By: Bohac H.B. No. 3802
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to public school transfers and interventions and sanctions
for a campus experiencing a routinely large number of requests to
transfer from the campus.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 25.0344 to read as follows:
Sec. 25.0344. CAMPUS TRANSFER REQUESTS. (a) This section
applies only to a school district that operates more than one campus
serving the same grade levels.
(b) The board of trustees of a school district shall
establish a local policy consistent with this subchapter to allow a
parent or person standing in parental relation to any student to
request a transfer of the student from the campus the student would
otherwise attend to another campus in the district. The district
shall maintain information as required by the commissioner
regarding the number of requests for transfer each school year and
the extent to which transfer requests are approved. A decision by
the board regarding student assignment to a campus is final unless
the student, parent, or person standing in parental relation to the
student files an exception as provided by Sections 25.034(e) and
(f).
(c) If the parents of more than 4 percent of the students at
a campus during a school year request a transfer for the following
school year, the board shall hold a public hearing before the end of
the school year to discuss transfers. At the hearing the board
shall consider:
(1) increasing the capacity at campuses to which
transfers are requested;
(2) improving programs and facilities at the campus
from which transfers are requested; and
(3) reallocating budget resources or staff to the
campus from which transfers are requested.
(d) If the parents of more than 4 percent of the students at
a campus have requested a transfer for three consecutive school
years, the board must enter into an agreement with a consultant from
an approved list provided by the commissioner for recommendations
to decrease the number of parents requesting a transfer. The
consultant's recommendations must be considered at a public hearing
before the district's budget is adopted by the board.
(e) If the parents of more than 4 percent of the students at
a campus have requested a transfer for five consecutive years, the
board shall, after a public hearing, repurpose the campus to
provide a magnet, early college, or other alternative program. The
board repurposing plan must be approved by the commissioner before
the campus may reopen.
(f) If the parents of more than 4 percent of students at a
campus have requested a transfer for seven consecutive years, the
board may not issue bonds for the acquisition or equipment of
facilities under Chapter 45 until the board makes a finding that the
bonds are prioritized to address the persistence of transfer
requests.
(g) If the parents of more than 4 p
ercent of students at a
campus have requested a transfer for 10 consecutive years, the
board must close the campus for at least one school year. The
educational program, staffing, and budget of the campus must be
approved by the commissioner before the campus may be reopened.
(h) The board shall maintain on the district's Internet
website and shall annually notify parents in writing of the
percentage of transfer requests for the previous 10 years for the
campus to which a student is assigned.
(i) The commissioner may adopt rules to implement this
section.
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.