| 1 | 1 | | 82R23518 PAM-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Shelton H.B. No. 1311 |
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| 3 | 3 | | Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1311: |
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| 4 | 4 | | By: Weber C.S.H.B. No. 1311 |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | relating to revision of open-enrollment charter school charters to |
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| 10 | 10 | | add charter schools under certain circumstances. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is |
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| 13 | 13 | | amended by adding Section 12.1141 to read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | Sec. 12.1141. REVISION: ADDING SCHOOLS UNDER CERTAIN |
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| 15 | 15 | | CIRCUMSTANCES. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the |
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| 16 | 16 | | commissioner may not deny approval for a charter holder to add one |
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| 17 | 17 | | or more additional open-enrollment charter schools under an |
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| 18 | 18 | | existing open-enrollment charter granted to the charter holder if: |
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| 19 | 19 | | (1) the charter holder meets all criteria established |
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| 20 | 20 | | by rule for adding a charter school under an existing charter other |
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| 21 | 21 | | than criteria for performance based on dropout and completion rates |
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| 22 | 22 | | of one or more existing charter schools under the charter and those |
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| 23 | 23 | | criteria would be met if: |
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| 24 | 24 | | (A) a student enrolled at the charter school who |
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| 25 | 25 | | is at least 17 years of age at the time of enrollment were not |
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| 26 | 26 | | considered a dropout; and |
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| 27 | 27 | | (B) a student who graduates from the charter |
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| 28 | 28 | | school before or during the student's sixth year of high school were |
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| 29 | 29 | | considered a high school graduate; |
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| 30 | 30 | | (2) the charter holder, at the time of submission of |
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| 31 | 31 | | the application for approval to add one or more additional charter |
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| 32 | 32 | | schools, has been assigned a financial accountability rating under |
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| 33 | 33 | | Subchapter D, Chapter 39, indicating financial performance that is |
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| 34 | 34 | | satisfactory or better; and |
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| 35 | 35 | | (3) each additional charter school: |
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| 36 | 36 | | (A) will serve only high school students; |
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| 37 | 37 | | (B) will have an enrollment of students of whom |
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| 38 | 38 | | at least 50 percent did not graduate with a ninth grade cohort; and |
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| 39 | 39 | | (C) will be in the geographical area described |
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| 40 | 40 | | for the charter under Section 12.111(a)(14). |
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| 41 | 41 | | (b) The commissioner may, in accordance with commissioner |
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| 42 | 42 | | rule, limit the number of additional charter schools approved under |
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| 43 | 43 | | Subsection (a) or limit the enrollment of an additional charter |
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| 44 | 44 | | school as necessary to conform to the capacity limits of the charter |
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| 45 | 45 | | holder or the demand for services in the geographical area, as |
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| 46 | 46 | | determined by the commissioner, but may not limit the enrollment of |
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| 47 | 47 | | an additional charter school to less than the number of students |
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| 48 | 48 | | currently enrolled at the high school level at a charter school |
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| 49 | 49 | | operated by the charter holder that focuses on dropout recovery. |
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| 50 | 50 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 51 | 51 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 52 | 52 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 53 | 53 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 54 | 54 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
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