HF 1542

1st Engrossment - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 03/26/2015 03:56pm

A bill for an act
relating to education; reporting school and district data on foreign exchange
and study abroad programs; encouraging foreign exchange and study abroad
programs and policies; appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2014,
sections 5A.03; 13.32, subdivision 5.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 5A.03, is amended to read:

5A.03 ORGANIZATION APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION.

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Placing high school students in Minnesota. new text end

(a) An application for
registration as an international student exchange visitor placement organization must be
submitted in the form prescribed by the secretary of state. The application must include:

(1) evidence that the organization meets the standards established by the secretary of
state by rule;

(2) the name, address, and telephone number of the organization, its chief executive
officer, and the person within the organization who has primary responsibility for
supervising placements within the state;

(3) the organization's unified business identification number, if any;

(4) the organization's Office of Exchange Coordination and Designation, United
States Department of State number, if any;

(5) evidence of Council on Standards for International Educational Travel listing, if
any;

(6) whether the organization is exempt from federal income tax; and

(7) a list of the organization's placements in Minnesota for the previous academic
year including the number of students placed, their home countries, the school districts in
which they were placed, and the length of their placements.

(b) The application must be signed by the chief executive officer of the organization
and the person within the organization who has primary responsibility for supervising
placements within Minnesota. If the secretary of state determines that the application is
complete, the secretary of state shall file the application and the applicant is registered.

(c) Organizations that have registered shall inform the secretary of state of any
changes in the information required under paragraph (a), clause (1), within 30 days of the
change. There is no fee to amend a registration.

(d) Registration under this chapter is valid for one year. The registration may be
renewed annually. The fee to renew a registration is $50 per year.

(e) Organizations registering for the first time in Minnesota must pay an initial
registration fee of $150.

(f) Fees collected by the secretary of state under this section must be deposited in the
state treasury and credited to the general fund.

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Placing Minnesota students in travel abroad programs. new text end

new text begin (a) A school
district or charter school with enrolled students who participate in a foreign exchange or
study or other travel abroad program under a written agreement between the district or
charter school and the program provider must use a form developed by the Department
of Education to annually report to the department by November 1 the following data
from the previous school year:
new text end

new text begin (1) the number of Minnesota student deaths that occurred while Minnesota students
were participating in the foreign exchange or study or other travel abroad program and
that resulted from Minnesota students participating in the program;
new text end

new text begin (2) the number of Minnesota students hospitalized due to accidents and the illnesses
that occurred while Minnesota students were participating in the foreign exchange or study
or other travel abroad program and that resulted from Minnesota students participating
in the program; and
new text end

new text begin (3) the name and type of the foreign exchange or study or other travel abroad
program and the city or region where the reported death, hospitalization due to accident,
or the illness occurred.
new text end

new text begin (b) School districts and charter schools must ask but must not require enrolled
eligible students and the parents or guardians of other enrolled students who complete
a foreign exchange or study or other travel abroad program to disclose the information
under paragraph (a).
new text end

new text begin (c) When reporting the data under paragraph (a), a school district or charter school
may supplement the data with a brief explanatory statement. The Department of Education
annually must aggregate and publish the reported data on the department Web site in
a format that facilitates public access to the aggregated data and include links to both
the United States Department of State's Consular Information Program that informs the
public of conditions abroad that may affect students' safety and security and the publicly
available reports on sexual assaults and other criminal acts affecting students participating
in a foreign exchange or study or other travel abroad program.
new text end

new text begin (d) School districts and charter schools with enrolled students who participate in
foreign exchange or study or other travel abroad programs under a written agreement
between the district or charter school and the program provider are encouraged to adopt
policies supporting the programs and to include program standards in their policies to
ensure students' health and safety.
new text end

new text begin (e) To be eligible under this subdivision to provide a foreign exchange or study or
other travel abroad program to Minnesota students enrolled in a school district or charter
school, a program provider annually must register with the secretary of state and provide
the following information on a form developed by the secretary of state: the name,
address, and telephone number of the program provider, its chief executive officer, and
the person within the provider's organization who is primarily responsible for supervising
programs within the state; the program provider's unified business identification number,
if any; evidence of Council on Standards for International Educational Travel listing,
if any; whether the program provider is exempt from federal income tax; a list of the
program provider's placements in foreign countries for the previous school year including
the number of Minnesota students placed, where Minnesota students were placed,
and the length of their placement; and the signatures of the program provider's chief
executive officer and the person primarily responsible for supervising Minnesota students'
placements in foreign countries. If the secretary of state determines the registration is
complete, the secretary of state shall file the registration and the program provider is
registered. Registration with the secretary of state must not be considered or represented
as an endorsement of the program provider by the secretary of state. The secretary of
state annually must publish on its Web site aggregated data under paragraph (c) received
from the Department of Education.
new text end

new text begin (f) Program providers, annually by August 1, must provide the data required under
paragraph (a), clauses (1) to (3), to the districts and charter schools with enrolled students
participating in the provider's program.
new text end

new text begin (g) The school district, the charter school, the Department of Education, and their
respective employees, when acting in their official capacity, are immune from civil and
criminal liability with respect to all activities related to implementing this subdivision.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for the 2015-2016 school year and
later.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 13.32, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Directory information.

new text begin (a) new text end Information designated as directory
information pursuant to the provisions of United States Code, title 20, section 1232g and
Code of Federal Regulations, title 34, section 99.37 which are in effect on January 1, 2007,
is public data on individuals. When conducting the directory information designation and
notice process required by federal law, an educational agency or institution shall give
parents and students notice of the right to refuse to let the agency or institution designate
any or all data about the student as directory information. This notice may be given by any
means reasonably likely to inform the parents and students of the right.

new text begin (b) An educational agency or institution may not disclose directory information to a
foreign exchange or study or other travel abroad program provider under section 5A.03,
subdivision 2, unless the program provider is registered with the Office of the Secretary
of State.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for the 2015-2016 school year and
later.
new text end

Sec. 3. new text begin APPROPRIATION; TRAVEL ABROAD PROGRAM OVERSIGHT.
new text end

new text begin $....... in fiscal year 2016 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner
of education for purposes of Minnesota Statutes, section 5A.03, subdivision 2. Any funds
unexpended in fiscal year 2016 do not cancel but carry forward to the next fiscal year.
new text end

Sec. 4. new text begin APPROPRIATION; TRAVEL ABROAD PROGRAM REGISTRATION.
new text end

new text begin $....... in fiscal year 2016 is appropriated from the general fund to the secretary
of state for purposes of Minnesota Statutes, section 5A.03, subdivision 2. Any funds
unexpended in fiscal year 2016 do not cancel but carry forward to the next fiscal year.
new text end