Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3748 Compare Versions

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Version 2 (New)

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1		-	By: Farney (Senate Sponsor - West) H.B. No. 3748
2		-	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 2015;
3		-	May 11, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Higher
4		-	Education; May 21, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
5		-	Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 21, 2015, sent to printer.)
6		-	Click here to see the committee vote
	1	+	H.B. No. 3748
7	2
8	3
9		-	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
10	4		AN ACT
11	5		relating to the coordination of educational support services for
12	6		and information regarding students who are currently or were
13	7		formerly placed in foster care.
14	8		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	9		SECTION 1. Section 25.007(b), Education Code, as amended by
16	10		Chapters 688 (H.B. 2619) and 1354 (S.B. 1404), Acts of the 83rd
17	11		Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, is reenacted and amended to
18	12		read as follows:
19	13		(b) In recognition of the challenges faced by students in
20	14		substitute care, the agency shall assist the transition of
21	15		substitute care students from one school to another by:
22	16		(1) ensuring that school records for a student in
23	17		substitute care are transferred to the student's new school not
24	18		later than the 10th working day after the date the student begins
25	19		enrollment at the school;
26	20		(2) developing systems to ease transition of a student
27	21		in substitute care during the first two weeks of enrollment at a new
28	22		school;
29	23		(3) developing procedures for awarding credit,
30	24		including partial credit if appropriate, for course work, including
31	25		electives, completed by a student in substitute care while enrolled
32	26		at another school;
33	27		(4) promoting practices that facilitate access by a
34	28		student in substitute care to extracurricular programs, summer
35	29		programs, credit transfer services, electronic courses provided
36	30		under Chapter 30A, and after-school tutoring programs at nominal or
37	31		no cost;
38	32		(5) establishing procedures to lessen the adverse
39	33		impact of the movement of a student in substitute care to a new
40	34		school;
41	35		(6) entering into a memorandum of understanding with
42	36		the Department of Family and Protective Services regarding the
43	37		exchange of information as appropriate to facilitate the transition
44	38		of students in substitute care from one school to another;
45	39		(7) encouraging school districts and open-enrollment
46	40		charter schools to provide services for a student in substitute
47	41		care in transition when applying for admission to postsecondary
48	42		study and when seeking sources of funding for postsecondary study;
49	43		(8) requiring school districts, campuses, and
50	44		open-enrollment charter schools to accept a referral for special
51	45		education services made for a student in substitute care by a school
52	46		previously attended by the student;
53	47		(9) requiring school districts to provide notice to
54	48		the child's educational decision-maker and caseworker regarding
55	49		events that may significantly impact the education of a child,
56	50		including:
57	51		(A) requests or referrals for an evaluation under
58	52		Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794), or
59	53		special education under Section 29.003;
60	54		(B) admission, review, and dismissal committee
61	55		meetings;
62	56		(C) manifestation determination reviews required
63	57		by Section 37.004(b);
64	58		(D) any disciplinary actions under Chapter 37 for
65	59		which parental notice is required;
66	60		(E) citations issued for Class C misdemeanor
67	61		offenses on school property or at school-sponsored activities;
68	62		(F) reports of restraint and seclusion required
69	63		by Section 37.0021; and
70	64		(G) use of corporal punishment as provided by
71	65		Section 37.0011; [and]
72	66		(10) developing procedures for allowing a student in
73	67		substitute care who was previously enrolled in a course required
74	68		for graduation the opportunity, to the extent practicable, to
75	69		complete the course, at no cost to the student, before the beginning
76	70		of the next school year;
77	71		(11) ensuring that a student in substitute care who is
78	72		not likely to receive a high school diploma before the fifth school
79	73		year following the student's enrollment in grade nine, as
80	74		determined by the district, has the student's course credit accrual
81	75		and personal graduation plan reviewed; [and]
82	76		(12) ensuring that a student in substitute care who is
83	77		in grade 11 or 12 be provided information regarding tuition and fee
84	78		exemptions under Section 54.366 for dual-credit or other courses
85	79		provided by a public institution of higher education for which a
86	80		high school student may earn joint high school and college credit;
87	81		(13) designating at least one agency employee to act
88	82		as a liaison officer regarding educational issues related to
89	83		students in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and
90	84		Protective Services; and
91	85		(14) [(10)] providing other assistance as identified
92	86		by the agency.
93	87		SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
94	88		amended by adding Section 51.9356 to read as follows:
95	89		Sec. 51.9356. DESIGNATION OF LIAISON OFFICER TO ASSIST
96	90		STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. (a) In this section,
97	91		"institution of higher education" has the meaning assigned by
98	92		Section 61.003.
99	93		(b) Each institution of higher education shall designate at
100	94		least one employee of the institution to act as a liaison officer
101	95		for current and incoming students at the institution who were
102	96		formerly in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and
103	97		Protective Services. The liaison officer shall provide to those
104	98		students information regarding support services and other
105	99		resources available to the students at the institution and any
106	100		other relevant information to assist the students.
107	101		SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
108	102		amended by adding Sections 61.0908 and 61.0909 to read as follows:
109	103		Sec. 61.0908. DESIGNATION OF LIAISON OFFICER TO ASSIST
110	104		STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. The board shall designate at
111	105		least one employee of the board to act as a liaison officer for
112	106		current and incoming students at institutions of higher education
113	107		who were formerly in the conservatorship of the Department of
114	108		Family and Protective Services. The liaison officer shall assist
115	109		in coordinating college readiness and student success efforts
116	110		relating to those students.
117	111		Sec. 61.0909. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REGARDING
118	112		EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. (a)
119	113		In this section, "department" means the Department of Family and
120	114		Protective Services.
121	115		(b) The board and the department shall enter into a
122	116		memorandum of understanding regarding the exchange of information
123	117		as appropriate to facilitate the department's evaluation of
124	118		educational outcomes of students at institutions of higher
125	119		education who were formerly in the conservatorship of the
126	120		department. The memorandum of understanding must require:
127	121		(1) the department to provide the board each year with
128	122		demographic information regarding individual students enrolled at
129	123		institutions of higher education who were formerly in the
130	124		conservatorship of the department following an adversarial hearing
131	125		under Section 262.201, Family Code; and
132	126		(2) the board, in a manner consistent with federal
133	127		law, to provide the department with aggregate information
134	128		regarding educational outcomes of students for whom the board
135	129		received demographic information under Subdivision (1).
136	130		(c) For purposes of Subsection (b)(2), information
137	131		regarding educational outcomes includes information relating to
138	132		student academic achievement, graduation rates, attendance, and
139	133		other educational outcomes as determined by the board and the
140	134		department.
141	135		(d) The department may authorize the board to provide
142	136		education research centers established under Section 1.005 with
143	137		demographic information regarding individual students received by
144	138		the board in accordance with Subsection (b)(1), as appropriate to
145	139		allow the centers to perform additional analysis regarding
146	140		educational outcomes of students in foster care. Any use of
147	141		information regarding individual students provided to a center
148	142		under this subsection must be approved by the department.
149	143		(e) Nothing in this section may be construed to:
150	144		(1) require the board or the department to collect or
151	145		maintain additional information regarding students formerly in the
152	146		conservatorship of the department; or
153	147		(2) allow the release of information regarding an
154	148		individual student in a manner not permitted under the Family
155	149		Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section
156	150		1232g) or another state or federal law.
157	151		SECTION 4. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
158	152		and the Department of Family and Protective Services shall enter
159	153		into the memorandum of understanding required by Section 61.0909,
160	154		Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1,
161	155		2016.
162	156		SECTION 5. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
163	157		over another Act of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015,
164	158		relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
165	159		codes.
166	160		SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
167	161		a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
168	162		provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
169	163		Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
170	164		Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
171		-	* * * * *
	165	+	______________________________ ______________________________
	166	+	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
	167	+	I certify that H.B. No. 3748 was passed by the House on May 8,
	168	+	2015, by the following vote: Yeas 139, Nays 3, 2 present, not
	169	+	voting.
	170	+	______________________________
	171	+	Chief Clerk of the House
	172	+	I certify that H.B. No. 3748 was passed by the Senate on May
	173	+	26, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.
	174	+	______________________________
	175	+	Secretary of the Senate
	176	+	APPROVED: _____________________
	177	+	Date
	178	+	_____________________
	179	+	Governor