By: Anchia (Senate Sponsor - Hancock) H.B. No. 2251
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 18, 2015;
May 18, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
Education; May 22, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 10, Nays 0; May 22, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an established schedule of payments from the foundation
school fund of the yearly entitlement of certain open-enrollment
charter schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 42.2591 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.2591. FOUNDATION SCHOOL FUND TRANSFERS TO CERTAIN
CHARTER SCHOOLS. (a) On the request of an open-enrollment charter
school, the commissioner shall compare the student enrollment of
the open-enrollment charter school for the current school year to
the student enrollment of the school during the preceding school
year. If the number of students enrolled at the open-enrollment
charter school for the current school year has increased by 10
percent or more from the number of students enrolled during the
preceding school year, the open-enrollment charter school may
request that payments from the foundation school fund to the school
for the following school year and each subsequent school year,
subject to Subsection (b), be made according to the schedule
provided under Subsection (c).
(b) An open-enrollment charter school that qualifies to
receive funding as provided by this section is entitled to receive
funding in that manner for three school years. On the expiration of
that period, the commissioner shall determine the eligibility of
the open-enrollment charter school to continue receiving payments
from the foundation school fund under this section for an
additional three school years. Subsequently, the open-enrollment
charter school must reestablish eligibility in the manner provided
by this subsection every three school years.
(c) Payments from the foundation school fund to an
open-enrollment charter school under this section shall be made as
follows:
(1) 22 percent of the yearly entitlement of the school
shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day
of September of a fiscal year;
(2) 18 percent of the yearly entitlement of the school
shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day
of October;
(3) 9.5 percent of the yearly entitlement of the
school shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of November;
(4) four percent of the yearly entitlement of the
school shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of December;
(5) four percent of the yearly entitlement of the
school shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of January;
(6) four percent of the yearly entitlement of the
school shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of February;
(7) four percent of the yearly entitlement of the
school shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of March;
(8) 7.5 percent of the yearly entitlement of the
school shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of April;
(9) five percent of the yearly entitlement of the
school shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of May;
(10) seven percent of the yearly entitlement of the
school shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of June;
(11) seven percent of the yearly entitlement of the
school shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of July; and
(12) eight percent of the yearly entitlement of the
school shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of August.
(d) The amount of any installment required by this section
may be modified to provide an open-enrollment charter school with
the proper amount to which the school may be entitled by law and to
correct errors in the allocation or distribution of funds.
(e) Previously unpaid additional funds from prior fiscal
years owed to an open-enrollment charter school shall be paid to the
school together with the September payment of the current fiscal
year entitlement.
SECTION 2. (a) Section 42.2591, Education Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to a payment from the foundation school fund
that is made on or after September 1, 2015. A payment to an
open-enrollment charter school from the foundation school fund that
is made before September 1, 2015, is governed by the law in effect
on the date the payment was made, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
(b) The commissioner of education shall determine the
eligibility of an open-enrollment charter school to receive
payments under Section 42.2591, Education Code, as added by this
Act, for the 2015-2016 school year based on the growth in the
school's enrollment between the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school
years.
SECTION 3. 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, 2015.
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