Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3279 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R9625 CAE-D
2	2	By: Dutton H.B. No. 3279
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the approval of open-enrollment charter schools and the
8	8	applicability of certain state and local laws to open-enrollment
9	9	charter schools.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 12.1058, Education Code, is amended by
12	12	amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
13	13	follows:
14	14	(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) or (b), an
15	15	open-enrollment charter school operated by a tax exempt entity as
16	16	described by Section 12.101(a)(3) is not considered to be a
17	17	political subdivision, local government, or local governmental
18	18	entity unless:
19	19	(1) a [the applicable] statute specifically states
20	20	that the statute applies to an open-enrollment charter school; or
21	21	(2) a provision in this chapter states that a specific
22	22	statute applies to an open-enrollment charter school.
23	23	(d) Except as provided by Section 12.103(c), a
24	24	municipality, county, special purpose district, or political
25	25	subdivision shall consider an open-enrollment charter school a
26	26	school district for purposes of zoning, permitting, plat approvals,
27	27	fees or other assessments, construction or site development work,
28	28	code compliance, development, and any municipality, county,
29	29	special purpose district, or political subdivision approval in the
30	30	same manner and following the same timelines as if the charter
31	31	school were a school district or state-owned facility located in
32	32	that local government's jurisdiction.
33	33	SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
34	34	amended by adding Section 12.1102 to read as follows:
35	35	Sec. 12.1102. APPEAL OF APPLICATION SELECTION
36	36	DETERMINATION. (a) This section applies only if the charter
37	37	application selection process includes:
38	38	(1) scoring criteria and procedures for use of the
39	39	criteria by an external application review panel selected by the
40	40	commissioner; and
41	41	(2) selection criteria that include the minimum score
42	42	necessary for an applicant to be eligible for selection.
43	43	(b) The State Board of Education shall adopt procedures for
44	44	the appeal of an application selection determination made based on
45	45	the submission of an application under a process described by
46	46	Subsection (a).
47	47	(c) The procedures adopted under this section must provide
48	48	for an applicant who scores within 10 percentage points of the
49	49	minimum score necessary for an applicant to be eligible for
50	50	selection to appeal to the State Board of Education a score
51	51	determined by the external application review panel.
52	52	(d) The determination of the State Board of Education in an
53	53	appeal under the procedures adopted under this section is final.
54	54	(e) If the charter applicant prevails in an appeal to the
55	55	State Board of Education, the commissioner shall consider the
56	56	applicant's application.
57	57	SECTION 3. Section 212.902, Local Government Code, is
58	58	amended to read as follows:
59	59	Sec. 212.902. SCHOOL DISTRICT AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT CHARTER
60	60	SCHOOL LAND DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS. (a) This section applies to an
61	61	agreement [agreements] between a school district or
62	62	open-enrollment charter school [districts] and a [any]
63	63	municipality which has annexed territory for limited purposes.
64	64	(b) On request by a school district or open-enrollment
65	65	charter school, a municipality shall enter an agreement with the
66	66	board of trustees of the school district or the governing body of
67	67	the open-enrollment charter school to establish review fees, review
68	68	periods, and land development standards ordinances and to provide
69	69	alternative water pollution control methodologies for school
70	70	buildings constructed by the school district or open-enrollment
71	71	charter school. The agreement shall include a provision exempting
72	72	the district or charter school from all land development ordinances
73	73	in cases where the district or charter school is adding temporary
74	74	classroom buildings on an existing school campus.
75	75	(c) If the municipality and the school district or
76	76	open-enrollment charter school do not reach an agreement on or
77	77	before the 120th day after the date on which the municipality
78	78	receives the district's or charter school's request for an
79	79	agreement, proposed agreements by the [school] district or charter
80	80	school and the municipality shall be submitted to an independent
81	81	arbitrator appointed by the presiding district judge whose
82	82	jurisdiction includes the [school] district or charter school. The
83	83	arbitrator shall, after a hearing at which both the [school]
84	84	district or charter school and the municipality make presentations
85	85	on their proposed agreements, prepare an agreement resolving any
86	86	differences between the proposals. The agreement prepared by the
87	87	arbitrator will be final and binding upon both the [school]
88	88	district or charter school and the municipality. The cost of the
89	89	arbitration proceeding shall be borne equally by the [school]
90	90	district or charter school and the municipality.
91	91	(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
92	92	that requests an agreement under this section, at the time the
93	93	district or charter school [it] makes the request, shall send a copy
94	94	of the request to the commissioner of education. At the end of the
95	95	120-day period, the requesting district or charter school shall
96	96	report to the commissioner the status or result of negotiations
97	97	with the municipality. A municipality may send a separate status
98	98	report to the commissioner. The district or charter school shall
99	99	send to the commissioner a copy of each agreement between the
100	100	district or charter school and a municipality under this section.
101	101	(e) In this section:
102	102	(1) [,] "Land [land] development standards" includes
103	103	impervious cover limitations, building setbacks, floor to area
104	104	ratios, building heights and coverage, water quality controls,
105	105	landscaping, development setbacks, compatibility standards,
106	106	traffic analyses including traffic impact analyses, vehicle
107	107	queuing, parking requirements, signage requirements, and driveway
108	108	cuts, if applicable.
109	109	(2) "Open-enrollment charter school" means a school
110	110	granted a charter under Subchapter D or E, Chapter 12, Education
111	111	Code.
112	112	(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
113	113	applicability of or waive fees for fire, safety, health, or
114	114	building code ordinances of the municipality prior to or during
115	115	construction of school buildings, nor shall any agreement waive any
116	116	fee or modify any ordinance of a municipality for an
117	117	administration, service, or athletic facility proposed for
118	118	construction by a school district or open-enrollment charter
119	119	school.
120	120	SECTION 4. Chapter 250, Local Government Code, is amended
121	121	by adding Section 250.012 to read as follows:
122	122	Sec. 250.012. REGULATION OF OPEN-ENROLLMENT CHARTER
123	123	SCHOOLS. (a) In this section:
124	124	(1) "Local governmental entity" means a political
125	125	subdivision of the state, including a:
126	126	(A) municipality;
127	127	(B) county; and
128	128	(C) special purpose district.
129	129	(2) "Open-enrollment charter school" means a school
130	130	granted a charter under Subchapter D or E, Chapter 12, Education
131	131	Code.
132	132	(b) A local governmental entity may not enact or enforce an
133	133	ordinance, order, regulation, resolution, rule, or policy or take
134	134	action that prohibits an open-enrollment charter school from
135	135	operating a public school campus, educational support facility, or
136	136	administrative office in the local governmental entity's
137	137	jurisdiction or on any specific property in the jurisdiction of the
138	138	local governmental entity.
139	139	(c) The commissioner of education has exclusive
140	140	jurisdiction over the establishment and location of an
141	141	open-enrollment charter school campus as provided by Subchapter D,
142	142	Chapter 12, Education Code.
143	143	(d) This section applies to property purchased or leased
144	144	with state funds received by an open-enrollment charter school
145	145	under Section 12.128, Education Code.
146	146	(e) This section does not affect the authority granted by
147	147	state law to a local governmental entity to regulate an
148	148	open-enrollment charter school.
149	149	SECTION 5. Section 395.022(b), Local Government Code, is
150	150	amended to read as follows:
151	151	(b) A school district and an open-enrollment charter school
152	152	are [is] not required to pay impact fees imposed under this chapter
153	153	unless the board of trustees of the district or the governing body
154	154	of the charter school consents to the payment of the fees by
155	155	entering a contract with the political subdivision that imposes the
156	156	fees. The contract may contain terms the board of trustees or
157	157	governing body considers advisable to provide for the payment of
158	158	the fees.
159	159	SECTION 6. Section 552.053, Local Government Code, is
160	160	amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1) and
161	161	(b-2) to read as follows:
162	162	(b) The following may be exempt:
163	163	(1) this state;
164	164	(2) a county;
165	165	(3) a municipality; or
166	166	(4) [a] school districts and open-enrollment charter
167	167	schools [district].
168	168	(b-1) For purposes of an exemption granted under Subsection
169	169	(b)(4), the exemption must be granted to both school districts and
170	170	open-enrollment charter schools.
171	171	(b-2) For purposes of this section, "open-enrollment
172	172	charter school" means a school granted a charter under Subchapter D
173	173	or E, Chapter 12, Education Code.
174	174	SECTION 7. Section 12.101(b-0), Education Code, is
175	175	repealed.
176	176	SECTION 8. As soon as practicable after the effective date
177	177	of this Act, the State Board of Education shall adopt procedures for
178	178	the appeal of an application selection determination as provided by
179	179	Section 12.1102, Education Code, as added by this Act.
180	180	SECTION 9. An exemption granted to a school district under
181	181	Section 552.053(b)(4), Local Government Code, as that section
182	182	existed before the effective date of this Act, automatically
183	183	extends to all open-enrollment charter schools located in the
184	184	municipality after the effective date of this Act unless the
185	185	municipality repeals the exemption before the effective date of
186	186	this Act.
187	187	SECTION 10. This Act takes effect immediately if it
188	188	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
189	189	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
190	190	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
191	191	effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2021.