By: King of Hemphill H.B. No. 2442
(Senate Sponsor - Taylor of Galveston)
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2017;
May 11, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on
Education; May 23, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0;
May 23, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2442 By: Taylor of Galveston
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the minimum amount of student instruction required to
be provided by public schools and education programs and
calculation of average daily attendance for public school students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 25.081(a), (b), and (c), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as authorized under [Subsection (b) of] this
section, Section 25.084, or Section 29.0821, for each school year
each school district must operate so that the district provides for
at least 180 days of instruction for students. A district may elect
to provide less than 180 days of instruction for students if the
district provides at least 75,600 minutes of instruction, including
intermissions and recesses, for students.
(b) The commissioner may approve the instruction of
students for fewer than the number of days or minutes required under
Subsection (a) if disaster, flood, extreme weather conditions, fuel
curtailment, or another calamity causes the closing of schools.
(c) If the commissioner does not approve reduced
instruction time under Subsection (b), a school district may add
additional days to the district's normal school calendar or
additional minutes to the end of the district's normal school hours
as necessary to compensate for days or minutes of instruction lost
due to school closures caused by disaster, flood, extreme weather
conditions, fuel curtailment, or another calamity.
SECTION 2. Section 25.082, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
follows:
(a) A school day shall be at least seven hours each day,
including intermissions and recesses, except as provided by
Subsection (a-1).
(a-1) Subsection (a) does not apply to a campus that only
operates a program authorized as a half-day program by law or by
rule or to a charter school operating under Chapter 12.
SECTION 3. Section 42.005, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (g-1), and
(i) through (o) to read as follows:
(a) In this chapter, average daily attendance is:
(1) the quotient of the sum of attendance for each day
[of the minimum number of days] of instruction as described under
Section 25.081(a) divided by the actual [minimum] number of days of
instruction;
(2) for a district that operates under a flexible year
program under Section 29.0821, the quotient of the sum of
attendance for each actual day of instruction as permitted by
Section 29.0821(b)(1) divided by the number of actual days of
instruction as permitted by Section 29.0821(b)(1); or
(3) for a district that operates under a flexible
school day program under Section 29.0822, the average daily
attendance as calculated by the commissioner in accordance with
Sections 29.0822(d) and (d-1).
(a-1) For purposes of calculating average daily attendance,
a student is eligible for inclusion on the basis of a full day of
attendance if the student is enrolled for at least 240 minutes of
instructional time.
(g-1) The commissioner shall adopt rules to calculate
average daily attendance for students participating in a blended
learning program in which classroom instruction is supplemented
with applied workforce learning opportunities, including
participation of students in internships, externships, and
apprenticeships.
(i) A district or a charter school operating under Chapter
12 that operates a prekindergarten program is eligible to receive
one-half of average daily attendance under Subsection (a) if the
district's or charter school's prekindergarten program provides at
least:
(1) 32,400 minutes of instructional time to students;
or
(2) 180 days of instruction to students, with a number
of hours of instruction per day that results in the equivalent of
32,400 minutes of instructional time.
(j) A district or charter school is eligible to earn full
average daily attendance under Subsection (a) if the district or
school provides at least 43,200 minutes of instructional time to
students enrolled in:
(1) a dropout recovery school or program operating
under Section 12.1141(c) or Section 39.0548;
(2) an alternative education program operating under
Section 37.008, if Section 25.082(a) does not apply to the program;
(3) a school program located at a day treatment
facility, residential treatment facility, psychiatric hospital, or
medical hospital;
(4) a school program offered at a correctional
facility; or
(5) a school operating under Section 29.259.
(k) A charter school operating under a charter granted under
Chapter 12 before September 1, 2015, is eligible to earn full
average daily attendance under Subsection (a), as that subsection
existed immediately before September 1, 2015, for:
(1) all campuses of the charter school operating
before September 1, 2015; and
(2) any campus or site expansion approved on or after
September 1, 2015.
(l) A school district campus described by Section
25.082(a-1) or charter school may operate more than one program and
be eligible for full average daily attendance for each program if
the programs operated by the district campus or charter school
satisfy all applicable state and federal requirements.
(m) In accordance with rules adopted by the commissioner,
each charter school operating under Chapter 12 shall notify the
commissioner if the charter school will provide:
(1) at least 180 days of instruction for students; or
(2) less than 180 days of instruction for students,
but at least 75,600 minutes of instruction, including intermissions
and recess.
(n) The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to
implement this section, including rules that:
(1) establish the minimum amount of instructional time
per day that allows a school district or charter school to be
eligible for full average daily attendance, which may differ based
on the instructional program offered by the district or charter
school;
(2) establish the requirements necessary for a school
district or charter school to be eligible for one-half of average
daily attendance, which may differ based on the instructional
program offered by the district or charter school; and
(3) proportionally reduce the average daily
attendance for a school district if any campus or instructional
program in the district provides fewer than the required minimum
days or minutes of instruction to students.
(o) To assist school districts in implementing this section
as amended by H.B. 2442, Acts of the 85th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2017, or similar legislation, the commissioner may waive a
requirement of this section or adopt rules to implement this
section. This subsection expires at the end of the 2018-2019 school
year.
SECTION 4. Section 25.081(e), Education Code, is repealed.
SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018
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, 2017.
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