82R5954 CAE-F
By: Williams S.B. No. 778
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the inclusion of professional staff who educate
students with disabilities on district-level and campus-level
planning and decision-making committees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 11.251(b) and (e), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) The board shall adopt a policy to establish a district-
and campus-level planning and decision-making process that will
involve the professional staff of the district, parents, and
community members in establishing and reviewing the district's and
campuses' educational plans, goals, performance objectives, and
major classroom instructional programs. The board shall establish
a procedure under which meetings are held regularly by district-
and campus-level planning and decision-making committees that
include representative professional staff, including, if
practicable, at least one representative with the primary
responsibility for educating students with disabilities, parents
of students enrolled in the district, business representatives, and
community members. The committees shall include a business
representative without regard to whether the representative
resides in the district or whether the business the person
represents is located in the district. The board, or the board's
designee, shall periodically meet with the district-level
committee to review the district-level committee's deliberations.
(e) The board shall adopt a procedure, consistent with
Section 21.407(a), for the professional staff in the district to
nominate and elect the professional staff representatives who shall
meet with the board or the board designee as required under this
section. At least two-thirds of the elected professional staff
representatives must be classroom teachers. The remaining staff
representatives shall include both campus- and district-level
professional staff members. If practicable, the committee
membership shall include at least one professional staff
representative with the primary responsibility for educating
students with disabilities. Board policy must provide procedures
for:
(1) the selection of parents to the district-level and
campus-level committees; and
(2) the selection of community members and business
representatives to serve on the district-level committee in a
manner that provides for appropriate representation of the
community's diversity.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.