H.B. No. 2442
AN ACT
relating to the minutes of operation required for public school
districts, charter schools, and other education programs and to
calculating the average daily attendance for certain education
programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 25.081, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 25.081. OPERATION OF SCHOOLS. (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 75,600
minutes, including time allocated for [of] instruction,
[including] intermissions, and recesses[,] for students.
(b) The commissioner may approve the operation of schools
[instruction of students] for fewer than the number of 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 operation
[instruction] time under Subsection (b), a school district may add
additional minutes to the end of the district's normal school hours
as necessary to compensate for minutes [of instruction] lost due to
school closures caused by disaster, flood, extreme weather
conditions, fuel curtailment, or another calamity.
(d) The commissioner may adopt rules to implement this
section, including rules:
(1) for the application, on the basis of the minimum
minutes of operation [instruction] required by Subsection (a), of
any provision of this title that refers to a minimum number of days
of instruction under this section;
(2) to determine the minutes of operation that are
equivalent to a day;
(3) defining minutes of operation and instructional
time; and
(4) establishing the minimum number of minutes of
instructional time required for a full-day and a half-day program
to meet the time requirements under Subsection (a).
(e) A school district or education program is exempt from
the minimum minutes of operation requirement if the district's or
program's average daily attendance is calculated under Section
42.005(j) [For purposes of this code, a reference to a day of
instruction means 420 minutes of instruction].
(f) The commissioner may proportionally reduce the amount
of funding a district receives under Chapter 41, 42, or 46 and the
average daily attendance calculation for the district if the
district operates on a calendar that provides fewer minutes of
operation than required under Subsection (a).
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 25.082, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 25.082. [SCHOOL DAY;] PLEDGES OF ALLEGIANCE; MINUTE OF
SILENCE.
SECTION 3. Section 29.0822(c), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) Except in the case of a course designed for a student
described by Subsection (a)(3), a course offered in a program under
this section must provide for at least the same number of
instructional hours as required for a course offered in a program
that meets the required minimum number of minutes of operation
[instructional days] under Section 25.081 [and the required length
of school day under Section 25.082].
SECTION 4. Section 29.087(j), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(j) For purposes of funding under Chapters 41, 42, and 46, a
student attending a program authorized by this section may be
counted in attendance only for the actual number of hours each
school day the student attends the program, in accordance with
Section [Sections] 25.081 [and 25.082].
SECTION 5. Subchapter E, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.162 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.162. DETERMINATION OF FULL-DAY AND HALF-DAY. The
commissioner may adopt rules for this subchapter establishing
full-day and half-day minutes of operation requirements as provided
by Section 25.081.
SECTION 6. Section 30A.104(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A course offered through the state virtual school
network must:
(1) be in a specific subject that is part of the
required curriculum under Section 28.002(a);
(2) be aligned with the essential knowledge and skills
identified under Section 28.002(c) for a grade level at or above
grade level three; and
(3) be the equivalent in instructional rigor and scope
to a course that is provided in a traditional classroom setting
during[:
[(A)] a semester of 90 instructional days[; and
[(B) a school day that meets the minimum length
of a school day required under Section 25.082].
SECTION 7. Section 37.008(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Each school district shall provide a disciplinary
alternative education program that:
(1) is provided in a setting other than a student's
regular classroom;
(2) is located on or off of a regular school campus;
(3) provides for the students who are assigned to the
disciplinary alternative education program to be separated from
students who are not assigned to the program;
(4) focuses on English language arts, mathematics,
science, history, and self-discipline;
(5) provides for students' educational and behavioral
needs;
(6) provides supervision and counseling; and
(7) employs only teachers who meet all certification
requirements established under Subchapter B, Chapter 21[; and
[(8) provides not less than the minimum amount of
instructional time per day required by Section 25.082(a)].
SECTION 8. Section 42.005, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (g-1) and (i)
through (n) 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 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); or
(4) for a district that operates a half-day program,
one-half of the average daily attendance calculated under
Subdivision (1).
(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 32,400 minutes of instructional time to students.
(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;
(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 January 1, 2015, is eligible to earn full average
daily attendance under Subsection (a), as that subsection existed
immediately before January 1, 2015, for:
(1) all campuses of the charter school operating
before January 1, 2015; and
(2) any campus or site expansion approved on or after
January 1, 2015, provided that the charter school received an
academic accountability performance rating of C or higher, and the
campus or site expansion is approved by the commissioner.
(l) A school district campus or charter school described by
Subsection (j) 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) 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
minutes of instruction to students.
(n) 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 9. Section 25.082(a), Education Code, is repealed.
SECTION 10. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), this
Act applies beginning with the 2018-2019 school year.
(b) Section 42.005(n), Education Code, as added by this Act,
applies beginning on the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 11. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2442 was passed by the House on May 4,
2017, by the following vote: Yeas 142, Nays 1, 2 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 2442 on May 26, 2017, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 2442 on May 28, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 146,
Nays 0, 2 present, not voting, and that the House adopted H.C.R. No.
157 authorizing certain corrections in H.B. No. 2442 on May 28,
2017, by the following vote: Yeas 142, Nays 0, 3 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2442 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
2442 on May 28, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1,
and
that the Senate adopted H.C.R. No. 157 authorizing certain
corrections in H.B. No. 2442 on May 28, 2017, by the following vote:
Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor