(1) (a) A local education provider may apply for a grant pursuant to this section; except that, when a school district submits an application and is eligible for a grant pursuant to this part 2, a school operating within that district may not submit an application.
(b) An application from an individual school must be submitted by the chief administrative officer of the school and, if the school is not a charter school, the school must notify the superintendent of the school district of the application.
(2) (a) A local education provider is eligible for the grant program if the local education provider automatically enrolls each student entering the ninth grade or higher in an advanced course based on any of the following criteria:
(I) The student achieved a score that is equivalent to, or exceeds, demonstrating proficiency on the state assessment that was administered pursuant to section 22-7-1006.3 for the preceding academic year, referred to in this section as an "eligible score", as follows:
Students who achieve an eligible score in a subject related to mathematics must beautomatically enrolled in advanced courses in mathematics;
Students who achieve an eligible score in subjects relating to reading and writingmust be enrolled in advanced courses in English, social studies, humanities, or other related subjects; and
Students who achieve an eligible score in a subject related to science or social studies must be automatically enrolled in advanced courses in science or social studies; or
(II) Any other measure, applied to all students enrolled in a local education provider, that, in the judgment of the local education provider, is an indicator that a student demonstrates the ability to succeed in an advanced course.
(b) (I) A local education provider is encouraged to automatically enroll each student entering the fourth through eighth grade in advanced courses as described in this section.
(II) A local education provider is encouraged to use automatic enrollment for courses in subjects not listed in this section.
(c) A local education provider shall permit a parent of a student to remove the student from an advanced course in which the student has been automatically enrolled. A local education provider may permit a parent of a student to exempt the student from any automatic enrollment in advanced courses.
(3) In an application submitted pursuant to this part 2, a local education provider shall include the following:
A description of the local education provider's existing advanced courses and anyplanned advanced courses, including courses that may be implemented with money received from the grant program;
The local education provider's plan for automatically enrolling students into advanced courses;
A description of how the local education provider will use any grant awarded consistent with the requirements of subsection (4) of this section; and (d) Any other information required by state board rule.
(4) A local education provider that is awarded a grant pursuant to this part 2 may use the grant money for any of the following:
Expanding the number of advanced courses offered in the local education provider,including the use of technology to increase the number of advanced courses offered;
Incentivizing teachers to teach advanced courses, including teacher training and professional development in areas relating to advanced course instruction;
Developing advanced course curriculum; or
Expanding parent and student engagement with the local education provider as itrelates to advanced course availability and enrollment and student success in advanced courses.
A local education provider that is awarded a grant pursuant to this part 2 may not usethe grant money for the purpose of hiring new teachers.
A local education provider that receives an award from the grant program must submit an annual report to the department that includes the following information:
The number of students enrolled in advanced courses;
The number of students automatically enrolled in advanced courses by the local education provider; and
Demographic information of students automatically enrolled in advanced courses,including but not limited to age, ethnicity, racial, and socioeconomic information.
Source: L. 2019: Entire part added, (SB 19-059), ch. 149, p. 1772, § 2, effective August 2.