83R12726 CAE-F
By: Dutton H.B. No. 3358
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an open-enrollment charter high school designed to
prevent students from dropping out of school.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 12, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter D-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER D-1. DROPOUT PREVENTION AND RECOVERY OPEN-ENROLLMENT
CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL
Sec. 12.141. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "charter high
school" means a dropout prevention and recovery open-enrollment
charter high school.
Sec. 12.142. CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL. (a) To serve the needs
of at-risk students, improve the quality of the available
workforce, and increase student success rates in obtaining and
maintaining employment, a school that qualifies as an
open-enrollment charter school under Subchapter D may apply to the
commissioner to be designated a dropout prevention and recovery
open-enrollment charter high school and be made subject to modified
accountability system requirements as provided by this subchapter.
The commissioner shall adopt a form to be used for an application
under this section.
(b) An application by an open-enrollment charter school to
be designated a charter high school as provided by this subchapter
shall be approved if:
(1) 50 percent or more of the charter school's students
are 17 years of age or older; and
(2) 75 percent or more of the charter school's students
are considered to be at risk of dropping out of school as provided
by Section 29.081.
Sec. 12.143. ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF CHARTER HIGH
SCHOOL. (a) Provisions of this title and other laws applicable to
open-enrollment charter schools under Section 12.104 apply to a
charter high school, except a student who enrolls at a charter high
school is not included in calculating the dropout or completion
rates for the school unless the student remains enrolled for at
least 20 school days.
(b) In assessing the completion rate for students and
measuring the success of a charter high school in educating older
students otherwise excluded from the calculation of the completion
rate under guidelines of the National Center for Education
Statistics of the United States Department of Education, a charter
high school may request that the commissioner include all students
who graduate from the charter high school in the calculation of the
school's completion rate. If requested, the charter high school's
completion rate shall be calculated by dividing the sum of
graduates, high school equivalency certificate recipients, and
students continuing to attend the school by the sum of graduates,
high school equivalency certificate recipients, students
continuing to attend the school, and former students who are
dropouts.
(c) The commissioner may adopt a set of indicators to
measure the quality of learning and student achievement at a
charter high school.
(d) A charter high school is responsible for reporting
information required by the commissioner under this section,
performing the calculation specified in Subsection (b), and
covering all reasonable costs incurred by the commissioner in
verifying the required information and calculation.
Sec. 12.144. RULES. The commissioner may adopt rules
necessary to implement this subchapter.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2013-2014
school year.
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, 2013.