83R4260 JSL-F
By: Ratliff H.B. No. 672
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment, operation, and funding of
open-enrollment charter schools primarily serving students with
disabilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 12.1011 and 12.1062 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.1011. AUTHORIZATION FOR GRANT OF CHARTERS FOR
SCHOOLS PRIMARILY SERVING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES. (a) The
State Board of Education may grant under Section 12.101 a charter on
the application of an eligible entity for an open-enrollment
charter school intended primarily to serve students eligible to
receive services under Subchapter A, Chapter 29.
(b) The limit on the number of open-enrollment charter
schools imposed by Section 12.101(b) does not apply to a charter
granted under this section to a school at which at least 50 percent
of the students are eligible to receive services under Subchapter
A, Chapter 29.
(c) For purposes of the applicability of state and federal
law, including a law prescribing requirements concerning students
with disabilities, an open-enrollment charter school described by
Subsection (a) is considered the same as any other school for which
a charter is granted under Section 12.101.
(d) To the fullest extent permitted under federal law, a
parent of a student with a disability may choose to enroll the
parent's child in an open-enrollment charter school described by
Subsection (a) regardless of whether a disproportionate number of
the school's students are students with disabilities.
(e) This section does not authorize an open-enrollment
charter school to discriminate in admissions or in the services
provided based on the presence, absence, or nature of an
applicant's or student's disability.
(f) Each educator, including a person performing the duties
of a superintendent, employed or under contract to serve on the
instructional or administrative staff of an open-enrollment
charter school described by Subsection (a) must hold the
appropriate certificate, as determined in accordance with State
Board for Educator Certification rule, to serve students with a
disability of the same type as a disability of students enrolled in
the school.
(g) The commissioner and the State Board for Educator
Certification shall adopt rules as necessary to administer this
section.
Sec. 12.1062. FUNDING FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS PRIMARILY SERVING
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES. A charter holder granted a charter
under Section 12.1011 is entitled to receive for the
open-enrollment charter school the sum of:
(1) funding under Chapter 42 equal to 105 percent of
the amount of funding per student that the charter holder is
entitled to receive under Section 12.106 for students receiving
special education services under Subchapter A, Chapter 29;
(2) funding under Chapter 42 that the charter holder
is entitled to receive under Section 12.106 for students not
receiving special education services under Subchapter A, Chapter
29; and
(3) federal funds a student is eligible for under the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400
et seq.).
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2014-2015
school year.
SECTION 3. The State Board of Education is required to
implement this Act only if the legislature appropriates money
specifically for that purpose. If the legislature does not
appropriate money specifically for that purpose, the board may, but
it is not required to, implement this Act using other
appropriations available for that purpose.
SECTION 4. 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.