To amend sections 3310.02 to 3310.09, 3310.11, 3310.12, 3310.15, and 3310.17 of the Revised Code to eliminate the limit on the number of Educational Choice scholarships and to declare an emergency.

Section 1. That sections 3310.02, 3310.03, 3310.04, 3310.05, 3310.06, 3310.07, 3310.08, 3310.09, 3310.11, 3310.12, 3310.15, and 3310.17 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 3310.02.  The educational choice scholarship pilot program is hereby established. Under the program, the department of education annually shall pay scholarships to attend chartered nonpublic schools in accordance with section 3310.08 of the Revised Code for up to fourteen thousand all eligible students. If the number of students who apply for a scholarship exceeds fourteen thousand, the department shall award scholarships in the following order of priority:

(A) First, to eligible students who received scholarships in the prior school year;

(B) Second, to eligible students with family incomes at or below two hundred per cent of the federal poverty guidelines, as defined in section 5101.46 of the Revised Code, who qualify under division (A) of section 3310.03 of the Revised Code. If the number of students described in this division who apply for a scholarship exceeds the number of available scholarships after awards are made under division (A) of this section, the department shall select students described in this division by lot to receive any remaining scholarships.

(C) Third, to other eligible students who qualify under division (A) of section 3310.03 of the Revised Code. If the number of students described in this division who apply for a scholarship exceeds the number of available scholarships after awards are made under divisions (A) and (B) of this section, the department shall select students described in this division by lot to receive any remaining scholarships them.

Sec. 3310.03. (A) A student is an "eligible student" for purposes of the educational choice scholarship pilot program if the student's resident district is not a school district in which the pilot project scholarship program is operating under sections 3313.974 to 3313.979 of the Revised Code and the student satisfies one of the following conditions:

(1) The student is enrolled in a school building that is operated by the student's resident district and to which both of the following apply:

(a) The building was declared, in at least two of the three most recent ratings of school buildings published prior to the first day of July of the school year for which a scholarship is sought, to be in a state of academic emergency or academic watch under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code;

(b) The building was not declared to be excellent or effective under that section in the most recent rating published prior to the first day of July of the school year for which a scholarship is sought.

(2) The student is eligible to enroll in kindergarten in the school year for which a scholarship is sought and otherwise would be assigned under section 3319.01 of the Revised Code to a school building described in division (A)(1) of this section.

(3) The student is enrolled in a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code but otherwise would be assigned under section 3319.01 of the Revised Code to a building described in division (A)(1) of this section.

(4) The student is enrolled in a school building that is operated by the student's resident district or in a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code and otherwise would be assigned under section 3319.01 of the Revised Code to a school building described in division (A)(1) of this section in the school year for which the scholarship is sought.

(5) The student is eligible to enroll in kindergarten in the school year for which a scholarship is sought, or is enrolled in a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, and all of the following apply to the student's resident district:

(a) The district has in force an intradistrict open enrollment policy under which no student in kindergarten or the community school student's grade level, respectively, is automatically assigned to a particular school building;

(b) In at least two of the three most recent ratings of school districts published prior to the first day of July of the school year for which a scholarship is sought, the district was declared to be in a state of academic emergency under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code;

(c) The district was not declared to be excellent or effective under that section in the most recent rating published prior to the first day of July of the school year for which a scholarship is sought.

(B) A student who receives a scholarship under the educational choice scholarship pilot program remains an eligible student and may continue to receive scholarships in subsequent school years until the student completes grade twelve, so long as all of the following apply:

(1) The student's resident district remains the same, or the student transfers to a new resident district and otherwise would be assigned in the new resident district to a school building described in division (A)(1) or (6) of this section;

(2) The student takes each assessment prescribed for the student's grade level under section 3301.0710 or 3301.0712 of the Revised Code while enrolled in a chartered nonpublic school;

(3) In each school year that the student is enrolled in a chartered nonpublic school, the student is absent from school for not more than twenty days that the school is open for instruction, not including excused absences.

(C) The department shall cease awarding first-time scholarships pursuant to divisions (A)(1) to (4) of this section with respect to a school building that, in the most recent ratings of school buildings published under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code prior to the first day of July of the school year, ceases to meet the criteria in division (A)(1) of this section. The department shall cease awarding first-time scholarships pursuant to division (A)(5) of this section with respect to a school district that, in the most recent ratings of school districts published under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code prior to the first day of July of the school year, ceases to meet the criteria in division (A)(5) of this section. However, students who have received scholarships in the prior school year remain eligible students pursuant to division (B) of this section.

(D) The state board of education shall adopt rules defining excused absences for purposes of division (B)(3) of this section.

Sec. 3310.04.  Any eligible student who is enrolled in a chartered nonpublic school and for whom a scholarship under the educational choice scholarship pilot program has been awarded shall be entitled to transportation to and from the chartered nonpublic school by the student's resident district in the manner prescribed in section 3327.01 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 3310.05.  A scholarship under the educational choice scholarship pilot program is not available for any student whose resident district is a school district in which the pilot project scholarship program is operating under sections 3313.974 to 3313.979 of the Revised Code. The two pilot programs are separate and distinct. The general assembly has prescribed separate scholarship amounts for the two pilot programs in recognition of their differing eligibility criteria. The pilot project scholarship program operating under sections 3313.974 to 3313.979 of the Revised Code is a district-wide program that may award scholarships to students who do not attend district schools that face academic challenges, whereas the educational choice scholarship pilot program established under sections 3310.01 to 3310.17 of the Revised Code is limited to students of individual district school buildings that face academic challenges.

Sec. 3310.06.  It is the policy adopted by the general assembly that the educational choice scholarship pilot program shall be construed as one of several educational options available for students enrolled in academic emergency or academic watch school buildings. Students may be enrolled in the schools of the student's resident district, in a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, in the schools of another school district pursuant to an open enrollment policy adopted under section 3313.98 of the Revised Code, in a chartered nonpublic school with or without a scholarship under the educational choice scholarship pilot program, or in other schools as the law may provide.

Sec. 3310.07. Any parent, or any student who is at least eighteen years of age, who is seeking a scholarship under the educational choice scholarship pilot program shall notify the department of education of the student's and parent's names and address, the chartered nonpublic school in which the student has been accepted for enrollment, and the tuition charged by the school.

Sec. 3310.08. (A) The amount paid for an eligible student under the educational choice scholarship pilot program shall be the lesser of the tuition of the chartered nonpublic school in which the student is enrolled or the maximum amount prescribed in section 3310.09 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) The department shall pay to the parent of each eligible student for whom a scholarship is awarded under the program, or to the student if at least eighteen years of age, periodic partial payments of the scholarship.

(2) The department shall proportionately reduce or terminate the payments for any student who withdraws from a chartered nonpublic school prior to the end of the school year.

(C)(1) The department shall deduct five thousand two hundred dollars from the payments made to each school district under Chapters 3306. and 3317. and, if necessary, sections 321.24 and 323.156 of the Revised Code, for each eligible student awarded a scholarship under the educational choice scholarship pilot program who is entitled under section 3313.64 or 3313.65 of the Revised Code to attend school in the district.

The amount deducted under division (C)(1) of this section funds scholarships for students under both the educational choice scholarship pilot program and the pilot project scholarship program under sections 3313.974 to 3313.979 of the Revised Code.

(2) If the department reduces or terminates payments to a parent or a student, as prescribed in division (B)(2) of this section, and the student enrolls in the schools of the student's resident district or in a community school, established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, before the end of the school year, the department shall proportionally restore to the resident district the amount deducted for that student under division (C)(1) of this section.

(D) In the case of any school district from which a deduction is made under division (C) of this section, the department shall disclose on the district's SF-3 form, or any successor to that form used to calculate a district's state funding for operating expenses, a comparison of the following:

(1) The district's state share of the adequacy amount payment, as calculated under section 3306.13 of the Revised Code with the scholarship students included in the district's formula ADM;

(2) What the district's state share of the adequacy amount payment would have been, as calculated under that section if the scholarship students were not included in the district's formula ADM.

This comparison shall display both the aggregate difference between the amounts described in divisions (D)(1) and (2) of this section, and the quotient of that aggregate difference divided by the number of eligible students for whom deductions are made under division (C) of this section.

Sec. 3310.09.  The maximum amount awarded to an eligible student under the educational choice scholarship pilot program shall be as follows:

(A) For grades kindergarten through eight, four thousand two hundred fifty dollars;

(B) For grades nine through twelve, five thousand dollars.

Sec. 3310.11.  (A) Only for the purpose of administering the educational choice scholarship pilot program, the department of education may request from any of the following entities the data verification code assigned under division (D)(2) of section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code to any student who is seeking a scholarship under the program:

(1) The student's resident district;

(2) If applicable, the community school in which that student is enrolled;

(3) The independent contractor engaged to create and maintain student data verification codes.

(B) Upon a request by the department under division (A) of this section for the data verification code of a student seeking a scholarship or a request by the student's parent for that code, the school district or community school shall submit that code to the department or parent in the manner specified by the department. If the student has not been assigned a code, because the student will be entering kindergarten during the school year for which the scholarship is sought, the district shall assign a code to that student and submit the code to the department or parent by a date specified by the department. If the district does not assign a code to the student by the specified date, the department shall assign a code to that student.

The department annually shall submit to each school district the name and data verification code of each student residing in the district who is entering kindergarten, who has been awarded a scholarship under the program, and for whom the department has assigned a code under this division.

(C) For the purpose of administering the applicable assessments prescribed under sections 3301.0710 and 3301.0712 of the Revised Code, as required by section 3310.14 of the Revised Code, the department shall provide to each chartered nonpublic school that enrolls a scholarship student the data verification code for that student.

(D) The department and each chartered nonpublic school that receives a data verification code under this section shall not release that code to any person except as provided by law.

Any document relative to this program that the department holds in its files that contains both a student's name or other personally identifiable information and the student's data verification code shall not be a public record under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 3310.12. Except as provided in division (D) of section 3310.11 of the Revised Code, documents relative to the educational choice scholarship pilot program that the department holds in its files are public records under section 149.43 of the Revised Code and may be released pursuant to that section subject to the provisions of section 3319.321 of the Revised Code and the "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 571, 20 U.S.C. 1232g, as amended.

Sec. 3310.15.  (A) The department of education annually shall compile the scores attained by scholarship students to whom an assessment is administered under section 3310.14 of the Revised Code. The scores shall be aggregated as follows:

(1) By state, which shall include all students awarded a scholarship under the educational choice scholarship pilot program and who were required to take an assessment under section 3310.14 of the Revised Code;

(2) By school district, which shall include all scholarship students who were required to take an assessment under section 3310.14 of the Revised Code and for whom the district is the student's resident district;

(3) By chartered nonpublic school, which shall include all scholarship students enrolled in that school who were required to take an assessment under section 3310.14 of the Revised Code.

(B) The department shall disaggregate the student performance data described in division (A) of this section according to the following categories:

(1) Age;

(2) Race and ethnicity;

(3) Gender;

(4) Students who have participated in the scholarship program for three or more years;

(5) Students who have participated in the scholarship program for more than one year and less than three years;

(6) Students who have participated in the scholarship program for one year or less;

(7) Economically disadvantaged students.

(C) The department shall post the student performance data required under divisions (A) and (B) of this section on its web site and, by the first day of February each year, shall distribute that data to the parent of each eligible student. In reporting student performance data under this division, the department shall not include any data that is statistically unreliable or that could result in the identification of individual students. For this purpose, the department shall not report performance data for any group that contains less than ten students.

(D) The department shall provide the parent of each scholarship student with information comparing the student's performance on the assessments administered under section 3310.14 of the Revised Code with the average performance of similar students enrolled in the building operated by the student's resident district that the scholarship student would otherwise attend. In calculating the performance of similar students, the department shall consider age, grade, race and ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Sec. 3310.17.  (A) The state board of education shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code prescribing procedures for the administration of the educational choice scholarship pilot program.

(B) The state board and the department of education shall not require chartered nonpublic schools to comply with any education laws or rules or other requirements that are not specified in sections 3310.01 to 3310.17 of the Revised Code or in rules necessary for the administration of the program, adopted under division (A) of this section, and that otherwise would not apply to a chartered nonpublic school.

Section 2. That existing sections 3310.02, 3310.03, 3310.04, 3310.05, 3310.06, 3310.07, 3310.08, 3310.09, 3310.11, 3310.12, 3310.15, and 3310.17 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3.  This act is hereby declared to be an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety. The reasons for such necessity are that all students eligible for the Educational Choice Scholarship should be able to take advantage of it, beginning in the 2011-2012 school year. Therefore, this act shall go into immediate effect.