85R12533 MK-F
By: Huffines S.B. No. 1280
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the minimum amount of student instruction required to
be provided by school districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 25.081, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (b), (c), and (e) and adding Subsection
(a-1) 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, at the choice of the district:
(1) 75,600 minutes of instruction, including
intermissions and recesses, for students; or
(2) 180 days of instruction for students.
(a-1) Not later than May 1 of each year, each school
district shall notify the commissioner whether the district will
comply with Subsection (a) on the basis of minutes of instruction or
days of instruction. The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary
to administer this subsection.
(b) The commissioner may approve the instruction of
students for fewer than the number of minutes or days 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 minutes to the end of the district's normal school hours
or additional days to the district's normal school calendar as
necessary to compensate for minutes or days of instruction lost due
to school closures caused by disaster, flood, extreme weather
conditions, fuel curtailment, or another calamity.
(e) For purposes of this code, a reference to a day of
instruction means a calendar day in which a student is scheduled for
and receives at least the minimum number of instructional hours
required for the student to be considered full-time for the purpose
of calculating average daily attendance under Section 42.005 [420
minutes of instruction].
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.