By: Van de Putte, et al. S.B. No. 1872
(Shelton)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to revising, revoking, or denying renewal of charters of
open-enrollment 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) considering available data, 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 the charter holder demonstrates
through a process developed by the agency that 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 not approve a total of more than 10
additional charter schools under Subsection (a). The commissioner
may, in accordance with commissioner rule, 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.
(c) This section expires September 1, 2013.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 12.1151 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.1151. LIMITATION ON REVOCATION OR DENIAL OF RENEWAL
FOR CERTAIN CHARTER SCHOOLS. (a) This section applies only to an
open-enrollment charter school that has an enrollment of students
of whom at least 50 percent did not graduate with a ninth grade
cohort.
(b) The commissioner may not revoke or deny renewal of the
charter of an open-enrollment charter school to which this section
applies if:
(1) considering available data, 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 the charter holder demonstrates
through a process developed by the agency that 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; and
(2) the charter holder, at the time the ratings appeal
is filed, has been assigned a financial accountability rating under
Subchapter D, Chapter 39, that indicates financial performance that
is satisfactory or better.
(c) This section expires September 1, 2013.
SECTION 3. 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.