Any teacher transferred from employment in a school district which is a member of a board of cooperative services to employment in said board of cooperative services shall retain the employment status he had attained prior to his transfer to the board of cooperative services, including credit for years of service as a probationary teacher, as provided in article 63 of this title, in the school district from which he transferred.
Source: L. 73: p. 1295, � 4. C.R.S. 1963: � 123-34-17. L. 90: Entire section amended, p. 1131, � 9, effective July 1.
22-5-118. Implementation and financing of regional education and support services - plan - annual report. (1) The general assembly recognizes that the increasing number of students, the desire to reduce school districts' reliance on property taxes, the need to consolidate services rather than schools, and the limitations on state revenues require the boards of cooperative services to develop the highest possible efficiencies and most economic methods for school districts to deliver education and support services. The general assembly further recognizes that it is essential to assist school districts in providing educational services with the maximum economies of scale without violating the principle of local control. The general assembly therefore declares that using boards of cooperative services to assist in delivering education and support services furthers a valid public purpose and promotes a commitment to achieving efficiencies and economies in providing educational services.
(2) Beginning fiscal year 1996-97 and for fiscal years thereafter, in addition to any state moneys received pursuant to section 22-5-115, a board of cooperative services may receive state moneys by submitting to the department of education a plan for the provision of education and support services programs, as specified in this section. Any amount appropriated to fund any education or support services program pursuant to this section shall be distributed by the department of education to each board of cooperative services that submits a plan. The amount appropriated shall be divided equally based on the total number of students enrolled in the member school districts of the participating boards and distributed based on the number of students participating in the funded education or support services program from each member school district of each participating board.
(3) (a) To receive funds under this section, a board of cooperative services, in cooperation with its participating school districts, the department of education, the Colorado commission on higher education, the state board for community colleges and occupational education, and postsecondary institutions, shall prepare and submit a plan to increase efficiencies and economies in providing education and support services to the board's participating school districts.
(b) Each plan shall include but is not limited to measures concerning:
(I) The enhancement of student achievement and instruction through cooperative research and development, the continuous upgrading of standards and assessment techniques, and the establishment of a regional curriculum center;
(II) Staff development and training programs;
(III) The development of improved communications through such methods as communications technology, distance learning, and media assistance;
(IV) The use of federal and state categorical funds and the distribution and delivery of federal block grant moneys;
(V) Data processing;
(VI) Agreements to act as a regional administrative unit for transportation, cooperative purchasing, and other noninstructional support services, as may be appropriate;
(VI.5) Agreements pertaining to the board's operations, if any, as a school food authority, pursuant to section 22-5-120; and
(VII) Cooperative programs for students who are at risk of suspension or expulsion.
(4) A board of cooperative services may contract with a school district that is not a member of the board of cooperative services to provide to the school district any of the services specified in the plan developed pursuant to this section.
(5) The general assembly may appropriate moneys to the department of education for distribution to boards of cooperative services as provided in this section. Any moneys appropriated shall be in addition to any moneys appropriated pursuant to section 22-5-115.
(6) (a) By July 1 of each year, each board of cooperative services that receives moneys pursuant to this section shall submit a report to the department of education concerning the programs and services funded by moneys received pursuant to this section.
(b) Repealed.
(7) The state board may adopt rules for the implementation of this section.
Source: L. 96: Entire section added, p. 975, � 1, effective May 23. L. 98: (6)(b) repealed, p. 1075, � 1, effective June 1. L. 2006: (6)(a) amended, p. 597, � 7, effective August 7. L. 2010: (3)(b)(VI) amended and (3)(b)(VI.5) added, (HB 10-1335), ch. 326, p. 1512, � 2, effective August 11.
22-5-119. Statewide supplemental online and blended learning program - contract - legislative declaration - definitions. (1) The short title of this section is the Empowering Digital Learning for All Act.
(2) (a) (I) The general assembly finds that:
(A) The overwhelming influence of the rapidly evolving use of technology and the internet will render high-quality remote digital educational content almost cost-free after a period of declining costs. Access to digital content and educational courses is already an essential part of the higher education system but is not widely applied in elementary and secondary education. While some school districts have been able to keep pace with the changing context of public education, most have not.
(B) The scope of the coming change in the delivery of public education services is massive and more far-reaching than the currently available constructs of online learning or blended learning. The scope of the change is such that the advances that the technology revolution brings must be equally available to students throughout Colorado who choose a blended learning environment.
(C) The public education system must take advantage of this opportunity to significantly improve statewide educational equity by delivering educational services through the digital learning environment. It is likely that failure to embrace this change in the delivery of public education services will lead to a decline in the equity and quality of the system of public education in Colorado.
(D) Colorado lacks a clearly articulated and accepted vision and plan to implement the shift in delivering educational services to a digital environment, which must occur to adequately prepare students for postsecondary success. It is crucial that the state identify a single public entity to provide leadership in designing and implementing a statewide plan for increasing the availability of supplemental online educational courses and blended learning for school districts, charter schools, and BOCES.
(II) It is therefore in the best interests of the state to increase its investment in the expansion of affordable, high-quality supplemental online education courses and blended learning support for school districts, charter schools, and BOCES, especially those that lack the capacity to develop their own supplemental online education course offerings, by subsidizing the provision of supplemental online education courses, professional development, and technical assistance to implement supplemental online and blended learning statewide.
(III) Due to its experience in assisting school districts with supplemental online education courses and blended learning in Colorado, it is further in the best interests of the state to designate a BOCES to articulate the statewide plan for supplemental online and blended learning and to lead, manage, and administer the statewide supplemental online and blended learning program in accordance with this section.
(b) The general assembly declares that the amount necessary to implement the statewide supplemental online and blended learning program may be appropriated from federal mineral leasing revenues transferred to the state public school fund pursuant to section 34-63-102, C.R.S., and section 22-54-114 (1).
(c) The general assembly further declares that, for purposes of section 17 of article IX of the state constitution, the statewide supplemental online and blended learning program is an important element in implementing accountable education reform and enabling school districts, charter schools, and BOCES to meet state academic standards and may therefore receive funding from the state education fund created in section 17 (4) of article IX of the state constitution.
(3) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) Administering BOCES means the BOCES that the department designates as provided in subsection (4) of this section.
(b) Blended learning means a formal education program through which a student learns at least in part through digital content with some element of student control and at least in part at a supervised physical location that is not the student's home.
(c) BOCES means a board of cooperative services created pursuant to this article.
(d) Charter school means a district charter school authorized pursuant to part 1 of article 30.5 of this title or an institute charter school authorized pursuant to part 5 of article 30.5 of this title.
(e) Department means the department of education created and existing pursuant to section 24-1-115, C.R.S.
(f) Local public education agency means a school district, BOCES, or charter school.
(g) Provider means a nonprofit entity or a local public education agency that provides:
(I) Supplemental online education courses that are taught by employees of the provider who are teachers licensed in Colorado pursuant to article 60.5 of this title;
(II) Professional development resources for teachers; or
(III) Consulting services for school districts, charter schools, and BOCES with regard to providing supplemental online education courses and blended learning.
(h) Small rural school district means a school district in Colorado that the department determines is rural, based on the geographic size of the school district and the distance of the school district from the nearest large, urbanized area, and that enrolls fewer than one thousand students in kindergarten through twelfth grade.
(i) Statewide supplemental online and blended learning program or program means the program described in subsection (4) of this section.
(j) Supplemental online education course means an education course that is:
(I) Taught by a teacher who is licensed pursuant to article 60.5 of this title;
(II) Delivered via a technologically enhanced format to one or more students at a location that is remote from the delivery point; and
(III) Developed by a school district, charter school, or BOCES or obtained from a provider to augment the education program provided by the school district, charter school, or BOCES.
(4) (a) The department, in consultation with the statewide association of BOCES, shall designate a BOCES to lead, manage, and administer the statewide supplemental online and blended learning program as provided in this section. In administering the program, the BOCES, subject to available appropriations, shall select and contract with providers in accordance with subsection (6) of this section to provide the resources described in paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of this section. At least every five years, the department, in consultation with the statewide association of BOCES, shall review the designation of the administering BOCES and may continue the designation or select a different BOCES.
(b) The administering BOCES shall manage and administer the program to achieve, at a minimum, the following goals:
(I) Expanding the availability of supplemental online education courses and blended learning strategies;
(II) Increasing significantly the number of students who enroll in high-quality, effective, and affordable supplemental online education courses;
(III) Working with school districts, charter schools, and BOCES to create, offer, and sustain their own high-quality, effective, and affordable supplemental online education courses and blended learning, as well as targeted professional development and mentoring support;
(IV) Assisting educators in local public education agencies to increase their competency specifically in using digital learning strategies to lead and instruct in, and otherwise implement, digital learning; and
(V) Documenting and sharing best practices in providing supplemental online education courses and blended learning.
(5) (a) In leading the statewide supplemental online and blended learning program, the administering BOCES, in partnership with the commissioner of education, the state board of education, and one or more private, nonprofit entities, shall prepare a plan for integrating supplemental online and blended learning into the educational programs provided by school districts, charter schools, and BOCES. Each school district, charter school, and BOCES may determine the extent to which it participates in the statewide plan.
(b) The administering BOCES shall ensure that, through the program, all school districts, charter schools, and BOCES in the state have access to:
(I) Supplemental online and blended learning resources, including, at a minimum, supplemental online education courses available from contract providers or from a school district, charter school, or BOCES and a library of digital course content;
(II) Professional development resources for teachers, including resources for certifying teachers' ability to successfully integrate supplemental online and blended learning resources into school-building-based educational programs; and
(III) Consulting assistance for school districts, charter schools, and BOCES that choose to use supplemental online and blended learning for students, including an inventory of successful models for integrating supplemental online education courses and blended learning into school-building-based educational programs.
(c) The administering BOCES shall actively market to school districts, charter schools, and BOCES the availability of resources through the statewide supplemental online and blended learning program.
(d) The administering BOCES may enter into an agreement with the statewide internet portal authority created in article 37.7 of title 24, C.R.S., to provide the platform for accessing services and programs available through the statewide supplemental online and blended learning program.
(6) (a) The administering BOCES shall establish a fair and transparent request for proposal process to use when selecting providers to provide resources as described in paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of this section through the statewide supplemental online and blended learning program. The request for proposal process must include input from a review committee as described in paragraph (b) of this subsection (6) that the administering BOCES convenes as needed.
(b) The review committee consists of:
(I) A representative from the administering BOCES;
(II) A representative from the office in the department responsible for online and blended learning;
(III) The following members selected jointly by the administering BOCES and the department:
(A) A national expert in online and blended learning;
(B) An administrator from a school that is designated an alternative education campus as provided in section 22-7-604.5; and
(C) An administrator from a school that obtains online or blended services through the program; and
(IV) Two educators as follows:
(A) One educator appointed by the governor, or his or her designee, who has experience with supplemental online education or blended learning; and
(B) One educator selected by the department who is employed in a small rural school district. The department is encouraged to select an educator who has experience with supplemental online education or blended learning.
(c) The review committee shall review all proposals using established rubrics and shall recommend one or more providers for approval to the administering BOCES. If the administering BOCES chooses not to follow the recommendations of the review committee concerning a provider, it shall provide the review committee with a written explanation of the rationale for the decision.
(d) A provider that the administering BOCES contracts with pursuant to this subsection (6) may subcontract with one or more for-profit or nonprofit entities, local public education agencies, or private organizations in meeting the obligations of its contract with the administering BOCES.
(7) Supplemental online education courses must be provided to a school district, charter school, or BOCES at an affordable total program cost for high-quality, accredited courses with local support.
(8) Each high school student in Colorado may take at least one supplemental online course per year. Each supplemental online course contract provider shall report to the administering BOCES information concerning the students who participate in the supplemental online courses to enable the administering BOCES to track the students' academic performance in the supplemental online courses. The administering BOCES shall annually collect data related to completion and passage rates from the providers contracted to provide supplemental online and blended learning and report that data to the department. The department shall collect the data through existing student data collection systems and in compliance with all state and federal laws and regulations concerning the privacy of information, including but not limited to the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. sec. 1232g, as amended.
(9) The general assembly shall annually appropriate to the department for allocation to the administering BOCES an amount sufficient to administer the statewide supplemental online and blended learning program and fund the contracts entered into with providers pursuant to this section. The administering BOCES may expend up to ten percent of the amount annually appropriated to offset its costs incurred in leading, managing, and administering the program.
(10) (a) On or before March 15, 2017, and on or before March 15 each year thereafter, the administering BOCES shall submit to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate, or any successor committees, the joint budget committee of the general assembly, the state board of education, and the department a report concerning implementation and use of the statewide supplemental online and blended learning program for the preceding school year.
(b) This subsection (10) is exempt from the provisions of section 24-1-136 (11), C.R.S., and the annual reporting requirements of this subsection (10) are effective until changed by the general assembly acting by bill.
(11) (a) Beginning in the summer of 2021 and continuing throughout the 2021-22 school year, in addition to administering the statewide supplemental online and blended learning program in accordance with subsection (5) of this section, the administering BOCES shall prioritize entering into partnerships with local public education agencies for delivery of supplemental online learning recovery courses for students enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The administering BOCES and local public education agencies shall, to the extent practicable, partner with nonprofit entities and community-based organizations to expand the availability of, and students' access to, supplemental online learning recovery courses. Local public education agencies are encouraged to identify the students who are most in need of learning recovery courses as a result of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and to prioritize these students to receive supplemental online programming to support learning recovery.
(b) The administering BOCES shall communicate to all local public education agencies, and the local public education agencies shall communicate to the parents of students enrolled by the local public education agencies, the availability of supplemental online education courses through the administering BOCES, including the availability of learning recovery courses, the types of courses that are available for learning recovery and other purposes, the manner in which students may enroll in these courses through the local public education agency, and the benefits to students who successfully complete the courses. At a minimum, the local public education agency shall provide the information through the digital means normally used for communicating with parents and shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that the information is available in languages that students' parents understand.
Source: L. 2007: Entire section added, p. 1093, � 1, effective May 23. L. 2010: (6) repealed, (HB 10-1037), ch. 43, p. 169, � 2, effective March 29. L. 2012: IP(3) amended, (HB 12-1345), ch. 188, p. 716, � 4, effective May 19. L. 2013: (1)(a)(I)(A), (1)(a)(II), (1)(a)(III), (3), (4), IP(5), (5)(j), and (5)(l) amended and (1)(a.5), (3.3), and (3.5) added, (SB 13-139), ch. 128, p. 427, � 1, effective August 7. L. 2016: Entire section amended, (HB 16-1222), ch. 334, p. 1356, � 1, effective June 10. L. 2017: (8) amended, (SB 17-294), ch. 264, p. 1394, � 43, effective May 25. L. 2021: (11) added, (SB 21-013), ch. 132, p. 535, � 2, effective May 13.
22-5-120. School food authority operations - contracts for provision of food and beverages. (1) Each board of cooperative services is authorized to maintain, equip, and operate a food-service facility as a school food authority, as defined in section 22-32-120 (8).
(2) Each board of cooperative services that elects to operate as a school food authority is encouraged to procure and distribute to schools of its constituent school districts food and beverages that:
(a) Satisfy nutritional standards established by the United States department of agriculture; and
(b) Have been locally grown or produced.
(3) Each board of cooperative services that elects to operate as a school food authority may seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, and donations to facilitate its operations as a school food authority; except that a board of cooperative services shall not accept a gift, grant, or donation if it is subject to conditions that are inconsistent with this article or any other law of the state.
Source: L. 2010: Entire section added, (HB 10-1335), ch. 326, p. 1507, � 1, effective August 11.
22-5-121. BOCES healthy food grant program - application process - fund - rules - repeal. (Repealed)
Source: L. 2010: Entire section added, (HB 10-1335), ch. 326, p. 1508, � 1, effective August 11.
Editor's note: Subsection (8) provided for the repeal of this section, effective July 1, 2015. (See L. 2010, p. 1508.)
22-5-122. Assistance for implementing and meeting state educational priorities - financing. (1) (a) For the 2012-13 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, a BOCES may receive state moneys in addition to any other moneys received pursuant to this article by submitting a plan to the state board, in a form and manner specified by rule of the state board, that details how the BOCES will use the additional moneys to assist its participating school districts in implementing and meeting the state's educational priorities as determined by the commissioner of education pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. The state board may specify additional information that a BOCES is required to include in a plan submitted pursuant to this paragraph (a).
(b) For the 2012-13 fiscal year, a BOCES that seeks additional moneys shall submit a plan pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) to the state board on or before August 1, 2012. For the 2013-14 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, a BOCES that seeks additional moneys shall submit a plan pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) to the state board on or before May 1 of the preceding fiscal year.
(c) For the 2013-14 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, if a BOCES that submits a plan to the state board pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) also submitted a plan in the previous fiscal year, the BOCES shall include a report detailing the results of the previous year's plan in its new plan submission.
(2) On or before June 1, 2012, on or before March 1, 2015, and on or before March 1 every third year thereafter, the commissioner of education, in consultation with a statewide association in the state that represents one or more BOCES in the state and a council created by the commissioner of education that advises the commissioner and the department of education regarding the needs and concerns of rural school districts in the state, shall determine the state's educational priorities for the purposes of this section. The priorities may include, but need not be limited to, educator effectiveness, school district accreditation and accountability, and standards and assessments for preschool through elementary and secondary education.
(3) A BOCES may develop a memorandum of understanding with a school district that is contiguous to the area of the BOCES, but that is not a member of the BOCES, to enable the district to participate with the BOCES in the plan submitted pursuant to subsection (1) of this section. In addition, two or more adjoining BOCES may collaborate regarding the implementation of a plan submitted pursuant to this section.
(4) (a) The department of education shall establish a method to allow the member school districts of a BOCES that chooses not to submit a plan pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section to submit a plan as a consortium of districts or as a newly formed BOCES to the state board and to receive moneys to assist the districts in implementing and meeting the state educational priorities as determined pursuant to subsection (2) of this section.
(b) A member district of a BOCES that has submitted a plan pursuant to subsection (1) of this section may choose not to participate in the BOCES plan to assist the member districts in implementing and meeting the state's educational priorities. If a member district chooses not to participate, the BOCES shall work with the other member districts in the BOCES to implement the plan.
(5) (a) The general assembly may appropriate moneys to the department of education for the purposes of this section. Of the amount appropriated, the department may retain up to one hundred twenty thousand dollars annually for the purpose of funding a departmental liaison for rural school districts and up to fifty thousand dollars annually for the purpose of funding the department's ongoing support of a council created by the commissioner of education that advises the commissioner and the department regarding the needs and concerns of rural school districts. The department shall distribute the remaining amount as specified in paragraph (b) of this subsection (5).
(b) The department of education shall distribute the remaining amount appropriated by the general assembly for the purposes of this section, after subtracting the amounts specified in paragraph (a) of this subsection (5), as follows:
(I) Equally distribute forty-five percent to the BOCES that submit plans pursuant to subsection (1) of this section;
(II) Distribute forty-five percent based on the total number of member school districts of the participating BOCES and nonmember school districts that participate with the BOCES as detailed in a memorandum of understanding entered into pursuant to subsection (3) of this section; and
(III) Distribute ten percent based on the total number of students enrolled in the member school districts of the participating BOCES and enrolled in the nonmember school districts that participate with the BOCES as detailed in a memorandum of understanding entered into pursuant to subsection (3) of this section.
(c) Any state moneys appropriated by the general assembly for the purposes of this section shall not be used to supplant the level of state moneys appropriated to support and for use by BOCES during the 2011-12 fiscal year.
(6) The state board shall promulgate rules pursuant to the State Administrative Procedure Act, article 4 of title 24, C.R.S., for the administration of this section.
(7) The general assembly finds and declares that, for purposes of section 17 of article IX of the state constitution, a program to assist school districts in implementing and meeting the state's educational priorities is a program for accountable education reform and may therefore receive funding from the state education fund created in section 17 (4) of article IX of the state constitution.
Source: L. 2012: Entire section added, (HB 12-1345), ch. 188, p. 717, � 5, effective May 19.