81R9931 CAS-D
By: Farias H.B. No. 2463
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to appeals to the commissioner of education and to
recommendations by hearing examiners concerning public school
teacher employment decisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 7.057(b) and (d), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the commissioner,
after due notice to the parties interested, shall, not later than
the 180th day after the date the appeal was filed, hold a hearing
and issue a decision without cost to the parties involved. In
conducting a hearing under this subsection, the commissioner has
the same authority relating to discovery and conduct of a hearing as
a hearing examiner has under Subchapter F, Chapter 21. This section
does not deprive any party of any legal remedy.
(d) A person aggrieved by an action of the agency or
decision of the commissioner may appeal to a district court in
Travis County. An appeal must be made by serving the commissioner
with citation issued and served in the manner provided by law for
civil suits. The petition must state the action or decision from
which the appeal is taken. At trial, the court shall conduct a de
novo review and determine all issues of law and fact, except as
provided by Section 33.081(g).
SECTION 2. Section 21.257, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c-1) Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (c), if the
hearing examiner or parties are unable to comply with the time
requirements under this section for a recommendation under
Subsection (a), the hearing examiner may, for good cause shown,
postpone by a reasonable period the date on which a recommendation
is required.
SECTION 3. (a) Sections 7.057(b) and (d), Education Code,
as amended by this Act, apply only to an appeal filed with the
commissioner of education on or after the effective date of this
Act.
(b) Section 21.257(c-1), Education Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to a hearing before a hearing examiner held on or
after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.