81R10894 KKA-D
By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 1349
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eligibility for public school prekindergarten classes
of children residing with a grandparent.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.153, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
follows:
(b) A child is eligible for enrollment in a prekindergarten
class under this section if the child is at least three years of age
and:
(1) is unable to speak and comprehend the English
language;
(2) is educationally disadvantaged;
(3) is a homeless child, as defined by 42 U.S.C.
Section 11434a, regardless of the residence of the child, of either
parent of the child, or of the child's guardian or other person
having lawful control of the child;
(4) is the child of an active duty member of the armed
forces of the United States, including the state military forces or
a reserve component of the armed forces, who is ordered to active
duty by proper authority;
(5) is the child of a member of the armed forces of the
United States, including the state military forces or a reserve
component of the armed forces, who was injured or killed while
serving on active duty; [or]
(6) is or ever has been in the conservatorship of the
Department of Family and Protective Services following an adversary
hearing held as provided by Section 262.201, Family Code; or
(7) a grandparent of the child has primary
responsibility for the care of the child, and the grandparent is at
least 45 years of age.
(b-1) For purposes of Subsection (b)(7), a grandparent is
considered to have primary responsibility for the care of a child
if:
(1) the child resides with the grandparent in a
household that does not include a parent of the child; and
(2) the grandparent with whom the child resides:
(A) is the child's guardian or permanent managing
conservator;
(B) is named in a power of attorney as a person
authorized to make decisions regarding the child;
(C) is identified in a letter from the Department
of Family and Protective Services as the person in whose care the
child has been placed, provided the letter is printed on department
letterhead;
(D) has possession of the child's birth
certificate; or
(E) claimed the child as a dependent on the
grandparent's most recent federal income tax return.
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.