By: Uresti, et al. S.B. No. 1494
(Turner of Tarrant)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the educational needs of homeless students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 25.007, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 25.007. TRANSITION ASSISTANCE FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE
HOMELESS OR IN SUBSTITUTE CARE.
SECTION 2. Section 25.007, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
follows:
(a) The legislature finds that:
(1) students who are homeless or in substitute care
are faced with numerous transitions during their formative years;
and
(2) students who are homeless or in substitute care
who move from one school to another are faced with special
challenges to learning and future achievement.
(a-1) In this section, "students who are homeless" has the
meaning assigned to the term "homeless children and youths" under
42 U.S.C. Section 11434a.
SECTION 3. 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 who
are homeless or in substitute care, the agency shall assist the
transition of students who are homeless or in substitute care
[students] from one school to another by:
(1) ensuring that school records for a student who is
homeless or 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
who is homeless or 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 who is homeless or in substitute
care while enrolled at another school;
(4) promoting practices that facilitate access by a
student who is homeless or 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 who is homeless or 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 who is homeless or
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 who is homeless or in
substitute care by a school previously attended by the student;
(9) requiring school districts 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 who
is homeless or 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 who is homeless or 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 4. Section 28.025(i), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(i) If an 11th or 12th grade student who is homeless or 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. In this subsection, "student who is homeless" has the
meaning assigned to the term "homeless children and youths" under
42 U.S.C. Section 11434a.
SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2015-2016
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, 2015.