By: Patrick, et al. S.B. No. 1404
(Parker)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to attendance at and completion of high school by students
who are in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and
Protective Services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 25.007, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) In recognition of the challenges faced by students in
substitute care, the agency shall assist the transition of
substitute care students from one school to another by:
(1) ensuring that school records for a student in
substitute care are transferred to the student's new school not
later than the 14th day after the date the student begins enrollment
at the school;
(2) developing systems to ease transition of a student
in substitute care during the first two weeks of enrollment at a new
school;
(3) developing procedures for awarding credit,
including partial credit if appropriate, for course work, including
electives, completed by a student in substitute care while enrolled
at another school;
(4) promoting practices that facilitate access by a
student in substitute care to extracurricular programs, summer
programs, credit transfer services, electronic courses provided
under Chapter 30A, and after-school tutoring programs at nominal or
no cost;
(5) establishing procedures to lessen the adverse
impact of the movement of a student in substitute care to a new
school;
(6) entering into a memorandum of understanding with
the Department of Family and Protective Services regarding the
exchange of information as appropriate to facilitate the transition
of students in substitute care from one school to another;
(7) encouraging school districts and open-enrollment
charter schools to provide services for a student in substitute
care in transition when applying for admission to postsecondary
study and when seeking sources of funding for postsecondary study;
(8) requiring school districts, campuses, and
open-enrollment charter schools to accept a referral for special
education services made for a student in substitute care by a school
previously attended by the student; [and]
(9) providing other assistance as identified by the
agency;
(10) developing procedures for allowing a student in
substitute care who was previously enrolled in a course required
for graduation the opportunity, to the extent practicable, to
complete the course, at no cost to the student, before the beginning
of the next school year;
(11) ensuring that a student in substitute care who is
not likely to receive a high school diploma before the fifth school
year following the student's enrollment in grade nine, as
determined by the district, has the student's course credit accrual
and personal graduation plan reviewed; and
(12) ensuring that a student in substitute care who is
in grade 11 or 12 be provided information regarding tuition and fee
exemptions under Section 54.366 for dual-credit or other courses
provided by a public institution of higher education for which a
high school student may earn joint high school and college credit.
SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 25.087, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) A school district shall excuse a student from attending
school for:
(1) the following purposes, including travel for those
purposes:
(A) observing religious holy days;
(B) attending a required court appearance;
(C) appearing at a governmental office to
complete paperwork required in connection with the student's
application for United States citizenship;
(D) taking part in a United States naturalization
oath ceremony; [or]
(E) serving as an election clerk; or
(F) if the student is in the conservatorship of
the Department of Family and Protective Services, participating in
an activity ordered by a court under Chapter 262 or 263, Family
Code, provided that it is not practicable to schedule the
participation outside of school hours; or
(2) a temporary absence resulting from health care
professionals if that student commences classes or returns to
school on the same day of the appointment.
SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 28.0213, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) A school district shall offer an intensive program of
instruction to a student who:
(1) does not perform satisfactorily on an assessment
instrument administered under Subchapter B, Chapter 39; or
(2) is not likely to receive a high school diploma
before the fifth school year following the student's enrollment in
grade nine, as determined by the district.
SECTION 4. Section 28.025, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
(i) If an 11th or 12th grade student in the conservatorship
of the Department of Family and Protective Services transfers to a
different school district and the student is ineligible to graduate
from the district to which the student transfers, the district from
which the student transferred shall award a diploma at the
student's request, if the student meets the graduation requirements
of the district from which the student transferred.
SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2013-2014
school year.
SECTION 6. 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.