85R20774 SRS-F
By: Blanco, Tinderholt, et al. H.B. No. 2302
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2302:
By: Gutierrez C.S.H.B. No. 2302
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to providing an opportunity for public high school
students in grades 10 through 12 to take the Armed Services
Vocational Aptitude Battery test or an alternative vocational
aptitude test.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.9015 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.9015. ARMED SERVICES VOCATIONAL APTITUDE BATTERY
TEST. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (d) or (e), each school
year each school district and open-enrollment charter school shall
provide students in grades 10 through 12 an opportunity to take the
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test and consult with a
military recruiter.
(b) The test under Subsection (a) must be scheduled:
(1) during normal school hours; and
(2) to optimize student participation, at a time that
limits conflicts with extracurricular activities.
(c) Each school district and open-enrollment charter school
shall provide each student in grades 10 through 12 and the student's
parent or person standing in parental relation to the student a
notice of the date, time, and location of the scheduled
administration of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
test.
(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
elect not to provide the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
test only if the district or school provides an alternative test
that:
(1) assesses a student's aptitude for success in a
career field other than a career field that requires postsecondary
education;
(2) is free to administer;
(3) requires minimal training and support of district
or school faculty and staff to administer the test; and
(4) provides the student with a professional
interpretation of the test results that allows the student to:
(A) explore occupations that are consistent with
the student's interests and skills; and
(B) develop strategies to attain the student's
career goals.
(e) This subsection applies only to a school district,
open-enrollment charter school, or high school that, before
September 1, 2017, entered into a contract under which a vocational
aptitude test that does not comply with the requirements for an
alternative test under Subsection (d) is provided to students in
grades 10 through 12. A school district, open-enrollment charter
school, or high school subject to this subsection may elect not to
provide the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test for the
term of the contract. On the expiration of the contract term, the
exemption provided by this subsection is not applicable.
(f) Not later than August 1 of each year, the agency shall
publish a list of school districts and open-enrollment charter
schools that elected under Subsection (d) or (e) not to provide the
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test during the previous
school year.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018
school year.
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, 2017.