Relating to the provision of virtual education in public schools and to certain waivers and modifications by the commissioner of education to the method of calculating average daily attendance in an emergency or crisis for purposes of preserving school district funding entitlements under the Foundation School Program during that emergency or crisis; authorizing a fee.

Contracts

• Vendor MSAs (Critical): You must amend Master Services Agreements with third-party virtual program providers to include an automatic termination clause. If a provider fails to meet state performance standards and is deemed "ineligible" (a 5-year statutory ban), you must be able to sever the contract immediately without penalty to avoid campus authorization revocation.
• Employment Agreements: Review teacher contracts. You are prohibited from coercing teachers hired for in-person roles to accept virtual assignments. Job descriptions must explicitly state if virtual instruction is a required duty.

Hiring/Training

• Staff Scheduling: "Concurrent teaching" is banned. You cannot require a teacher to instruct virtual and in-person students simultaneously unless the virtual component is passive simulcasting. Scheduling software must enforce this segregation of duties.
• Counselor Training: Guidance counselors require training on the new statutory prohibition against "steering." Actively discouraging a student from enrolling in a virtual course via threat or intimidation creates direct liability for the district.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• Enrollment Filters: Update admissions software to enforce strict eligibility: students must have attended a Texas public school for at least six weeks in the prior year (with exceptions for military/foster).
• Written Denials: If you deny enrollment, you must now provide a written explanation to the parent and outline the appeal process.
• Vendor Notification: You must file a formal notice with the Commissioner immediately upon engaging or changing a "whole program virtual instruction provider."

Fees & Costs

• Tuition Billing: Establish Accounts Receivable protocols to bill for virtual courses provided to out-of-district students or students exceeding course caps, as now authorized by law.
• Cybersecurity: Budget for the development and maintenance of a mandatory data privacy and cybersecurity operations plan; failure to maintain this plan jeopardizes campus authorization.