85R12774 KKA-F
By: Gervin-Hawkins H.B. No. 3518
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to open-enrollment charter school facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.106, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) In addition to other amounts provided by this section, a
charter holder is entitled to receive, for the open-enrollment
charter school, funding per student in average daily attendance in
an amount equal to the guaranteed level of state and local funds per
student per cent of tax effort under Section 46.032(a) multiplied
by the state average interest and sinking fund tax rate imposed by
school districts for the current year.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 12.1062 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.1062. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR FACILITIES. (a)
Using funds appropriated or otherwise available for the purpose,
the commissioner shall develop and implement a program under which
the state provides financial assistance to a charter holder seeking
to construct or acquire adequate facilities for student
instruction.
(b) The program may include:
(1) the provision of forgivable loans, including loans
for a period of not more than 25 years structured so that each year
that the charter holder successfully operates the open-enrollment
charter school, the charter holder is released from the obligation
to pay that year's portion of the loan;
(2) a loan guarantee process for a charter holder that
has successfully operated an open-enrollment charter school for at
least five years; and
(3) the provision of assistance to charter holders in
obtaining loans for facilities directly from private lenders.
(c) The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to
implement this section.
SECTION 3. Section 12.128, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
follows:
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (c-1), the [The]
commissioner shall:
(1) take possession and assume control of the property
described by Subsection (a) of an open-enrollment charter school
that ceases to operate; and
(2) supervise the disposition of the property in
accordance with law.
(c-1) A charter holder may retain property described by
Subsection (a) after the open-enrollment charter school ceases to
operate if the charter holder operated the school for at least four
years before it ceased to operate. A charter holder that retains
property under this subsection must use the property for a
charitable purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.