(2) Grants shall be distributed under this section for the purpose of encouraging partnerships, formed for offering accelerated college credit programs, between:

(a) A school district, a consortium of school districts or an education service district; and

(b) A post-secondary institution of education or a consortium of post-secondary institutions of education.

(3) A school district, a consortium of school districts or an education service district may apply to the department for a grant under this section if the school district, or at least one of the school districts in a consortium of school districts or an education service district, has:

(a)(A) Less than five percent of the school district’s high school students participating in an accelerated college credit program; or

(B) A low percentage of the school district’s historically underrepresented students attending a post-secondary institution of education;

(b) A plan to offer accelerated college credit program courses that:

(A) Have been previously unavailable through the school district;

(B) Conform with standards established for accelerated college credit program courses as described in subsection (6) of this section; and

(C) Align with statewide requirements for transferable courses or reflect local needs for a career and technical education program; and

(c) A partnership agreement with a post-secondary institution of education or a consortium of post-secondary institutions of education to offer accelerated college credit program courses as described in paragraph (b) of this subsection.

(4) A school district, a consortium of school districts or an education service district that receives a grant under this section may use moneys from the grant to:

(a) Distribute information to students and families about opportunities related to accelerated college credit programs, including implications for financial aid, costs to families and credit transferability;

(b) Provide academic advising to students taking an accelerated college credit program course;

(c) Promote a culture that encourages students to continue education at a post-secondary institution of education;

(d) Develop courses offered as part of an accelerated college credit program and ensure horizontal and vertical curriculum alignment;

(e) Hire staff to provide instruction of courses that are part of an accelerated college credit program and any other staff necessary to provide support for the accelerated college credit program;

(f) Facilitate collaboration between teachers and staff at high schools and faculty at post-secondary institutions of education for accelerated college credit programs;

(g) Coordinate regional offerings of accelerated college credit programs to create coherence across this state;

(h) Leverage emerging best practices;

(i) Purchase books and materials and pay for other costs, other than test fees, related to accelerated college credit programs; and

(j) Provide classroom supplies for accelerated college credit programs.

(5) Grants shall be awarded under this section based on rules of the State Board of Education.

(6) Accelerated college credit program courses funded by a grant distributed under this section must comply with any standards developed to ensure that credits earned for the course transfer to any public post-secondary institution of education in this state as if the credits were earned at that institution.

(7)(a) For the purposes of grants distributed under this section, the department may accept contributions of funds and assistance from the United States Government and its agencies or from any other source, public or private, and agree to conditions placed on the funds not inconsistent with the purposes of this section; and

(b) All funds received by the department under this section shall be paid into the Accelerated College Credit Account established under ORS 340.330 for the purposes described in this section.

(8) No later than December 1 of each year, the department shall submit a report on the issuance of grants under this section to an interim committee of the Legislative Assembly related to education. [2019 c.204 §2]