approved by the House Education Committee and passed in the full House on April 20. It is awaiting consideration by the Senate.
We will continue to keep you informed on future developments during this legislative session.
Thank you for all you do to support virtual public education.
Sincerely,
Debbie Thibodeaux
President, OVPSA
Parent to Jordan - 8th grade, Baker Web Academy
Michaela - 6th grade, Baker Web Academy
Zach - 2nd grade, Oregon Virtual Academy
www.oregonvirtualschools.org
info@oregonvirtualschools.org