By: Shapiro, et al. S.B. No. 12
(In the Senate - Filed April 13, 2011; April 13, 2011, read
first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 18, 2011,
reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 2; April 18, 2011, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 12 By: Davis
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the flexibility of the board of trustees of a school
district in the management and operation of public schools in the
district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.0031, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to
read as follows:
(a) An employee's probationary, continuing, or term
contract under this chapter is void if the employee:
(1) does not hold a valid certificate or permit issued
by the State Board for Educator Certification; [or]
(2) fails to fulfill the requirements necessary to
renew or extend the employee's temporary, probationary, or
emergency certificate or any other certificate or permit issued
under Subchapter B; or
(3) fails to comply with any requirement under
Subchapter C, Chapter 22, if the failure results in suspension or
revocation of the employee's certificate under Section
22.0831(f)(2).
(b) If a school district has knowledge that an [After an
employee receives notice that the] employee's contract is void
under Subsection (a):
(1) the [a school] district may, except as provided by
Subsection (b-1):
(A) terminate the employee;
(B) suspend the employee with or without pay; or
(C) retain the employee for the remainder of the
school year on an at-will employment basis in a position other than
a position required to be held by an employee under a contract under
Section 21.002 [classroom teacher] at the employee's existing rate
of pay or at a reduced rate; and
(2) the employee is not entitled to the minimum salary
prescribed by Section 21.402.
(b-1) A school district may not terminate or suspend under
Subsection (b) an employee whose contract is void under Subsection
(a)(1) or (2) because the employee failed to renew or extend the
employee's certificate or permit if the employee:
(1) requests an extension from the State Board for
Educator Certification to renew, extend, or otherwise validate the
employee's certificate or permit; and
(2) not later than the 10th day after the date the
contract is void, takes necessary measures to renew, extend, or
otherwise validate the employee's certificate or permit, as
determined by the State Board for Educator Certification.
SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 21.103, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) The board of trustees of a school district may terminate
the employment of a teacher employed under a probationary contract
at the end of the contract period if in the board's judgment the
best interests of the district will be served by terminating the
employment. The board of trustees must give notice of its decision
to terminate the employment to the teacher not later than the 10th
[45th] day before the last day of instruction required under the
contract. The board's decision is final and may not be appealed.
SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 21.105, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) A teacher employed under a probationary contract for the
following school year may relinquish the position and leave the
employment of the district at the end of a school year without
penalty by filing with the board of trustees or its designee a
written resignation not later than the 30th [45th] day before the
first day of instruction of the following school year. A written
resignation mailed by prepaid certified or registered mail to the
president of the board of trustees or the board's designee at the
post office address of the district is considered filed at the time
of mailing.
SECTION 4. Section 21.157, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.157. NECESSARY REDUCTION OF PERSONNEL. (a) A
teacher employed under a continuing contract may be released at the
end of a school year and the teacher's employment with the school
district terminated at that time because of:
(1) a necessary reduction of personnel by the school
district; or
(2) a program change that requires a reduction in
personnel[, with those reductions made in the reverse order of
seniority in the specific teaching fields].
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(1), a teacher employed
under a continuing contract may not be released as described by that
subdivision for a school year in which the district is authorized to
implement a furlough program under Section 21.4021 or reduce
salaries under Section 21.4022 unless the district has taken action
under either or both of those sections to achieve the greatest
savings in salary costs permitted by Section 21.4022.
SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 21.160, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) A teacher employed under a continuing contract may
relinquish the position and leave the employment of the district at
the end of a school year without penalty by filing with the board of
trustees or its designee a written resignation not later than the
30th [45th] day before the first day of instruction of the following
school year. A written resignation mailed by prepaid certified or
registered mail to the president of the board of trustees or the
board's designee at the post office address of the district is
considered filed at time of mailing.
SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 21.206, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Not later than the 10th [45th] day before the last day of
instruction in a school year, the board of trustees shall notify in
writing each teacher whose contract is about to expire whether the
board proposes to renew or not renew the contract.
SECTION 7. Subsection (a), Section 21.210, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) A teacher employed under a term contract with a school
district may relinquish the teaching position and leave the
employment of the district at the end of a school year without
penalty by filing a written resignation with the board of trustees
or the board's designee not later than the 30th [45th] day before
the first day of instruction of the following school year. A
written resignation mailed by prepaid certified or registered mail
to the president of the board of trustees or the board's designee at
the post office address of the district is considered filed at the
time of mailing.
SECTION 8. Section 21.211, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
follows:
(a) The board of trustees may terminate a term contract and
discharge a teacher at any time for:
(1) good cause as determined by the board; [or]
(2) a financial exigency that requires a reduction in
personnel; or
(3) a program change that requires a reduction in
personnel.
(a-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(2), the board of
trustees may not terminate a term contract as described by that
subdivision for a school year in which the district is authorized to
implement a furlough program under Section 21.4021 or reduce
salaries under Section 21.4022 unless the district has taken action
under either or both of those sections to achieve the greatest
savings in salary costs permitted by Section 21.4022.
SECTION 9. Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 21.4021, 21.4022, and 21.4023 to read as
follows:
Sec. 21.4021. FURLOUGHS. (a) Notwithstanding Section
21.401 and subject to Sections 21.4022 and 21.4023, the board of
trustees of a school district may, in accordance with district
policy, implement a furlough program and reduce the number of days
of service otherwise required under Section 21.401 by not more than
six days of service during a school year if the commissioner
certifies in accordance with Section 42.009 that the district will
be provided with less state and local funding for that year than was
provided to the district for the 2010-2011 school year.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 21.402 but subject to Section
21.4022, the board of trustees may reduce the salary of an employee
who is furloughed in proportion to the number of days by which
service is reduced, provided that the furlough program is
implemented in compliance with this section.
(c) A furlough program must subject all contract personnel
to the same number of furlough days, except that, for purposes of
providing professional development, the board of trustees may
exempt from furloughs or subject to a lesser number of required
furlough days contract personnel assigned to a campus that:
(1) does not satisfy performance standards under
Section 39.054(e); or
(2) satisfies performance standards under Section
39.054(e) for the current school year but would not satisfy
performance standards under Section 39.054(e) if the standards to
be used for the following year were applied to the current year.
(d) An educator may not be furloughed on a day that is
included in the number of days of instruction required under
Section 25.081.
(e) An educator may not use personal, sick, or any other
paid leave while the educator is on a furlough.
(f) A furlough imposed under this section does not
constitute a break in service for purposes of the Teacher
Retirement System of Texas.
(g) Implementation of a furlough program may not result in
an increase in the number of required teacher workdays.
(h) If a board of trustees adopts a furlough program after
the date by which a teacher must give notice of resignation under
Section 21.105, 21.160, or 21.210, as applicable, a teacher who
subsequently resigns is not subject to sanctions imposed by the
State Board for Educator Certification as otherwise authorized by
those sections.
(i) A decision by the board of trustees to implement a
furlough program:
(1) is final and may not be appealed; and
(2) does not create a cause of action or require
collective bargaining.
Sec. 21.4022. SALARY REDUCTION. (a) Notwithstanding
Section 21.402 or any other law, but subject to Section 21.4023, a
school district may, if authorized by the board of trustees, reduce
for a school year the monthly salary of contract personnel employed
by the district during the 2010-2011 school year if the
commissioner certifies in accordance with Section 42.009 that the
district will be provided with less state and local funding for that
year than was provided to the district for the 2010-2011 school
year.
(b) A salary reduction may be achieved through a reduction
associated with a furlough as provided by Section 21.4021, through
a reduction not associated with a furlough, or through a
combination of those reductions.
(c) A school district may not, through the cumulative effect
of actions described by Subsection (b), reduce an employee's salary
received for the 2010-2011 school year by more than the percentage
by which the district's state and local funding is reduced for the
applicable school year, as certified by the commissioner under
Section 42.009.
(d) For purposes of this section, an employee's salary does
not include any stipends provided by the district to the employee.
(e) A decision by the board of trustees to authorize a
salary reduction:
(1) is final and may not be appealed; and
(2) does not create a cause of action or require
collective bargaining.
Sec. 21.4023. REQUIRED PROCESS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF FURLOUGH
PROGRAM OR OTHER SALARY REDUCTION PROPOSAL. (a) The board of
trustees of a school district may not implement a furlough program
under Section 21.4021 or reduce salaries in accordance with Section
21.4022 until the district has complied with this section.
(b) A school district must use a process to develop a
furlough program or other salary reduction proposal, as applicable,
that:
(1) includes the involvement of the district's
professional staff; and
(2) provides district employees with the opportunity
to express opinions regarding the furlough program or salary
reduction proposal, as applicable, at the public meeting required
by Subsection (c).
(c) The board of trustees must hold a public meeting at
which the board and school district administration present:
(1) information regarding the options considered for
managing the district's available resources, including
consideration of a tax rate increase and use of the district's
available fund balance; and
(2) an explanation of how the district intends,
through implementation of a furlough program under Section 21.4021
or through other salary reductions authorized under Section
21.4022, as applicable, to limit the number of district employees
who will be discharged or whose contracts will not be renewed.
(d) Any explanation of a furlough program under Subsection
(c)(2) must state the specific number of furlough days proposed to
be required.
(e) The public and school district employees must be
provided with an opportunity to comment at the public meeting
required under Subsection (c).
SECTION 10. Subsection (c), Section 28.021, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(c) In determining promotion under Subsection (a), a school
district shall consider:
(1) the recommendation of the student's teacher;
(2) the student's grade in each subject or course;
(3) the student's score on an assessment instrument
administered under Section 39.023(a), (b), or (l), to the extent
applicable; and
(4) any other necessary academic information, as
determined by the district.
SECTION 11. Section 28.0211, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (c-1), (o), and (p) and amending Subsection (f)
to read as follows:
(c-1) Accelerated instruction required under Subsection (c)
after a student fails to perform satisfactorily on an assessment
instrument a third time is not required to commence until the
beginning of the next school year.
(f) A school district shall provide to a student who, after
three attempts, has failed to perform satisfactorily on an
assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a) accelerated
instruction commencing at the beginning of [during] the next school
year as prescribed by an educational plan developed for the student
by the student's grade placement committee established under
Subsection (c). The district shall provide that accelerated
instruction regardless of whether the student has been promoted or
retained. The educational plan must be designed to enable the
student to perform at the appropriate grade level by the conclusion
of the school year. During the school year, the student shall be
monitored to ensure that the student is progressing in accordance
with the plan. The district shall administer to the student the
assessment instrument for the grade level in which the student is
placed at the time the district regularly administers the
assessment instruments for that school year.
(o) This section does not require the administration of a
fifth or eighth grade assessment instrument in a subject under
Section 39.023(a) to a student enrolled in the fifth or eighth
grade, as applicable, if the student:
(1) is enrolled in a course in the subject for which
the student will receive high school academic credit; and
(2) will be administered an end-of-course assessment
instrument adopted under Section 39.023(c) for the course.
(p) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
student described by Subsection (o) may not be denied promotion on
the basis of failure to perform satisfactorily on an assessment
instrument not required to be administered to the student in
accordance with that subsection.
SECTION 12. Subsection (a), Section 38.101, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a school district
annually shall assess the physical fitness of students enrolled in
grade three or higher in a course that satisfies the curriculum
requirements for physical education under Section 28.002(a)(2)(C)
[grades 3 through 12].
SECTION 13. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-2) to read as
follows:
(a) The agency shall adopt or develop appropriate
criterion-referenced assessment instruments designed to assess
essential knowledge and skills in reading, writing, mathematics,
social studies, and science. Except as provided by Subsection
(a-2), all [All] students, other than [except] students assessed
under Subsection (b) or (l) or exempted under Section 39.027, shall
be assessed in:
(1) mathematics, annually in grades three through
seven without the aid of technology and in grade eight with the aid
of technology on any assessment instrument that includes algebra;
(2) reading, annually in grades three through eight;
(3) writing, including spelling and grammar, in grades
four and seven;
(4) social studies, in grade eight;
(5) science, in grades five and eight; and
(6) any other subject and grade required by federal
law.
(a-2) A student is not required to be assessed in a subject
otherwise assessed at the student's grade level under Subsection
(a) if the student:
(1) is enrolled in a course in the subject for which
the student will receive high school academic credit; and
(2) will be administered an end-of-course assessment
instrument adopted under Subsection (c) for the course.
SECTION 14. Section 39.025, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:
(e-1) Nothing in this section has the effect of prohibiting
the administration of an end-of-course assessment instrument
listed in Section 39.023(c) to a student enrolled below the high
school level who is enrolled in the course for which the assessment
instrument is adopted. The commissioner shall adopt rules
necessary to ensure that the student's performance on the
assessment instrument is considered in the same manner for purposes
of this section as the performance of a student enrolled at the high
school level.
SECTION 15. Section 39.053, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d-1) to read as follows:
(d-1) In aggregating results of assessment instruments
across grade levels by subject in accordance with Subsection
(c)(1), the performance of a student enrolled below the high school
level on an assessment instrument required under Section 39.023(c)
is included with results relating to other students enrolled at the
same grade level.
SECTION 16. Section 39.082, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The commissioner may not use the system developed under
this section to evaluate:
(1) a district during a school year for which the
commissioner certifies in accordance with Section 42.009 that the
district will be provided with less state and local funding than was
provided to the district for the 2010-2011 school year; or
(2) an open-enrollment charter school during a school
year for which the commissioner determines in a manner comparable
to the process described in Section 42.009 that the school will be
provided with less state and local funding than was provided to the
school for the 2010-2011 school year.
SECTION 17. Section 39.0822, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) The agency may not review a district using the process
developed under this section during a school year for which the
commissioner certifies in accordance with Section 42.009 that the
district will be provided with less state and local funding than was
provided to the district for the 2010-2011 school year.
SECTION 18. Subchapter A, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 42.009 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.009. DETERMINATION OF FUNDING LEVELS. (a) Not
later than July 1 of each year, the commissioner shall determine for
each school district whether the estimated amount of state and
local funding per student in weighted average daily attendance to
be provided to the district under the Foundation School Program for
maintenance and operations for the following school year is less
than the amount provided to the district for the 2010-2011 school
year. If the amount estimated to be provided is less, the
commissioner shall certify the percentage decrease in funding to be
provided to the district.
(b) In making the determinations regarding funding levels
required by Subsection (a), the commissioner shall:
(1) make adjustments as necessary to reflect changes
in a school district's maintenance and operations tax rate;
(2) for a district required to take action under
Chapter 41 to reduce its wealth per student to the equalized wealth
level, base the determinations on the district's net funding levels
after deducting any amounts required to be expended by the district
to comply with Chapter 41; and
(3) determine a district's weighted average daily
attendance in accordance with this chapter as it existed on January
1, 2011.
SECTION 19. Section 44.004, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g-1) to read as follows:
(g-1) If the rate calculated under Subsection
(c)(5)(A)(ii)(b) decreases after the publication of the notice
required by this section, the president is not required to publish
another notice or call another meeting to discuss and adopt the
budget and the proposed lower tax rate.
SECTION 20. Subsection (a), Section 26.05, Tax Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The governing body of each taxing unit, before the later
of September 30 or the 60th day after the date the certified
appraisal roll is received by the taxing unit, shall adopt a tax
rate for the current tax year and shall notify the assessor for the
unit of the rate adopted. The tax rate consists of two components,
each of which must be approved separately. The components are:
(1) for a taxing unit other than a school district, the
rate that, if applied to the total taxable value, will impose the
total amount published under Section 26.04(e)(3)(C), less any
amount of additional sales and use tax revenue that will be used to
pay debt service, or, for a school district, the rate calculated
[published] under Section 44.004(c)(5)(A)(ii)(b), Education Code;
and
(2) the rate that, if applied to the total taxable
value, will impose the amount of taxes needed to fund maintenance
and operation expenditures of the unit for the next year.
SECTION 21. Subsection (a), Section 58.258, Utilities Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding the pricing flexibility authorized by
this subtitle, an electing company's rates for private network
services may not be increased before January 1, 2014 [2012].
However, an electing company may increase a rate in accordance with
the provisions of a customer specific contract.
SECTION 22. Section 58.268, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 58.268. CONTINUATION OF OBLIGATION. Notwithstanding
any other provision of this title, an electing company shall
continue to comply with this subchapter until January 1, 2014
[2012], regardless of:
(1) the date the company elected under this chapter;
or
(2) any action taken in relation to that company under
Chapter 65.
SECTION 23. Subsection (a), Section 59.077, Utilities Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding the pricing flexibility authorized by
this subtitle, an electing company's rates for private network
services may not be increased before January 1, 2014 [2012].
SECTION 24. Section 59.083, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 59.083. CONTINUATION OF OBLIGATION. Notwithstanding
any other provision of this title, an electing company shall
continue to comply with this subchapter until January 1, 2014
[2012], regardless of:
(1) the date the company elected under this chapter;
or
(2) any action taken in relation to that company under
Chapter 65.
SECTION 25. The change in law made by Subsection (g-1),
Section 44.004, Education Code, as added by this Act, applies
beginning with adoption of a tax rate for the 2011 tax year.
SECTION 26. 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.
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