82R5396 GCB-F
By: Elkins H.B. No. 2188
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to using Foundation School Program funding to implement
the Texas School Ready Program at certain providers of private
prekindergarten programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.1535 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.1535. TEXAS SCHOOL READY PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM.
(a) In this section:
(1) "Private provider" means a provider of a private
prekindergarten program that complies with the applicable
child-care licensing standards adopted by the Department of Family
and Protective Services under Section 42.042, Human Resources Code.
(2) "Texas School Ready Program" means a program
implemented and administered by the Children's Learning Institute
of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston that
links instructional practices necessary to prepare a student for
kindergarten with the achievement of scores that show the student
has acquired reading and social skills that have prepared the
student to enter kindergarten.
(b) A school district required or authorized under Section
29.153 to offer a prekindergarten program shall enter into a
contract with the Children's Learning Institute and a private
provider if:
(1) the Children's Learning Institute certifies to the
district that the Texas School Ready Program will be implemented
and administered at the private provider if the contract is
executed; and
(2) the private provider certifies to the district
that a child eligible to attend free prekindergarten in the
district under Section 29.153(b) is a student at the private
provider and will be enrolled in the Texas School Ready Program.
(c) A school district that enters into a contract with the
Children's Learning Institute and a private provider must agree
under the contract to pay:
(1) during the first year of the contract:
(A) the cost to initially implement the Texas
School Ready Program at the private provider, if the program has not
previously been implemented; or
(B) the cost to administer the Texas School Ready
Program at the private provider, if the program has previously been
implemented; and
(2) during the subsequent years of the contract, the
cost per year to administer the Texas School Ready Program at the
private provider.
(d) The amount required to be paid by a school district
under Subsection (c) for each contract during any year may not
exceed the amount determined by the following formula:
G = EC x AFA
where:
(1) "G" is the greatest amount required to be paid;
(2) "EC" is the number of children eligible to attend
free prekindergarten in the district under Section 29.153(b) who
are enrolled in the Texas School Ready Program offered by the
private provider during that year; and
(3) "AFA" is the average total funding amount for each
prekindergarten student in the district during the preceding school
year for maintenance and operations, including state and local
funding, but excluding money from the available school fund, or, if
the district did not operate a prekindergarten program during the
preceding school year, an amount determined by the commissioner.
(e) Each eligible child certified to the school district
under Subsection (b):
(1) is included in determining the average daily
attendance under Section 42.005 of the district in which the
student would otherwise attend school; and
(2) is considered to be enrolled in a prekindergarten
class under Section 29.153 for purposes of Section 42.003(b).
(f) The commissioner by rule shall establish:
(1) the method for a private provider, in conjunction
with the Children's Learning Institute, to apply to a school
district for a contract;
(2) standards for a fair admissions policy of a Texas
School Ready Program that a private provider must meet to be
eligible for a contract with a district, including standards that:
(A) may give preference to a sibling of an
enrolled student or to a child who resides in the same household as
an enrolled student;
(B) prohibit refusal to enroll a child on the
basis of the child's race, national origin, ethnic background,
religion, or disability; and
(C) provide for a random method of selecting
eligible students if a program has more applicants than available
positions; and
(3) any additional requirements applicable to a
contract between a private provider and a district, as determined
by the commissioner.
(g) The agency shall contract with the Children's Learning
Institute for the institute to provide technical assistance to a
private provider in meeting the requirements necessary to be
eligible to enter into a contract with a school district.
(h) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
administer this section.
SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2012, the commissioner
of education shall adopt rules necessary to implement Section
29.1535, Education Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. Section 29.1535, Education Code, as added by
this Act, applies beginning with the 2012-2013 school year.
SECTION 4. 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.