84R2420 AAF-D
By: West S.B. No. 294
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the coordination of educational support services for
and information regarding students who are currently or were
formerly placed in foster care.
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 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;
(13) designating at least one agency employee to act
as a liaison officer regarding educational issues related to
students in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and
Protective Services; and
(14) [(10)] providing other assistance as identified
by the agency.
SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.9356 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.9356. DESIGNATION OF LIAISON OFFICER TO ASSIST
STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. (a) In this section,
"institution of higher education" has the meaning assigned by
Section 61.003.
(b) Each institution of higher education shall designate at
least one employee of the institution to act as a liaison officer
for current and incoming students at the institution who were
formerly in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and
Protective Services. The liaison officer shall provide to those
students information regarding support services and other
resources available to the students at the institution and any
other relevant information to assist the students.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 61.0908 and 61.0909 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.0908. DESIGNATION OF LIAISON OFFICER TO ASSIST
STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. The board shall designate at
least one employee of the board to act as a liaison officer for
current and incoming students at institutions of higher education
who were formerly in the conservatorship of the Department of
Family and Protective Services. The liaison officer shall assist
in coordinating college readiness and student success efforts
relating to those students.
Sec. 61.0909. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REGARDING
EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. (a)
In this section, "department" means the Department of Family and
Protective Services.
(b) The board and the department shall enter into a
memorandum of understanding regarding the exchange of information
as appropriate to facilitate the department's evaluation of
educational outcomes of students at institutions of higher
education who were formerly in the conservatorship of the
department. The memorandum of understanding must require:
(1) the department to provide the board each year with
demographic information regarding individual students enrolled at
institutions of higher education who were formerly in the
conservatorship of the department following an adversarial hearing
under Section 262.201, Family Code; and
(2) the board, in a manner consistent with federal
law, to provide the department with aggregate information
regarding educational outcomes of students for whom the board
received demographic information under Subdivision (1).
(c) For purposes of Subsection (b)(2), information
regarding educational outcomes includes information relating to
student academic achievement, graduation rates, attendance, and
other educational outcomes as determined by the board and the
department.
(d) The department may authorize the board to provide
education research centers established under Section 1.005 with
demographic information regarding individual students received by
the board in accordance with Subsection (b)(1), as appropriate to
allow the centers to perform additional analysis regarding
educational outcomes of students in foster care. Any use of
information regarding individual students provided to a center
under this subsection must be approved by the department.
(e) Nothing in this section may be construed to:
(1) require the board or the department to collect or
maintain additional information regarding students formerly in the
conservatorship of the department; or
(2) allow the release of information regarding an
individual student in a manner not permitted under the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section
1232g) or another state or federal law.
SECTION 4. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
and the Department of Family and Protective Services shall enter
into the memorandum of understanding required by Section 61.0909,
Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1,
2016.
SECTION 5. 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 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.