86R3707 KJE-D
By: Collier H.B. No. 1003
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the composition of the student body of an
open-enrollment charter school.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.111(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Each charter granted under this subchapter must:
(1) describe the educational program to be offered,
which must include the required curriculum as provided by Section
28.002;
(2) provide that continuation of the charter is
contingent on the status of the charter as determined under Section
12.1141 or 12.115 or under Chapter 39A;
(3) specify the academic, operational, and financial
performance expectations by which a school operating under the
charter will be evaluated, which must include applicable elements
of the performance frameworks adopted under Section 12.1181;
(4) specify:
(A) any basis, in addition to a basis specified
by this subchapter or Chapter 39A, on which the charter may be
revoked, renewal of the charter may be denied, or the charter may be
allowed to expire; and
(B) the standards for evaluation of a school
operating under the charter for purposes of charter renewal, denial
of renewal, expiration, revocation, or other intervention in
accordance with Section 12.1141 or 12.115 or Chapter 39A, as
applicable;
(5) prohibit discrimination in admission policy on the
basis of sex, national origin, ethnicity, religion, disability,
academic, artistic, or athletic ability, or, subject to Section
12.1172, the district the child would otherwise attend in
accordance with this code, although the charter may:
(A) provide for the exclusion of a student who
has a documented history of a criminal offense, a juvenile court
adjudication, or discipline problems under Subchapter A, Chapter
37; and
(B) provide for an admission policy that requires
a student to demonstrate artistic ability if the school specializes
in performing arts;
(6) specify the grade levels to be offered;
(7) describe the governing structure of the program,
including:
(A) the officer positions designated;
(B) the manner in which officers are selected and
removed from office;
(C) the manner in which members of the governing
body of the school are selected and removed from office;
(D) the manner in which vacancies on that
governing body are filled;
(E) the term for which members of that governing
body serve; and
(F) whether the terms are to be staggered;
(8) specify the powers or duties of the governing body
of the school that the governing body may delegate to an officer;
(9) specify the manner in which the school will
distribute to parents information related to the qualifications of
each professional employee of the program, including any
professional or educational degree held by each employee, a
statement of any certification under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, held
by each employee, and any relevant experience of each employee;
(10) describe the process by which the person
providing the program will adopt an annual budget;
(11) describe the manner in which an annual audit of
the financial and programmatic operations of the program is to be
conducted, including the manner in which the person providing the
program will provide information necessary for the school district
in which the program is located to participate, as required by this
code or by commissioner rule, in the Public Education Information
Management System (PEIMS);
(12) describe the facilities to be used;
(13) describe the geographical area served by the
program;
(14) specify any type of enrollment criteria to be
used;
(15) provide information, as determined by the
commissioner, relating to any management company that will provide
management services to a school operating under the charter; and
(16) specify that the governing body of an
open-enrollment charter school accepts and may not delegate
ultimate responsibility for the school, including the school's
academic performance and financial and operational viability, and
is responsible for overseeing any management company providing
management services for the school and for holding the management
company accountable for the school's performance.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 12.1172 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.1172. ADMISSION PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS.
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the governing body of an
open-enrollment charter school shall adopt and implement admission
procedures designed to ensure that students who reside in the
attendance zone of the school district within the boundaries of
which the school is located represent a majority of the school's
total enrollment.
(b) To the extent necessary to achieve the result described
by Subsection (a):
(1) a governing body that uses a lottery to fill
available positions, as authorized by Section 12.117, may conduct
separate lotteries for students who reside in the attendance zone
of the school district within the boundaries of which the school is
located and for students who do not reside in that attendance zone;
and
(2) a governing body that fills available positions
based on the order in which applications were received, as
authorized by Section 12.117, may fill available positions based on
the order in which applications were received from students who
reside in the attendance zone of the school district within the
boundaries of which the school is located before filling available
positions with students who do not reside in that attendance zone.
(c) The commissioner shall decline to renew the charter of
an open-enrollment charter school if the commissioner determines
that the governing body of the open-enrollment charter school has
not complied with this section, unless the commissioner determines
that the governing body made a good faith effort to comply but was
unable to achieve the result described by Subsection (a).
(d) This section does not apply to the governing body of an
open-enrollment charter school that:
(1) is designated as a dropout recovery school under
Section 12.1141(c);
(2) specializes in one or more performing arts; or
(3) serves another special purpose and limits
enrollment to students with specific characteristics related to
that purpose.
SECTION 3. (a) Section 12.1172, Education Code, as added by
this Act, applies to each open-enrollment charter school authorized
under Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code. A school in
operation before the 2020-2021 school year shall achieve the
required student body composition by not later than the start of the
2023-2024 school year. A school that begins operation during or
after the 2020-2021 school year shall achieve the required student
body composition beginning with the first school year of operation.
(b) Section 12.1172, Education Code, as added by this Act,
does not affect the ability of a student enrolled in an
open-enrollment charter school during the 2019-2020 school year to
continue attending that school as long as the student maintains
enrollment during consecutive school years.
(c) A sibling of a student described by Subsection (b) of
this section who seeks admission for any school year to the same
open-enrollment charter school as attended by the student described
by Subsection (b) during the 2019-2020 school year shall be
considered for purposes of admission as a student who resides in the
attendance zone of the school district within the boundaries of
which the school is located, regardless of the student's actual
residence.
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2020-2021
school year.
SECTION 5. 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, 2019.