§ 17:5104 — Eligibility for students impacted by Hurricane Laura

§5104. Eligibility for students impacted by Hurricane Laura
A. The legislature finds that due to the effects of Hurricane Laura, it is in the best
interest of the people of the state that initial and continuing eligibility requirements
established in Part I of this Chapter for awards pursuant to the Taylor Opportunity Program
for Students be modified as provided by this Section.
B.(1) Provisions of this Chapter that provide for initial eligibility are modified or
waived as more fully specified in this Subsection:
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 17:5062, the deadline for taking the ACT
or SAT for students graduating from high school in 2020 is December 31, 2020. The
administering agency may provide an exception to this deadline if the student provides
documentation that he was registered for a test that was canceled due to Hurricane Laura and
was unable to schedule a test before the deadline due to circumstances beyond his control as
determined by the administering agency. The administering agency shall not reduce the time
period of eligibility for the award, as set forth in R.S. 17:5002, of an applicant who qualifies
for an award pursuant to the authority granted by this Subparagraph. The initial award or
upgraded award shall be paid for the first time beginning with the semester during which the
qualifying score was achieved.
(b) A student who is certified by his principal to have graduated during the 2020-2021 school year from an eligible out-of-state high school shall not be required to have a
higher minimum composite score on the ACT than required by R.S. 17:5024 for a student
who graduates from an eligible Louisiana high school.
(c) The requirement that a student complete a core curriculum shall be waived upon
proper documentation by his principal that failure to comply is due solely to the fact that
required courses were not available to the student at the school attended.
(d)(i) A dependent or independent student shall be deemed to meet program
residency requirements if he actually resided in Louisiana during his entire eleventh grade
year and was enrolled for such time in an eligible Louisiana high school or, for a dependent
student, if he has a parent or court-ordered custodian who actually resided in an affected
parish for at least the twelve months prior to August 26, 2020.
(ii) A parent or court-ordered custodian of a dependent student who is eligible for
a program award pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 17:5029, relative to students who
graduate from certain out-of-state high schools, and who was displaced as a resident from
an affected parish shall be deemed to meet residency requirements if the parent or court-ordered custodian actually resided in Louisiana for at least the twelve months prior to August
26, 2020.
(e) A student who during the 2020-2021 school year successfully completes at the
twelfth grade level a home study program approved by the State Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education, referred to in this Subsection as the "state board", shall be eligible for
a program award by complying with the provisions of R.S. 17:5029 relative to certain home
study students. In such case, the requirement that the student, if ever enrolled in an eligible
Louisiana high school, begin the program no later than the end of the tenth grade is waived.
(2) The provisions of this Subsection shall apply only to a student who, on August
26, 2020, was enrolled in a public or nonpublic high school that is located in an affected
parish and that has the approval required by Part I of this Chapter for program eligibility
purposes or who resided in such a parish and was enrolled in a home study program approved
by the state board.
C.(1) Provisions of this Chapter relative to continuing eligibility are modified or
waived with respect to the 2020-2021 academic year as more fully specified in this
Subsection:
(a) The provisions of R.S. 17:5041 and 5042 requiring a student to make steady
academic progress and achieve a certain cumulative grade point average are waived.
(b) For a student whose program award is suspended due to a low grade point
average or failure to make steady academic progress, the time periods provided in Part I of
this Chapter for him to meet such requirements before losing eligibility shall be extended by
one semester for each semester that he is unable to enroll or complete.
(c) The provisions of R.S. 17:5043 providing that a student's eligibility shall be
reduced by a semester for each semester that he is enrolled in an out-of-state college or
university are waived.
(2) The provisions of this Subsection shall apply only to a person who, on August
26, 2020, was eligible for or had a program award and who meets either of the following
criteria:
(a) His home of record was in an affected parish. For purposes of this Subparagraph,
"home of record" means the domiciliary address of a dependent student's parent or
court-ordered custodian or an independent student's domiciliary address.
(b) He was enrolled in an eligible college or university in an affected parish.
D. For purposes of this Section, "affected parish" means Acadia, Allen, Beauregard,
Caddo, Calcasieu, Cameron, Grant, Jackson, Jefferson Davis, LaSalle, Lincoln, Morehouse,
Natchitoches, Ouachita, Rapides, Sabine, St. Landry, Union, Vermilion, Vernon, or Winn.
E.(1) The administering agency may waive any provision of Part I of this Chapter
that imposes a program eligibility requirement that a student cannot comply with if it
determines that the failure to comply is, more likely than not, due solely to the effects of
Hurricane Laura.
(2) The administering agency may waive any provision of Part I of this Chapter that
imposes a program eligibility requirement that a student cannot comply with if it determines
that the failure to comply is, more likely than not, due solely to the effects of any
gubernatorially declared disaster or emergency. The authority granted by this Paragraph shall
apply only to the 2020-2021 academic year.
(3) In addition to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act relative to
legislative oversight, the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget shall have oversight and
approval authority over any rule proposed for adoption pursuant to the authority granted by
this Subsection.
F. The administering agency may adopt any rule, policy, or guideline necessary to
implement the provisions of this Section and shall disseminate information regarding
program changes pursuant to the provisions of this Section in the most timely manner
possible.

Legislative History

Acts 2020, 2 nd Ex. Sess., No. 17, §1, eff. Oct. 28, 2020.