86R8134 SOS-D
By: Campbell S.B. No. 1089
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the circumstances under which a school district is
required to provide air-conditioned transportation for students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12A.004(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A local innovation plan may not provide for the
exemption of a district designated as a district of innovation from
the following provisions of this title:
(1) a state or federal requirement applicable to an
open-enrollment charter school operating under Subchapter D,
Chapter 12;
(2) Subchapters A, C, D, and E, Chapter 11, except that
a district may be exempt from Sections 11.1511(b)(5) and (14) and
Section 11.162;
(3) state curriculum and graduation requirements
adopted under Chapter 28;
(4) the transportation requirement imposed under
Section 34.0031; and
(5) [(4)] academic and financial accountability and
sanctions under Chapters 39 and 39A.
SECTION 2. Chapter 34, Education Code, is amended by adding
Section 34.0031 to read as follows:
Sec. 34.0031. AIR-CONDITIONED TRANSPORTATION PROVIDED BY
CERTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICTS. (a) In addition to other requirements
provided by law, a school district that begins instruction for
students for a school year before the fourth Monday in August shall
provide for air-conditioned transportation of students to and from
school starting with the first day of instruction and continuing
through the fourth Monday in August.
(b) The commissioner shall adopt rules to administer this
section.
SECTION 3. Section 34.008(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A board of county school trustees or school district
board of trustees may contract with a mass transit authority,
commercial transportation company, or juvenile board for all or any
part of a district's public school transportation if the authority,
company, or board:
(1) requires its school bus drivers to have the
qualifications required by and to be certified in accordance with
standards established by the Department of Public Safety; [and]
(2) uses only those school buses or mass transit
authority buses in transporting 15 or more public school students
that meet or exceed safety standards for school buses established
under Section 34.002; and
(3) if applicable, uses only those school buses or
mass transit authority buses equipped with air-conditioning as
required by Section 34.0031 in transporting public school students
to and from school during the period required under that section.
SECTION 4. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the commissioner of education shall adopt rules to
administer Section 34.0031, Education Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 5. Section 34.008, Education Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a contract entered into or renewed on or
after the effective date of this Act. A contract entered into or
renewed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and
that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. 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.