§ 16-6J-5 — Requirements for Education Service Providers

(a) To be approved by the department, an education service provider must do all of the following:
(1) Submit to the department any information required by the department for implementation of the program, including its address, contact information, and a summary of each program or service it proposes to provide to participating students.
(2) Agree not to refund, rebate, or share any portion of program funds with a parent or student in any manner. Program funds may only be used for qualifying expenses.
(3) Agree to submit annual reports to the department concerning implementation of the program, including the number of students participating, services provided, and other similar information requested by the department.
(4) Agree not to discriminate based on grounds of race, color, or national origin in the provision of its services.
(5) Agree to document amounts received for all qualifying expenses in a manner prescribed by the department.
(6) Agree to comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g.
(7) Agree not to discriminate against participating students in setting tuition or fees.
(b) To be approved by the department, a participating school must do all of the following, in addition to satisfying the requirements of subsection (a):
(1) Agree to comply with all applicable health and safety laws or codes.
(2) Hold a valid occupancy permit if required by the municipality where the school is located.
(3) Agree to comply with the Alabama Child Protection Act of 1999, Chapter 22A.
(4) Provide financial statements that demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the department, the school’s ability to adequately provide for participating students’ continued receipt of educational services in the event the school suffers a financial failure. Alternatively, the school may file with the department a surety bond payable in an amount determined by the department to be equal to the aggregate amount of the program funds expected to be paid during the academic year from participating students enrolled at the participating school.
(5)a. Require all participating students receiving program funds to take a standardized assessment aligned to the curricula of the participating school, a nationally norm-referenced achievement assessment, or a nationally recognized aptitude assessment of the participating school’s choice. Students with disabilities for whom testing is not appropriate are exempt from this requirement.
b. Provide the parents of each participating student who is tested with a copy of the results of the tests on an annual basis, beginning with the first year of testing.
c. Provide the department with school-level test results for participating students, provided that no party shall disaggregate data to a level that could identify the academic level of individual students.
(6) Require participating students to make payments of tuition and other fees periodically on a schedule to be established by the department.
(7) Inform the department of a participating student’s graduation, withdrawal from the school, misuse of program funds, or other event affecting the student’s eligibility for the program.
(c) Fulfillment of the agreements made pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) is a requirement of continuing approval as an education service provider or participating school. Failure to fulfill the agreements made pursuant to subsections (a) or (b) shall constitute grounds for the department, in its discretion, to suspend or disqualify the education service provider or participating school from receiving program funds.
(d) A public school that becomes an education service provider under this chapter shall be given maximum flexibility to accommodate participating students and may create a process and establish requirements for accepting, selecting, or limiting the number of allowable participating students who are not assigned to that public school.
(e) No provision of this chapter shall be construed to require any public school, school system, or school district or any nonpublic school, school system, or school district to enroll any student.
(f) The Legislature finds and declares that education service providers, including participating schools, that accept program funds shall be given the maximum freedom possible to provide for the educational needs of students, consistent with state and federal law. To that end, unless clear from the text of this chapter, no provision of this chapter shall be construed to limit the independence or autonomy of any education service provider; to act as a restriction, direction, or mandate regarding instructional content or curriculum provided by any education service provider; to require an education service provider to alter its creed, practices, admissions policies, hiring policies, codes of conduct for employees or students, tuition, or fees; to expand the regulatory authority of the state, its officers, or any school district; or to otherwise deprive or diminish the protections for nonpublic schools, including nonpublic schools with a religious affiliation, available under any source of existing law, including Section 16-1-11.1 or Section 16-1-11.2, or Executive Order No. 733 issued by the Governor on January 20, 2023.
(g) A resident school district shall provide a participating school or other education service provider that has admitted an eligible student under the program with the complete copy of the student’s school records consistent with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g.

Legislative History

(Act 2024-21, §5.)