81R34579 EAH-D
By: Patrick S.B. No. 300
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 300:
By: Shelton C.S.S.B. No. 300
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eliminating or modifying certain mandates on school
districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (d), Section 11.1513, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(d) The employment policy must provide that not later than
the 10th school day before the date on which a district fills a
vacant position for which a certificate or license is required as
provided by Section 21.003, other than a position that affects the
safety and security of students as determined by the board of
trustees, the district must provide to each current district
employee:
(1) notice of the position by posting the position on:
(A) a bulletin board at:
(i) a place convenient to the public in the
district's central administrative office; and
(ii) the central administrative office of
each campus in the district during any time the office is open; or
[and]
(B) the district's Internet website, if the
district has a website; and
(2) a reasonable opportunity to apply for the
position.
SECTION 2. Section 25.112, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (e), (f), and (g) to
read as follows:
(d) On application of a school district, the commissioner
may except the district from the limit in Subsection (a) if the
commissioner finds the limit works an undue hardship on the
district. An exception expires at the end of the school year
[semester] for which it is granted[, and the commissioner may not
grant an exception for:
[(1) more than one semester at a time].
(e) A school district seeking an exception under Subsection
(d) shall notify the commissioner and apply for the exception not
later than the later of:
(1) October 1; or
(2) the 30th day after the first school day the
district exceeds the limit in Subsection (a).
(f) If a school district repeatedly fails to comply with
this section, the commissioner may take any appropriate action
authorized to be taken by the commissioner under Section 39.131.
(g) Not later than January 1, 2011, the agency shall report
to the legislature the number of applications for exceptions under
Subsection (d) submitted by each school district and for each
application indicate whether the application was granted or denied.
This subsection expires February 1, 2011.
SECTION 3. Section 34.0021, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (c-1) to
read as follows:
(a) Pursuant to the safety standards established by the
Department of Public Safety under Section 34.002, each school
district may [shall] conduct a training session for students and
teachers concerning procedures for evacuating a school bus during
an emergency.
(b) A school district that chooses to conduct a training
session under Subsection (a) is encouraged to [shall] conduct the
school bus emergency evacuation training session [at least twice
each school year, with one training session occurring] in the fall
of the school year [and one training session occurring in the
spring]. The school district is also encouraged to structure the
training session so that the session applies to school bus
passengers, a [A] portion of the [training] session occurs [must
occur] on a school bus, and the [training] session lasts [must last]
for at least one hour.
(c-1) Immediately before each field trip involving
transportation by school bus, a school district is encouraged to
review school bus emergency evacuation procedures with the school
bus passengers, including a demonstration of the school bus
emergency exits and the safe manner to exit.
SECTION 4. Section 44.902, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 44.902. LONG-RANGE ENERGY PLAN [GOAL] TO REDUCE
CONSUMPTION OF ELECTRIC ENERGY. (a) The board of trustees of a
school district shall establish a long-range energy plan [goal] to
reduce the [school] district's annual electric consumption by five
percent beginning with the 2008 [each] state fiscal year and
consume electricity in subsequent fiscal years in accordance with
the district's energy plan [for six years beginning September 1,
2007].
(b) The plan required under Subsection (a) must include:
(1) strategies for achieving energy efficiency that:
(A) result in net savings for the district; or
(B) can be achieved without financial cost to the
district; and
(2) for each strategy identified under Subdivision
(1), the initial, short-term capital costs and lifetime costs and
savings that may result from implementation of the strategy.
(c) In determining under Subsection (b) whether a strategy
may result in financial cost to the district, the board of trustees
shall consider the total net costs and savings that may occur over
the seven-year period following implementation of the strategy.
(d) The board of trustees may submit the plan required under
Subsection (a) to the State Energy Conservation Office for the
purposes of determining whether funds available through loan
programs administered by the office are available to the district.
SECTION 5. Subsection (b), Section 44.901, Education Code,
is repealed.
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2009-2010
school year.
SECTION 7. 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.