83R11838 EAH-D
By: Patrick S.B. No. 1407
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of the recovery school district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 39, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter E-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER E-1. RECOVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Sec. 39.131. ESTABLISHMENT OF RECOVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT.
The recovery school district is established to provide an
appropriate education for students attending any public elementary
or secondary school campus operated under the prior jurisdiction of
an independent school district that has been transferred to the
jurisdiction of the district under Section 39.107(e).
Sec. 39.1311. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "prior
system" means the independent school district of which a school
transferred to the recovery school district is a part.
Sec. 39.1312. ADMINISTRATION OF RECOVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT.
(a) The commissioner may contract with qualified individuals,
government providers, or nonprofit providers to administer the
recovery school district.
(b) The recovery school district may provide for the
supervision, management, and operation of a school placed under the
district's jurisdiction and may receive, control, and spend the
local, state, and federal funding attributable to that school with
all the same authority as the prior system from which the school was
transferred.
(c) The recovery school district may apply to the
commissioner for a waiver of any rule that inhibits or hinders the
district's ability to provide appropriate education for students.
The commissioner may not waive a rule related to:
(1) civil rights;
(2) health and safety;
(3) open meetings requirements under Chapter 551,
Government Code;
(4) public information requirements under Chapter
552, Government Code;
(5) criminal history record information under Chapter
22;
(6) instructional time under Section 25.082(a);
(7) possession of a weapon under Section 37.007;
(8) immunization under Section 38.001;
(9) assessment instruments administered under Section
39.023(a), (b), (c), or (l);
(10) special education services;
(11) due process for students;
(12) parental rights; or
(13) accountability provisions.
Sec. 39.1313. SUNSET PROVISION. The recovery school
district is subject to Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas Sunset
Act). Unless continued in existence as provided by that chapter,
the district is abolished September 1, 2025.
Sec. 39.132. FINANCIAL POWERS. (a) The recovery school
district may:
(1) seek, spend, manage, and retain federal funding
and grant funding in the same manner as an independent school
district;
(2) spend, manage, and retain funding with the same
authority as an independent school district; and
(3) maintain and manage fund balances.
(b) The recovery school district may not impose an ad
valorem tax.
(c) Expenditures of funds are subject to the requirements of
the Foundation School Program formulas that apply to a public
school and are subject to audit in the same manner.
Sec. 39.1321. PROCUREMENT. The recovery school district
has the same authority and autonomy afforded to an independent
school district under state law regarding the procurement of:
(1) services, including personal, professional,
consulting, and social services; and
(2) property.
Sec. 39.133. MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS FUNDING. (a) The
legislature shall annually appropriate sufficient money to fund
each school in the recovery school district in an amount equal to
the school's average daily attendance multiplied by the state share
per student as provided under the Foundation School Program for the
independent school district in which the school is located. The
appropriation shall be made to the agency for the district and may
be expended by the agency only for the provision of services to
students in the district.
(b) In addition to the appropriation required by Subsection
(a), the independent school district that had jurisdiction of a
school before the school's transfer to the recovery school district
shall annually allocate and transfer to the recovery school
district an amount of money equal to the number of students in
average daily attendance at the school multiplied by the per
student amount received by the independent school district from
maintenance and operations taxes, less the costs of assessing and
collecting the taxes.
(c) For each school transferred to the jurisdiction of the
recovery school district, the commissioner shall reduce the amount
of state funds otherwise to be allocated under the Foundation
School Program to the independent school district from which the
school was transferred by an amount equal to the amount provided
under Subsection (a) for that school.
(d) All amounts to be appropriated or allocated and
transferred under this section shall be estimated by the
commissioner based on the most recent local revenue data and
projected student counts available. Allocations to be transferred
shall be adjusted during the year as necessary to reflect actual
student counts and actual prior year local revenue collections.
(e) Except for administrative costs, money appropriated to
the recovery school district that is attributable to the transfer
of a school from a prior system and money allocated or transferred
from the prior system to the district may be expended solely on the
operation of schools transferred from the prior system to the
jurisdiction of the district.
Sec. 39.134. PERSONNEL. (a) The recovery school district
may employ necessary staff members.
(b) At the time of the transfer of a school to the recovery
school district, the district shall determine whether a certified
teacher with regular and direct responsibility for providing
classroom instruction who is employed in the transferred school by
the prior system shall be employed in the same or a comparable
position by the district. If a person employed by the prior system
in a transferred school is not chosen for employment by the recovery
school district, the person shall remain in the employment of the
prior system and, in that case, the prior system shall retain and
reassign such person consistent with its contractual obligations or
policies regarding the retention and reassignment of employees.
(c) Benefits and privileges of a person employed in a school
by the recovery school district who was employed by the prior system
at the time the school was transferred to the district's
jurisdiction shall be the same as those required by law for
employees of the prior system.
(d) A person employed by the recovery school district in a
school who was employed by the prior system at the time the school
was transferred to the district's jurisdiction, for the purposes of
permanent status and the retention on return to employment in the
prior system of any employment benefit or right that requires
continuous service or that becomes vested based on years of
service, or both, shall be granted an approved leave of absence from
the prior system for the period the school is under the jurisdiction
of the recovery school district in order to be employed by the
district. The period any employee is on such leave shall be
considered service time by the prior system at any time the employee
returns to the prior system's employment. Such approved leave
shall not require the prior system to provide for benefits during
the time the employee on leave is employed by the recovery school
district.
(e) The benefits and privileges of any person employed in a
school by the recovery school district who was not employed by the
prior system at the time the school was transferred to the
jurisdiction of the district shall be determined at the time of such
employment by the district in compliance with any requirement of
any applicable contract or requirement of law.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 39.107, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 39.107. RECONSTITUTION; TRANSFER TO RECOVERY SCHOOL
DISTRICT [, REPURPOSING, ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT, AND CLOSURE].
SECTION 3. Section 39.107, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c), (e), and (e-1) and adding Subsections
(e-4), (e-5), (e-6), (e-7), and (e-8) to read as follows:
(c) A campus subject to Subsection (a) shall implement the
updated targeted improvement plan as approved by the commissioner.
[The commissioner may appoint a monitor, conservator, management
team, or board of managers to the district to ensure and oversee
district-level support to low-performing campuses and the
implementation of the updated targeted improvement plan. In
making appointments under this subsection, the commissioner shall
consider individuals who have demonstrated success in managing
campuses with student populations similar to the campus at which
the individual appointed will serve.]
(e) If a campus is considered to have an unacceptable
performance rating for the school year [three consecutive school
years] after the campus is reconstituted under Subsection (a), the
commissioner, subject to Subsection (e-1) [or (e-2)], shall
transfer the campus to the jurisdiction of the recovery school
district established under Subchapter E-1 [order:
[(1) repurposing of the campus under this section;
[(2) alternative management of the campus under this
section; or
[(3) closure of the campus].
(e-1) The commissioner may waive the requirement to
transfer a campus [enter an order] under Subsection (e) for not more
than one school year if the commissioner determines that, on the
basis of significant improvement in student performance over the
preceding two school years, the campus is likely to be assigned an
acceptable performance rating for the following school year.
(e-4) A campus transferred to the jurisdiction of the
recovery school district must remain under that district's
jurisdiction for at least three school years. Following each
school year, the commissioner shall, as provided by Section 39.108,
review the school's progress toward meeting academic standards.
After the second school year in which the campus is under the
jurisdiction of the recovery school district, the commissioner
shall develop a transition plan to return the campus to the
jurisdiction of the district from which the campus was transferred
if the commissioner finds that the campus:
(1) has met the requirements for acceptable
performance under Section 39.054; or
(2) in each year in which the campus has been under the
jurisdiction of the recovery school district, has made significant
progress, as determined by commissioner rule, toward meeting the
requirements for acceptable performance and is likely to be
assigned an acceptable performance rating for the following school
year.
(e-5) After the third year in which a campus under the
jurisdiction of the recovery school district meets the requirements
of Subsection (e-4)(1) or (2), the commissioner shall implement the
transition plan developed under Subsection (e-4).
(e-6) The commissioner must return the campus to the
jurisdiction of the district from which the campus was transferred
if the campus meets the requirements of Subsection (e-4)(1) or (2)
for five consecutive years.
(e-7) Notwithstanding Subsection (e), if an open-enrollment
charter school during the first five years of operation is
considered to have an unacceptable performance rating for two
consecutive school years after the campus is reconstituted under
Subsection (a), the commissioner, subject to Subsection (e-1),
shall transfer the campus to the jurisdiction of the recovery
school district established under Subchapter E-1.
(e-8) Notwithstanding this section or any other provision
of law, the commissioner may return a campus to the jurisdiction of
the district from which the campus was transferred at an earlier
time determined by the commissioner.
SECTION 4. Sections 39.110 and 39.115, Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 39.110. COSTS PAID BY DISTRICT. The costs of providing
a [monitor, conservator, management team,] campus intervention
team, technical assistance team, [managing entity,] or service
provider under this subchapter shall be paid by the district. If
the district fails or refuses to pay the costs in a timely manner,
the commissioner may:
(1) pay the costs using amounts withheld from any
funds to which the district is otherwise entitled; or
(2) recover the amount of the costs in the manner
provided for recovery of an overallocation of state funds under
Section 42.258.
Sec. 39.115. CAMPUS NAME CHANGE PROHIBITED. In
[reconstituting, repurposing, or] imposing any [other]
intervention or sanction on a campus under this subchapter, the
commissioner may not require that the name of the campus be changed.
SECTION 5. Section 39.152(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
that intends to challenge a decision by the commissioner under this
chapter to transfer jurisdiction of a campus to the recovery school
district [close the district or a district campus or the charter
school or to pursue alternative management of a district campus or
the charter school] must appeal the decision under the procedures
provided for a contested case under Chapter 2001, Government Code.
SECTION 6. The following provisions of the Education Code
are repealed:
(1) Sections 39.107(d), (e-2), (e-3), (f), (g), (h),
(j), (k), (l), (m), (n), (o), (p), and (r); and
(2) Sections 39.111 and 39.112.
SECTION 7. The commissioner of education shall ensure that
the recovery school district, as established under Subchapter E-1,
Chapter 39, Education Code, as added by this Act, is prepared to
begin operations with the 2014-2015 school year. For the 2013-2014
school year, the commissioner may impose any sanction under Section
39.107, Education Code, as that section existed before amendment by
this Act. Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, any campus that
meets the criteria for transfer to the jurisdiction of the recovery
school district under Section 39.107(e), Education Code, as amended
by this Act, shall be transferred to the district's jurisdiction.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.