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SENATE BILL NO. 1058
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
(MCL 380.1 to 380.1852) by adding section 1482.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1482. (1) A school district or public school academy 1
shall enroll an eligible pupil in virtual courses in accordance 2
with the provisions of this section. A school district or public 3
school academy shall not offer a virtual course to an eligible 4
pupil unless the virtual course is published in the school 5
district's or public school academy's catalog of board-approved 6
courses or in the statewide catalog of virtual courses maintained 7
June 23, 2026, Introduced by Senator POLEHANKI and referred to Committee on Appropriations.
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by the Michigan Virtual University under section 98 of the state 1
school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1698. The school district or public 2
school academy shall also provide on its publicly accessible 3
website a link to the statewide catalog of virtual courses 4
maintained by the Michigan Virtual University. Unless the pupil is 5
at least 18 years of age or is an emancipated minor, a pupil must 6
not be enrolled in a course that meets virtually for more than 6 7
days in a school year without the consent of the pupil's parent or 8
legal guardian. 9
(2) Subject to subsection (3), a school district or public 10
school academy shall enroll an eligible pupil in up to 2 virtual 11
courses as requested by the pupil during an academic term, 12
semester, or trimester. 13
(3) A pupil may be enrolled in more than 2 virtual courses in 14
a specific academic term, semester, or trimester if both of the 15
following conditions are met: 16
(a) The pupil's school district or public school academy has 17
determined that it is in the best interest of the pupil. 18
(b) The pupil agrees with the recommendation of the school 19
district or public school academy. 20
(4) If the number of applicants eligible for acceptance in a 21
virtual course does not exceed the capacity of the provider to 22
provide the virtual course, the provider shall accept for 23
enrollment all of the applicants eligible for acceptance. If the 24
number of applicants exceeds the provider's capacity to provide the 25
virtual course, the provider shall use a random draw system, 26
subject to the need to abide by state and federal 27
antidiscrimination laws and court orders. A school district or 28
public school academy that is also a provider shall determine 29
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whether it has the capacity to accept applications for enrollment 1
from nonresident applicants in virtual courses and may use that 2
limit as the reason for refusal to enroll a nonresident applicant. 3
(5) A school district or public school academy may not 4
establish additional requirements beyond those specified in this 5
subsection that would prohibit a pupil from taking a virtual 6
course. A pupil's school district or public school academy may deny 7
the pupil enrollment in a virtual course if any of the following 8
apply, as determined by the school district or public school 9
academy: 10
(a) The pupil is enrolled in any of grades K to 5. 11
(b) The pupil has previously gained the credits that would be 12
provided from the completion of the virtual course. 13
(c) The virtual course is not capable of generating academic 14
credit. 15
(d) The virtual course is inconsistent with the remaining 16
graduation requirements or career interests of the pupil. 17
(e) The pupil has not completed the prerequisite coursework 18
for the requested virtual course or has not demonstrated 19
proficiency in the prerequisite course content. 20
(f) The pupil has failed a previous virtual course in the same 21
subject during the 2 most recent academic years. 22
(g) The virtual course is of insufficient quality or rigor. A 23
school district or public school academy that denies a pupil 24
enrollment request under this subdivision shall enroll the pupil in 25
a virtual course in the same or a similar subject that the school 26
district or public school academy determines is of acceptable 27
quality and rigor. 28
(h) The cost of the virtual course exceeds the amount 29
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identified in subsection (10), unless the pupil or the pupil's 1
parent or legal guardian agrees to pay the cost that exceeds this 2
amount. 3
(i) The request for a virtual course enrollment did not occur 4
within the same timelines established by the school district or 5
public school academy for enrollment and schedule changes for 6
regular courses. 7
(j) The request for a virtual course enrollment was not made 8
in the academic term, semester, trimester, or summer preceding the 9
enrollment. This subdivision does not apply to a request made by a 10
pupil who is newly enrolled in the school district or public school 11
academy. 12
(6) If a pupil is denied enrollment in a virtual course by the 13
pupil's school district or public school academy, the school 14
district or public school academy shall provide written 15
notification to the pupil of the denial, the reason or reasons for 16
the denial under subsection (5), and a description of the appeal 17
process. The pupil may appeal the denial by submitting a letter to 18
the superintendent of the intermediate district in which the 19
pupil's school district or public school academy is located. The 20
letter of appeal must include the reason provided by the school 21
district or public school academy for not enrolling the pupil and 22
the reason why the pupil is claiming that the enrollment should be 23
approved. The intermediate school district superintendent or 24
designee shall respond to the appeal not later than 5 days after 25
the appeal is received. If the intermediate district superintendent 26
or designee determines that the denial of enrollment does not meet 27
1 or more of the reasons specified in subsection (5), the pupil's 28
school district or public school academy shall enroll the pupil in 29
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the virtual course. 1
(7) To provide a virtual course to an eligible pupil under 2
this section, a provider must do all of the following: 3
(a) Ensure that the virtual course has been published in the 4
pupil's school district's or public school academy's catalog of 5
board-approved courses or published in the statewide catalog of 6
virtual courses maintained by the Michigan Virtual University. 7
(b) Assign to each pupil a teacher of record and provide the 8
pupil's school district or public school academy with the personnel 9
identification code assigned by the center for the teacher of 10
record. If the provider is a community college, the virtual course 11
must be taught by an instructor employed by or contracted through 12
the providing community college. 13
(c) Offer the virtual course on an open entry and exit method, 14
or aligned to a semester, trimester, or accelerated academic term 15
format. 16
(d) If the virtual course is offered to eligible pupils in 17
more than 1 district, the following additional requirements must 18
also be met: 19
(i) Provide the Michigan Virtual University with a course 20
syllabus that meets the definition under subsection (16)(f) in a 21
form and manner prescribed by the Michigan Virtual University for 22
inclusion in a statewide catalog of virtual courses. 23
(ii) Not later than October 1 of each fiscal year, provide the 24
Michigan Virtual University with an aggregated count of enrollments 25
for each virtual course the provider delivered to pupils under this 26
section during the immediately preceding school year, and the 27
number of enrollments in which the pupil earned 60% or more of the 28
total course points for each virtual course. 29
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(8) To provide a virtual course under this section, a 1
community college shall ensure that each virtual course the 2
community college provides under this section generates 3
postsecondary credit. 4
(9) For any virtual course a pupil enrolls in under this 5
section, the pupil's school district or public school academy shall 6
assign the pupil a mentor and shall supply the provider with the 7
mentor's contact information. 8
(10) For a pupil enrolled in 1 or more virtual courses, the 9
pupil's school district or public school academy shall use 10
foundation allowance or per-pupil funds calculated under section 20 11
of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1620, to pay for the 12
expenses associated with the virtual course or courses. A school 13
district or public school academy is not required to pay toward the 14
cost of a virtual course an amount that exceeds 6.67% of the target 15
foundation allowance for the current fiscal year as calculated 16
under section 20 of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1620. 17
(11) A virtual learning pupil has the same rights and access 18
to technology in the pupil's school district's or public school 19
academy's facilities as all other pupils enrolled in the pupil's 20
school district or public school academy. The department shall 21
establish standards for hardware, software, and internet access for 22
pupils who are enrolled in more than 2 virtual courses under this 23
section in an academic term, semester, or trimester taken at a 24
location other than a school facility. 25
(12) If a pupil successfully completes a virtual course, as 26
determined by the pupil's school district or public school academy, 27
the pupil's school district or public school academy shall grant 28
appropriate academic credit for completion of the course and shall 29
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count that credit toward completion of graduation and subject area 1
requirements. A pupil's school record and transcript must identify 2
the virtual course title as it appears in the virtual course 3
syllabus. 4
(13) The enrollment of a pupil in 1 or more virtual courses 5
must not result in a pupil being counted as more than 1.0 full-time 6
equivalent pupil under article I of the state school aid act of 7
1979, MCL 388.1601 to 388.1772. The minimum requirements to count 8
the pupil in membership are those established by the pupil 9
accounting manual as it was in effect for the 2015-2016 school year 10
or as subsequently amended by the department if the department 11
notifies the legislature about the proposed amendment at least 60 12
days before the amendment becomes effective. 13
(14) Subject to the requirements of this subsection, a school 14
district or public school academy may provide virtual instruction 15
under this subsection for not more than 6 days in a school year. If 16
a school district or public school academy plans to provide 17
instruction under this subsection to pupils, the school district's 18
or public school academy's plan must be approved by the board of 19
the school district, and the school district or public school 20
academy must provide notice of the plan to impacted pupils and 21
their parents or legal guardians before enactment of the plan. 22
Instruction may be provided synchronously or asynchronously, as 23
determined by the department. Days of instruction under this 24
subsection may be used only for the following purposes, as defined 25
by the department: 26
(a) A maximum of 3 days may be designated as testing days, 27
during which pupils are released from regular classroom instruction 28
to participate in state or federally mandated assessments. Days of 29
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virtual instruction provided under this subdivision are limited to 1
buildings and grade levels impacted by assessments. 2
(b) A maximum of 3 days of virtual instruction may be provided 3
due to conditions not within control of the district, including, 4
but not limited to, closures due to snow, ice, or other extreme 5
weather events or unforeseen emergencies. Days of virtual 6
instruction under this subdivision may be used only after a 7
district has exhausted all emergency closure days permitted under 8
section 101 of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1701. 9
(15) The department shall promulgate rules for the conditions 10
under which virtual instruction may be provided under subsection 11
(14) and the manner in which it may be provided. 12
(16) As used in this section: 13
(a) "Instructor" means an individual who is employed by or 14
contracted through a community college. 15
(b) "Mentor" means a professional employee of the school 16
district or public school academy who monitors the pupil's 17
progress, ensures the pupil has access to needed technology, is 18
available for assistance, and ensures access to the teacher of 19
record. A mentor may also serve as the teacher of record if the 20
school district or public school academy is the provider for the 21
virtual course and the mentor meets the requirements under 22
subdivision (d). 23
(c) "Provider" means the school district, intermediate school 24
district, public school academy, community college, or other third-25
party vendor that the school district or public school academy pays 26
to provide the virtual course, or the Michigan Virtual University 27
if it is providing the virtual course. 28
(d) "Teacher of record" means a teacher who meets all of the 29
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following: 1
(i) Is appropriately placed under a valid Michigan teaching 2
certificate or a teaching permit, authorization, or approval issued 3
by the department. As used in this subparagraph, "appropriately 4
placed" means holding a valid Michigan educator credential with the 5
required grade range and discipline or subject area for the 6
assignment, as defined by the superintendent of public instruction. 7
(ii) Is responsible for providing instruction, determining 8
instructional methods for each pupil, diagnosing learning needs, 9
assessing pupil learning, prescribing intervention strategies and 10
modifying lessons, reporting outcomes, and evaluating the effects 11
of instruction and support strategies. 12
(iii) Has a personnel identification code provided by the 13
center. 14
(iv) If the provider is a community college, is an instructor 15
employed by or contracted through the providing community college. 16
(e) "Virtual course" means a course of study that is capable 17
of generating a credit or a grade and that is provided in an 18
interactive learning environment where any portion of the 19
curriculum is delivered using the internet and in which pupils may 20
be separated from their instructor or teacher of record by time or 21
location, or both. 22
(f) "Virtual course syllabus" means a document that includes 23
all of the following: 24
(i) An alignment document detailing how the course meets 25
applicable state standards or, if this state does not have state 26
standards, nationally recognized standards. 27
(ii) The virtual course content outline. 28
(iii) The virtual course required assessments. 29
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(iv) The virtual course prerequisites. 1
(v) Expectations for actual instructor or teacher of record 2
contact time with the virtual learning pupil and other 3
communications between a pupil and the instructor or teacher of 4
record. 5
(vi) Academic support available to the virtual learning pupil. 6
(vii) The virtual course learning outcomes and objectives. 7
(viii) The name of the institution or organization providing the 8
virtual content. 9
(ix) The name of the institution or organization providing the 10
instructor or teacher of record. 11
(x) The course titles assigned by the provider and the course 12
titles and course codes from the National Center for Education 13
Statistics (NCES) School Courses for the Exchange of Data (SCED). 14
(xi) The number of eligible pupils that will be accepted by the 15
provider in the virtual course. A school district or public school 16
academy that is also the provider may limit the enrollment to those 17
pupils enrolled in the school district or public school academy. 18
(xii) The results of the virtual course quality review using 19
the guidelines and model review process published by the Michigan 20
Virtual University. 21
(g) "Virtual learning pupil" means a pupil enrolled in 1 or 22
more virtual courses. 23