The statewide cyber academy shall:

A. establish a distance learning course delivery system that is efficient and cost-effective and that uses a statewide service center and regional hosts to provide approved distance learning courses;

B. select regional hosts based on pre-existing experience and capacity to facilitate the delivery of distance educational programs, including public post-secondary educational institutions, regional education cooperatives and school districts;

C. provide technical and program support to regional hosts and local distance learning sites;

D. ensure that all distance learning courses offered by course providers are taught by highly qualified teachers or members of the faculty of accredited post-secondary educational institutions and meet state academic content and performance standards;

E. provide for reasonable and equitable means to allocate the costs of distance learning courses among the statewide cyber academy, the course providers and the school districts whose students are enrolled in a distance learning course;

F. give first priority to the delivery of distance learning courses for credit to distance learning students who have the greatest need because of geographic location or circumstances in which a school district may have difficulty delivering essential course instruction due to financial restraints or lack of highly qualified teachers; provided that in fiscal year 2008 the statewide cyber academy shall include, among those distance learning students who are determined to have the greatest need, distance learning students served by school districts that are members of regional education cooperatives three, eight and nine;

G. ensure that the statewide cyber academy's learning management system is compatible with school district and department data collection, analysis and reporting systems;

H. ensure that all deficiencies in the infrastructure, hardware and software in the statewide cyber academy are corrected in accordance with educational technology adequacy standards pursuant to Section 22-15A-11 NMSA 1978;

I. comply with all rules governing privacy and confidentiality of student records for secure record storage;

J. offer distance learning courses to distance learning students;

K. offer professional development via distance learning, using a learning management system;

L. assist the council on technology in education in its development of the statewide plan required by Section 22-15A-7 NMSA 1978, including a statewide cyber academy plan that addresses short- and long-range goals;

M. define and coordinate the roles and responsibilities of the collaborating agencies to establish a distance learning governance and accountability framework; and

N. conduct an annual evaluation and provide an annual report to the department and the legislature that includes a detailed report of expenditures; a description of services provided, including the number and location of local distance learning sites, public schools and distance learning students served; the courses offered; the credits generated by local distance learning sites; and student and teacher accountability reporting data.

History: Laws 2007, ch. 292, § 5 and Laws 2007, ch. 293, § 5.

Compiler's notes. — Laws 2007, ch. 292, § 5 and Laws 2007, ch. 293, § 5 enacted identical new sections, effective June 15, 2007.