By: Naishtat (Senate Sponsor - West) H.B. No. 1804
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 2015;
April 28, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Health
and Human Services; May 22, 2015, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 22, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to notice by campuses and open-enrollment charter schools
about events that may significantly impact the education of certain
foster children.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 25.007(b), Education Code, as amended by
Chapters 688 (H.B. 2619) and 1354 (S.B. 1404), Acts of the 83rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, is reenacted and 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 10th working 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;
(9) requiring school districts, campuses, and
open-enrollment charter schools to provide notice to the child's
educational decision-maker and caseworker regarding events that
may significantly impact the education of a child, including:
(A) requests or referrals for an evaluation under
Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794), or
special education under Section 29.003;
(B) admission, review, and dismissal committee
meetings;
(C) manifestation determination reviews required
by Section 37.004(b);
(D) any disciplinary actions under Chapter 37 for
which parental notice is required;
(E) citations issued for Class C misdemeanor
offenses on school property or at school-sponsored activities;
(F) reports of restraint and seclusion required
by Section 37.0021; and
(G) use of corporal punishment as provided by
Section 37.0011; [and]
(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;
and
(13) [(10)] providing other assistance as identified
by the agency.
SECTION 2. Section 25.007(b), Education Code, as amended by
this Act, applies beginning with the 2015-2016 school year.
SECTION 3. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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