By: Gallegos S.B. No. 2267
(In the Senate - Filed March 13, 2009; March 31, 2009, read
first time and referred to Committee on Higher Education;
April 29, 2009, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 3,
Nays 1; April 29, 2009, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eligibility for an award through the Early High School
Graduation Scholarship program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 56.203, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read
as follows:
(a) To be eligible for an award through the Early High
School Graduation Scholarship program, a person must:
(1) have graduated from a public high school in this
state:
(A) in not more than 41 consecutive months and
successfully completed the recommended or advanced high school
program established under Section 28.025, if the person graduated
on or after September 1, 2005;
(B) in not more than 46 consecutive months, with
at least 30 hours of college credit, and successfully completed the
recommended or advanced high school program established under
Section 28.025, if the person graduated on or after September 1,
2005; or
(C) in not more than 36 consecutive months after
successfully completing the requirements for a high school diploma,
if the person graduated before September 1, 2005, regardless of
whether the person successfully completed the recommended or
advanced high school program established under Section 28.025;
(2) have attended one or more public high schools in
this state for the majority of time the person attended high school,
except as provided by Subsection (f); and
(3) except as provided by Subsection (f), be a citizen
of the United States or otherwise lawfully authorized to be present
in the United States.
(e) The coordinating board shall adopt rules for
determining whether a person attended public high school in this
state as required by Subsection (a)(2) and for determining under
Subsection (f)(2) whether a person attended a high school other
than a public high school in this state primarily because of the
migratory agricultural or fishing work of the person, the person's
parent, or the person's spouse. The coordinating board may adopt
other rules the board considers necessary for the administration of
Subsection (f).
(f) A person described by Subsection (a)(1)(A) or (B) who is
otherwise eligible for an award and who is a migratory child, as
defined by 20 U.S.C. Section 6399, is eligible for an award through
the Early High School Graduation Scholarship program despite the
student's inability to satisfy Subsection (a)(2) or (3) if:
(1) the person graduates from a public high school in
this state; and
(2) the person attended one or more high schools,
other than a public high school in this state, for one or more
periods primarily because of the migratory agricultural or fishing
work of the person, the person's parent, or the person's spouse, and
the person would have satisfied Subsection (a)(2) if the person had
attended a public high school in this state during that period or
those periods.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a student who graduates from a public high school in this state on
or after the effective date of this Act. A student who graduates
from a public high school in this state before the effective date of
this Act and the student's eligibility to participate in the Early
High School Graduation Scholarship program is governed by the law
in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
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.
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