(1) There is created in the department the advanced placement incentives pilot program to expand access to advanced placement classes in rural schools and enhance the participation in advanced placement programs by students who participate in the school lunch program.

(2) Only a rural school may participate in the pilot program, and the pilot program is annually limited to the first four hundred seventy-five students from rural schools. To be eligible to participate in the pilot program, a rural school must:

(a) Require all tenth-grade students to take a precollegiate entrance exam to help identify students with the potential to pass an advanced placement exam; and

(b) Have an advanced placement program with at least one advanced placement class in the area of math, social studies, science, or English. A rural school or rural school district may offer an advanced placement class or program online. If a class is offered online, the rural school or rural school district shall designate an on-site mentor for student support. The mentor is eligible for the teacher incentives provided for in subsection (3) of this section.

(3) Regardless of the outcome of the advanced placement exams taken, for each student who completes an advanced placement class and who subsequently takes the advanced placement exam, the department shall distribute to the rural school five hundred dollars to be used for:

(a) Implementing a school-wide advanced placement program, including enhancing online access for rural schools that have limited access;

(b) Providing professional development to assist teachers in learning instructional strategies for teaching advanced placement classes and bolstering advanced placement content knowledge;

(c) Providing professional development for administrators concerning the content required in nonadvanced placement classes to help students prepare for future success in advanced placement classes;

(d) Paying the advanced placement exam fee for each student who takes the advanced placement exam and participates in the school lunch program, unless the exam fee is covered by a state or federal grant program; and

(e) Providing to a teacher or mentor of an advanced placement class a bonus of fifty dollars for each student who completes the teacher's or mentor's advanced placement class and takes the advanced placement exam; except that teacher or mentor may not receive more than two thousand dollars per year in bonuses pursuant to this paragraph (e).

(4) The department shall develop and make available guidelines for participation in the pilot program.

(5) (a) On or before August 15, 2018, and on or before August 15 each year thereafter, the department shall:

(I) Report the number of students in the pilot program who enrolled in an advanced placement course during the prior school year in each participating school district, by course;

(II) Collect the following disaggregated data from the advanced placement exam vendor to capture the performance of students on end-of-course advanced placement exams during the prior school year:

(A) The number of students in the pilot program who took end-of-course advanced placement exams in each participating school district, by course; and

(B) The number of students in the pilot program who scored three or above on end-of-course advanced placement exams in each participating school district, by course.

(b) On or before November 15, 2019, and on or before November 15, 2020, the department shall prepare and submit to the joint budget committee and to the members of the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate, or any successor committees, a report concerning the pilot program. The report must include the information collected by the department pursuant to subsection (5)(a) of this section, as well as data on the number and amount of financial incentives distributed to each participating school district through the pilot program.