Alabama § 16-46A-2 - Enrollment; Participation and Attendance; Online Course Requirements.

§ 16-46A-2. Enrollment; Participation and Attendance; Online Course Requirements.

(a) A full-time student enrolled in a virtual program shall be enrolled and counted in the average daily membership of the local school, participate in state testing and accountability requirements through the local school system, and, upon satisfying the graduation requirements of the local board of education, receive a diploma from the local school system.

(b) Any provision of this article to the contrary notwithstanding, a student enrolled in a virtual school program offered by his or her local school system shall be treated as if he or she is attending his or her local school in the attendance zone in which they reside for purposes of participating in extracurricular activities and shall be subject to the same requirements, including Alabama High School Athletic Association rules, imposed on a traditional public school student enrolled in the traditional public school.

In addition, if local board of education policy permits inter-system transfer for all students, a student enrolled under this policy shall be treated as if he or she is attending his or her school of record for the purposes of participating in extracurricular activities and shall be subject to the same requirements, including Alabama High School Athletic Association rules, imposed on a traditional public school student enrolled in the traditional public school.

(c) A board of education shall be exempt from any provision of general law, local law, or administrative rule that applies to the traditional delivery of instruction including, but not limited to, requirements relating to the physical presence of a student, student monitoring and security, staffing requirements, transportation obligations, facility requirements, space and location requirements, time requirements, and physical education requirements to the extent any of the foregoing conflict with the delivery of the virtual program.

(d) A local board of education is not subject to online course restrictions imposed by the State Department of Education.

(e) Any online course delivery that is not supported by the State Department of Education shall be accredited by an institution recognized pursuant to administrative rule adopted by the department.

(f) Coursework offered through a virtual program shall contain the required content as identified in the applicable Alabama course of study.