| 1 | 1 | | 85R12533 MK-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Huffines S.B. No. 1280 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the minimum amount of student instruction required to |
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| 8 | 8 | | be provided by school districts. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 25.081, Education Code, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | amending Subsections (a), (b), (c), and (e) and adding Subsection |
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| 12 | 12 | | (a-1) to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (a) Except as authorized under Subsection (b) of this |
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| 14 | 14 | | section, Section 25.084, or Section 29.0821, for each school year |
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| 15 | 15 | | each school district must operate so that the district provides for |
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| 16 | 16 | | at least, at the choice of the district: |
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| 17 | 17 | | (1) 75,600 minutes of instruction, including |
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| 18 | 18 | | intermissions and recesses, for students; or |
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| 19 | 19 | | (2) 180 days of instruction for students. |
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| 20 | 20 | | (a-1) Not later than May 1 of each year, each school |
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| 21 | 21 | | district shall notify the commissioner whether the district will |
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| 22 | 22 | | comply with Subsection (a) on the basis of minutes of instruction or |
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| 23 | 23 | | days of instruction. The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary |
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| 24 | 24 | | to administer this subsection. |
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| 25 | 25 | | (b) The commissioner may approve the instruction of |
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| 26 | 26 | | students for fewer than the number of minutes or days required under |
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| 27 | 27 | | Subsection (a) if disaster, flood, extreme weather conditions, fuel |
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| 28 | 28 | | curtailment, or another calamity causes the closing of schools. |
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| 29 | 29 | | (c) If the commissioner does not approve reduced |
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| 30 | 30 | | instruction time under Subsection (b), a school district may add |
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| 31 | 31 | | additional minutes to the end of the district's normal school hours |
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| 32 | 32 | | or additional days to the district's normal school calendar as |
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| 33 | 33 | | necessary to compensate for minutes or days of instruction lost due |
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| 34 | 34 | | to school closures caused by disaster, flood, extreme weather |
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| 35 | 35 | | conditions, fuel curtailment, or another calamity. |
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| 36 | 36 | | (e) For purposes of this code, a reference to a day of |
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| 37 | 37 | | instruction means a calendar day in which a student is scheduled for |
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| 38 | 38 | | and receives at least the minimum number of instructional hours |
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| 39 | 39 | | required for the student to be considered full-time for the purpose |
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| 40 | 40 | | of calculating average daily attendance under Section 42.005 [420 |
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| 41 | 41 | | minutes of instruction]. |
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| 42 | 42 | | SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018 |
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| 43 | 43 | | school year. |
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| 44 | 44 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 45 | 45 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 46 | 46 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 47 | 47 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 48 | 48 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |
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