82R23518 PAM-F
By: Shelton H.B. No. 1311
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1311:
By: Weber C.S.H.B. No. 1311
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to revision of open-enrollment charter school charters to
add charter schools under certain circumstances.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 12.1141 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.1141. REVISION: ADDING SCHOOLS UNDER CERTAIN
CIRCUMSTANCES. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the
commissioner may not deny approval for a charter holder to add one
or more additional open-enrollment charter schools under an
existing open-enrollment charter granted to the charter holder if:
(1) the charter holder meets all criteria established
by rule for adding a charter school under an existing charter other
than criteria for performance based on dropout and completion rates
of one or more existing charter schools under the charter and those
criteria would be met if:
(A) a student enrolled at the charter school who
is at least 17 years of age at the time of enrollment were not
considered a dropout; and
(B) a student who graduates from the charter
school before or during the student's sixth year of high school were
considered a high school graduate;
(2) the charter holder, at the time of submission of
the application for approval to add one or more additional charter
schools, has been assigned a financial accountability rating under
Subchapter D, Chapter 39, indicating financial performance that is
satisfactory or better; and
(3) each additional charter school:
(A) will serve only high school students;
(B) will have an enrollment of students of whom
at least 50 percent did not graduate with a ninth grade cohort; and
(C) will be in the geographical area described
for the charter under Section 12.111(a)(14).
(b) The commissioner may, in accordance with commissioner
rule, limit the number of additional charter schools approved under
Subsection (a) or limit the enrollment of an additional charter
school as necessary to conform to the capacity limits of the charter
holder or the demand for services in the geographical area, as
determined by the commissioner, but may not limit the enrollment of
an additional charter school to less than the number of students
currently enrolled at the high school level at a charter school
operated by the charter holder that focuses on dropout recovery.
SECTION 2. 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, 2011.