By: Allen H.B. No. 4053
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to mandatory sanctions for certain academically
unacceptable public school campuses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.1324, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (b), and (e) and adding Subsection (a-1)
to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), if [If] a campus
has been identified as academically unacceptable for two
consecutive school years, including the current school year, the
commissioner shall order the reconstitution of the campus and
assign a campus intervention team. In reconstituting the campus, a
campus intervention team shall assist the campus in:
(1) developing a school improvement plan;
(2) obtaining approval of the plan from the
commissioner; and
(3) executing the plan on approval by the
commissioner.
(a-1) The commissioner is not required to take action under
Subsection (a) during the second consecutive year for which a
campus is identified as academically unacceptable or, regardless of
the continued identification of the campus as academically
unacceptable, during the next school year if:
(1) the campus demonstrates improvement, as measured
from the preceding school year, in relation to performance on the
indicator or indicators under Section 39.051 on which the
identification as academically unacceptable for the current school
year is based; or
(2) the identification of the campus as academically
unacceptable for the current year is based on a single indicator
under Section 39.051 that:
(A) was not a basis for identification of the
campus as academically unacceptable for the preceding school year;
and
(B) is based on the performance of a group of
students that does not constitute more than 30 percent of the total
campus student population.
(b) The campus intervention team shall decide which
educators may be retained at that campus. A principal who has been
employed by the campus in that capacity during the [full two-year]
period described by Subsection (a) or (a-1), as applicable, and
whose campus has not demonstrated adequate improvement may not be
retained at that campus. A teacher of a subject assessed by an
assessment instrument under Section 39.023 may be retained only if
the campus intervention team determines that a pattern exists of
significant academic improvement by students taught by the teacher.
If an educator is not retained, the educator may be assigned to
another position in the district.
(e) If a campus is considered an academically unacceptable
campus for the subsequent school year after the campus is
reconstituted under this section, the commissioner shall review the
progress of the campus and may order closure of the campus or pursue
alternative management under Section 39.1327. This subsection does
not apply if the identification as academically unacceptable is
based on a single indicator under Section 39.051 that:
(A) was not a basis for identification of the
campus as academically unacceptable for the preceding school year;
and
(B) is based on the performance of a group of
students that does not constitute more than 30 percent of the total
campus student population.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2009-2010
school year.
SECTION 3. 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.