By: Villarreal (Senate Sponsor - Van de Putte) H.B. No. 1479
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 22, 2013;
April 24, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on
Education; May 17, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0;
May 17, 2013, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1479 By: Campbell
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to establishing a committee in certain counties to
recommend a uniform truancy policy.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 25.0916 to read as follows:
Sec. 25.0916. UNIFORM TRUANCY POLICIES IN CERTAIN COUNTIES.
(a) This section applies only to a county:
(1) with a population greater than 1.5 million; and
(2) that includes at least:
(A) 15 school districts with the majority of
district territory in the county; and
(B) one school district with a student enrollment
of 50,000 or more and an annual dropout rate spanning grades 9-12 of
at least five percent, computed in accordance with standards and
definitions adopted by the National Center for Education Statistics
of the United States Department of Education.
(b) A committee shall be established to recommend a uniform
truancy policy for each school district located in the county.
(c) Not later than September 1, 2013, the county judge and
the mayor of the municipality in the county with the greatest
population shall each appoint one member to serve on the committee
as a representative of each of the following:
(1) a juvenile district court;
(2) a municipal court;
(3) the office of a justice of the peace;
(4) the superintendent or designee of an independent
school district;
(5) an open-enrollment charter school;
(6) the office of the district attorney; and
(7) the general public.
(d) Not later than September 1, 2013, the county judge shall
appoint to serve on the committee one member from the house of
representatives and one member from the senate who are members of
the respective standing legislative committees with primary
jurisdiction over public education.
(e) The county judge and mayor of the municipality in the
county with the greatest population shall:
(1) both serve on the committee or appoint
representatives to serve on their behalf; and
(2) jointly appoint a member of the committee to serve
as the presiding officer.
(f) Not later than September 1, 2014, the committee shall
recommend:
(1) a uniform process for filing truancy cases with
the judicial system;
(2) uniform administrative procedures;
(3) uniform deadlines for processing truancy cases;
(4) effective prevention, intervention, and diversion
methods to reduce truancy and referrals to a county, justice, or
municipal court;
(5) a system for tracking truancy information and
sharing truancy information among school districts and
open-enrollment charter schools in the county; and
(6) any changes to statutes or state agency rules the
committee determines are necessary to address truancy.
(g) Compliance with the committee recommendations is
voluntary.
(h) The committee's presiding officer shall issue a report
not later than December 1, 2015, on the implementation of the
recommendations and compliance with state truancy laws by a school
district located in the county.
(i) This section expires January 1, 2016.
SECTION 2. 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, 2013.
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