By: Buckingham S.B. No. 1294
(In the Senate - Filed March 3, 2017; March 13, 2017, read
first time and referred to Committee on Education; May 3, 2017,
reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 2;
May 3, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to election of professional staff representatives to
certain school district planning and decision-making committees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 11.251, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (e-1) to read as
follows:
(e) The board shall adopt a procedure, consistent with
Subsection (e-1) and Section 21.407(a), for the professional staff
in the district to nominate and elect the professional staff
representatives who shall meet with the board or the board designee
as required under this section. At least two-thirds of the elected
professional staff representatives must be classroom teachers. The
remaining staff representatives shall include both campus- and
district-level professional staff members. If practicable, the
committee membership shall include at least one professional staff
representative with the primary responsibility for educating
students with disabilities. Board policy must provide procedures
for:
(1) the selection of parents to the district-level and
campus-level committees; and
(2) the selection of community members and business
representatives to serve on the district-level committee in a
manner that provides for appropriate representation of the
community's diversity.
(e-1) The procedure for the election of professional staff
representatives to a campus-level or district-level committee
under Subsection (e):
(1) must provide for appropriate and inclusive
representation of the district's professional staff; and
(2) may not limit eligibility for election to members
of a single professional association or organization.
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.
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