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POLICY STATEMENT

A board or authority in BC may provide all or part of an educational program by means of distributed learning. A board or authority may operate a distributed learning school only if it has signed an agreement with the Minister.

RATIONALE

Distributed learning provides the flexibility to meet learning needs of many BC students not served through conventional school programs. Schools in rural and urban communities may have difficulty offering a full range of courses and program options to all students, and distributed learning can expand equitable access to education, specifically providing choice for those students who have restricted options.

LEGISLATION/ REGULATIONS

• School Act, Section 3.1
• School Act,  Section 75 (4.1)

POLICY

Public boards and authorities that operate a distributed learning school or program must enter into an Agreement with the Minister and be able to demonstrate that any school or program which the Agreement covers:

• Meets all of the requirements of the School Act and Legislation.
• Meets all of the requirements of the Distributed Learning Agreement between the Board of Education and the Ministry.
• Meets all Ministry of Education policies and standards.

Each public board and authority with a Distributed Learning Agreement:

• ensures that students may exercise their rights under legislation to choose distributed learning instruction within a coordinated province-wide distributed learning system.
• commits to meet or exceed the British Columbia Distributed Learning Standards.
• agrees to participate in the Quality Review Process.
• aligns its website to meet Ministry requirements.
• ensures it has supports in place to comply with the Ministry policy and standards, including resource investment.
• provides training and professional development for teachers, and employs only teachers who have experience and/or training in distributed learning methodology.
• meets policy requirements related to funds for designated resources to parents and learners.
• ensures that all learners in the board’s/authority’s catchment area who are receiving distributed learning instruction from anywhere in the province are receiving appropriate support.
• provides records and reports on student achievement as specified by the Ministry.
• works to achieve a 100% participation rate in Foundation Skills Assessments and Satisfaction Surveys.
• provides current and accurate distributed learning contact information to the Ministry.
• provides accurate information regarding its Distributed Learning website, courses offered, and contact information to the LearnNow BC web service by July 31 of each year, and updates the information as required.

PROCEDURES

Distributed Learning School Websites
Public boards or authorities will align Board/Authority and Distributed Learning School websites with the criteria provided through the Distributed Learning Website Criteria document.

Contact Information
By June 30 of each year, the public board or authority must complete the Distributed Learning Contact Information document and submit it to the Ministry.  This document includes instructions, contact roles, and the information form.

Quality Review
The Quality Review purpose and procedures are described in the Quality Review Process document.

Reimbursements to Learners and Parents
If the public board or authority uses a third party to provide educational services, materials, or resources to Learners, the board or authority will:

• ensure that the educational services, materials, resources are part of the educational program supervised by an employee of the Board of Education who is a member of the British Columbia College of Teachers, and
• pay the third party directly and not the Parent, Learner or any other person.

The public board or authority may not provide financial payments or reimbursements to Learners or their Parents, nor may they use any amount of money budgeted to support an educational program as an incentive to have a Learner enrol in a Distributed Learning educational program or course. 

The public board or authority may provide financial assistance to Learners or their Parents for a portion of the Family’s Internet connection fees only, if the Learner requires an Internet connection to participate in an educational program delivered in whole or in part through Distributed Learning.

The public board or authority may lend, not give, equipment with an asset value (such as a computer) that is required for participation in a Distributed Learning educational program or course to Learners and/or their Parents.

Access to Grade 10-12 Distributed Learning Courses
Schools may not act to prevent students from enrolling in a distributed learning school through means such as:

• requiring a minimal number of courses within the student’s schedule (see Form 1701 Instructions for exceptions),
• providing inaccurate information relating to credentials, provincial examinations, transcript eligibility, or other processes,
• refusing to cooperate with other schools offering distributed learning instruction.