(A) Until the sixty-first day after the effective date of this amendment, no internet- or computer-based community school shall operate unless the school was open for instruction as of May 1, 2005. No entity described in division (C)(1) of section 3314.02 of the Revised Code shall enter into a contract to sponsor an internet- or computer-based community school, including a conversion school, between May 1, 2005, and the sixty-first day after the effective date of this amendment, except as follows:

(1) The entity may renew a contract that the entity entered into with an internet- or computer-based community school prior to May 1, 2005, if the school was open for operation as of that date.

(2) The entity may assume sponsorship of an existing internet- or computer-based community school that was formerly sponsored by another entity and may enter into a contract with that community school in accordance with section 3314.03 of the Revised Code.

If a sponsor entered into a contract with an internet- or computer-based community school, including a conversion school, but the school was not open for operation as of May 1, 2005, the contract shall be void and the entity shall not enter into another contract with the school until the sixty-first day after the effective date of this amendment.

(B)

(1) Beginning on the later of July 1, 2013, or the sixty-first day after the effective date of this amendment, up to five new internet- or computer-based community schools may open each year, subject to approval of the superintendent of public instruction under division (B)(2) of this section.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction shall approve applications for new internet- or computer-based community schools from only those applicants demonstrating experience and quality.

The state board of education shall adopt rules prescribing measures to determine experience and quality of applicants in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. The measures shall include, but not be limited to, the following considerations:

(a) The sponsor's experience with online schools;

(b) The operator's experience with online schools;

(c) The sponsor's and operator's previous record for student performance;

(d) A preference for operators with previous experience in Ohio.

The state board shall adopt the rules so that they are effective not later than the sixty-first day after the effective date of this amendment.

(3) The department of education shall notify any new internet- or computer-based community school governed by division (B) of this section of whether the superintendent has approved or disapproved the school's application to open for the 2013-2014 school year not later than July 1, 2013, or the sixty-first day after the effective date of this amendment, if such date occurs after July 1, 2013. Notwithstanding the dates prescribed for adoption and signing on sponsor contracts in division (D) of section 3314.02 of the Revised Code, or the date for opening a school for instruction required by division (A)(25) of section 3314.03 of the Revised Code, a new internet- or computer-based community school approved for opening for the 2013-2014 school year under division (B) of this section may open and operate in that school year regardless of whether it has complied with those contract and opening dates. For each school year thereafter, the school shall comply with all applicable provisions of this chapter.

(C) Nothing in divisions (A) or (B) of this section prohibits an internet- or computer-based community school from increasing the number of grade levels it offers.

(D) Not later than July 1, 2012, the director of the governor's office of 21st century education and the superintendent of public instruction shall develop standards for the operation of internet- or computer-based community schools. The director shall submit those standards to the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate for consideration of enactment by the general assembly.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.184, HB 555, §1, eff. 3/22/2013.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.28, HB 153, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2011.

Effective Date: 04-08-2003; 06-30-2005