87R1595 CAE-F
By: Goodwin H.B. No. 438
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the requirements for a request for the revision of a
charter for an open-enrollment charter school.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.1101, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 12.1101. NOTIFICATION OF CHARTER APPLICATION [OR
ESTABLISHMENT OF CAMPUS]. The commissioner by rule shall adopt a
procedure for providing notice to the following persons on receipt
by the commissioner of an application for a charter for an
open-enrollment charter school under Section 12.110 [or of notice
of the establishment of a campus as authorized under Section
12.101(b-4)]:
(1) the superintendent and the board of trustees of
each school district from which the proposed open-enrollment
charter school or campus is likely to draw students, as determined
by the commissioner; and
(2) each member of the legislature that represents the
geographic area to be served by the proposed school or campus, as
determined by the commissioner.
SECTION 2. Section 12.114, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 12.114. REVISION. (a) A revision of a charter of an
open-enrollment charter school that is not an expansion revision
may be made only with the approval of the commissioner. An
expansion revision, as defined by commissioner rule, may be made
only in the manner provided by this section.
(b) Not more than once during each biennium [each year], an
open-enrollment charter school may request approval of an expansion
amendment to:
(1) increase [to revise] the maximum allowable student
enrollment described by the school's charter;
(2) add a new campus or site;
(3) extend the grade levels described by the school's
charter; or
(4) expand the geographic boundaries described by the
school's charter.
(c) A [Not later than the 60th day after the date that a]
charter holder shall submit [submits] to the commissioner a
completed request for approval for an expansion amendment[, as
defined by commissioner rule, including a new school amendment,]
that identifies the zip code of any new campus or site and each
school district from which the charter school intends to enroll
additional students and that estimates, in the manner provided by
commissioner rule, the additional cost to the state. The
commissioner shall publicly post the request for approval for an
expansion amendment not later than the 10th business day after the
date the charter holder submits the request.
(d) The commissioner shall thoroughly review a request for
approval for an expansion amendment and, for each expansion
amendment the commissioner proposes to approve, report to the State
Board of Education:
(1) whether during the five years preceding the date
of the request the charter holder and open-enrollment charter
school have complied with every financial, governing, educational,
and operational standard adopted by the commissioner and specify in
detail each element of noncompliance;
(2) whether the open-enrollment charter school serves
the state average of students eligible to receive services under
Subchapter A, Chapter 29, or students of limited English
proficiency and whether each campus of the charter school serves
and is staffed to serve a percentage of those students proportional
to each school district campus within a three-mile radius of the
campus;
(3) the potential revenue loss for each affected
school district for the next 10 years under the proposed expansion;
and
(4) the additional estimated cost to the state for the
next 10 years under the proposed expansion amendment.
(e) Unless, before the 90th day after the date on which the
State Board of Education receives the notice from the commissioner,
a majority of the members of the board present and voting vote
against the expansion amendment, the commissioner's proposal to
approve the expansion amendment takes effect.
(f) The commissioner shall include in the agency's budget
request submitted to the Legislative Budget Board and the budget
division of the governor's office a specific item that details the
additional cost to the state, as estimated under Subsection (d)(4),
for each approved expansion amendment.
(g) The [the] commissioner shall provide to the charter
holder written notice of approval or disapproval of an [the]
amendment requested under this section.
(h) [(d)] A charter holder may submit a request for approval
for an expansion amendment up to 18 months before the date on which
the expansion will be effective. A request for approval of an
expansion amendment does not obligate the charter holder to
complete the proposed expansion.
SECTION 3. Section 12.101(b-4), Education Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a request for approval of a revision to the charter of an
open-enrollment charter school submitted on or after the effective
date of this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.