§ 6-47-305 - Distance Learning Coordinating Council.
6-47-305. Distance Learning Coordinating Council.
(a) There is created an advisory body to the Department of Education to be known as the "Distance Learning Coordinating Council".
(b) The purpose of the coordinating council is to evaluate distance learning activities for kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) education across the State of Arkansas and to determine whether distance learning activities are being fully utilized through a collaborative process that maximizes the utilization of the state's technical and educational resources.
(c) The coordinating council shall consist of the following members:
(1) One (1) member who is an employee of the Department of Education appointed by the Commissioner of Education;
(2) One (1) member who is an employee of the Arkansas Educational Television Network appointed by the Director of the Educational Television Division of the Department of Education;
(3) One (1) member who is an employee of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts appointed by the director of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts;
(4) One (1) member who is an employee of the Office of Information Technology appointed by the Director of the Office of Information Technology;
(5) One (1) member who is an employee of the Department of Information Services appointed by the Director of the Department of Information Services;
(6) One (1) member who is an employee of the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority appointed by the President of the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority;
(7) One (1) member who is an employee of the Department of Workforce Education appointed by the Director of the Department of Workforce Education;
(8) One (1) member who is employed by the Department of Higher Education appointed by the Director of the Department of Higher Education;
(9) One (1) member who is an employee of the Arkansas State Library appointed by the State Librarian;
(10) One (1) member who is an employee of an education service cooperative appointed by the Governor from a list of three (3) names submitted by the State Board of Education;
(11) One (1) member who is actively engaged in distance learning activities for grades kindergarten through twelve (K-12) education appointed by the Governor from the state at large;
(12) Two (2) members who are employed by telecommunications companies that are members of the Arkansas Telecommunications Association and appointed as follows:
(A) One (1) member shall be employed by a telecommunications company with more than seventy-five thousand (75,000) access lines and shall be appointed by the Governor from a list of three (3) names submitted by the association; and
(B) One (1) member shall be employed by a telecommunications company with less than seventy-five thousand (75,000) access lines and shall be appointed by the Governor from a list of three (3) names submitted by the association; and
(13) Members added by the commissioner to the coordinating council to represent other entities that are associated with grades kindergarten through twelve (K-12) distance learning and that come into existence after September 1, 2005.
(d) (1) Members shall serve three-year terms and are eligible for reappointment.
(2) If a vacancy occurs in an appointed position for any reason, the vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
(3) The members of the coordinating council shall meet and organize immediately after their appointment and shall elect a chair, a vice chair, and a secretary-treasurer from the membership of the coordinating council.
(4) The coordinating council shall meet at least quarterly.
(5) Staff support shall be provided by appropriate personnel from the Department of Education, the Department of Workforce Education, the Department of Higher Education, the Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation, the Division of Public School Accountability, and the state's public institutions of higher education with the assistance of any appropriate staff of the other agencies whose directors serve on the coordinating council.
(6) Nonstate employee members shall serve without compensation but may receive expense reimbursement in accordance with 25-16-902.
(e) The coordinating council shall make recommendations at least annually to the Department of Education, the Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation, the Division of Public School Accountability, the House Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education with regard to the following:
(1) Distance learning standards and rules;
(2) Online distance learning curriculum;
(3) Supplemental distance learning course material;
(4) Coordination of distance learning services;
(5) Methods for fostering collaborative processes by which distance learning content can be shared more effectively with and delivered to public schools;
(6) Strategies for reducing the occurrences of isolated distance learning activities;
(7) Options for spreading distance learning costs and increasing the value of shared distance learning services; and
(8) Improving utilization of distance learning resources.