87R19942 MLH-F
By: Dutton H.B. No. 572
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 572:
By: Dutton C.S.H.B. No. 572
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to authorizing a dropout recovery competency-based
educational program provided through a campus or campus program
charter or open-enrollment charter school.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 12, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter F to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F. DROPOUT RECOVERY COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATIONAL
PROGRAM
Sec. 12.201. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, unless the
context indicates otherwise, "program" means a dropout recovery
competency-based educational program authorized under this
subchapter.
Sec. 12.202. PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION. (a) A school district
or open-enrollment charter school may offer a dropout recovery
competency-based educational program to eligible students as
provided by this subchapter.
(b) A program offered under this subchapter must:
(1) serve students in grades 9 through 12 and have an
enrollment of which at least 50 percent of the students are 16 years
of age or older as of September 1 of the school year as reported for
the fall semester Public Education Information Management System
(PEIMS) submission; and
(2) meet the eligibility requirements for and be
registered under alternative education accountability procedures
adopted by the commissioner.
(c) A dropout recovery competency-based educational program
may be offered at a new or existing school district or
open-enrollment charter school campus, as a new campus program, or
as part of an existing campus program, including a campus or campus
program that has been granted a charter under Subchapter C.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, a
nonprofit entity granted a charter under Section 29.259 may
transfer the adult education program operated under that charter as
a campus to a school district or open-enrollment charter school to
be offered as a program under this subchapter, subject to the
commissioner's approval. For purposes of this subchapter, an adult
education program transferred as a campus under this subsection is
a program under this subchapter.
Sec. 12.203. ELIGIBLE STUDENT. (a) A student is eligible
to enroll in a program offered under this subchapter if the student
is at least 14 years of age and under 26 years of age on September 1
of the school year and meets one or more of the following criteria:
(1) the student was reported through the Public
Education Information Management System (PEIMS) or in another state
to have dropped out of school, including a student who has
previously dropped out of school;
(2) the student is a student at risk of dropping out of
school under the circumstances described by Section
29.081(d)(1)(A), (B), (C), (E), or (J);
(3) the student has been placed in a disciplinary
alternative education program under Section 37.006 during the
previous or current school year based on the Public Education
Information Management System (PEIMS) submissions or other
supporting documentation;
(4) the student has been expelled under Section 37.007
during the previous four school years or the current school year;
(5) the student is currently on parole, probation,
deferred prosecution, deferred adjudication, or other conditional
release;
(6) the student is currently in the custody or care of
the Department of Family and Protective Services or has been
referred to the department during the previous or current school
year by a school official, officer of a juvenile court, or law
enforcement official;
(7) the student has been previously or is currently
homeless as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 11302 or within the meaning
of the term "homeless children and youths" under 42 U.S.C. Section
11434a, as applicable;
(8) the student resided at any time or currently
resides in a residential care facility, including a detention
facility, substance abuse treatment facility, emergency shelter,
psychiatric hospital, halfway house, cottage home operation,
specialized child-care home, or general residential operation;
(9) the student is employed and working for pay at
least 15 hours or more each week to provide individual support or to
support the student's family;
(10) the student is ordered by a court to attend a high
school equivalency certificate program but has not yet earned the
certificate or a high school diploma;
(11) the student has previously been placed on a
personal graduation plan under Section 28.0212 or an intensive
program of instruction under Section 28.0213; or
(12) the student or the parent of or person standing in
parental relation to the student certifies to the school that the
student would benefit from the program to otherwise avoid dropping
out of school due to extenuating family circumstances or
responsibilities, including to provide medical or caregiving
services to a family member or to provide individual support or to
support the student's family.
(b) A student is eligible to enroll in a program provided
under this subchapter if the student is at least 26 years of age and
under 50 years of age and meets one of the following criteria:
(1) has failed to complete the curriculum requirements
for high school graduation; or
(2) has failed to perform satisfactorily on an
assessment instrument required for high school graduation.
(c) Students enrolled in a program under Subsection (b) may
not be counted toward the maximum student enrollment described by
Section 12.0522 or an open-enrollment charter school's charter, as
applicable.
Sec. 12.204. ELIGIBILITY FOR DIPLOMA. (a) A student
enrolled in a program offered under this subchapter may earn high
school course credits and receive a high school diploma if the
student successfully completes the curriculum requirements
described under Section 28.025.
(b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
that operates a program under this subchapter shall establish the
procedures and requirements to demonstrate satisfactory completion
of the program, including:
(1) successful completion of coursework to satisfy
curriculum requirements under the program; and
(2) successful performance on an examination under
Section 28.023 to demonstrate mastery of the curriculum.
Sec. 12.205. PROGRAM CALENDAR AND CLASS SCHEDULE. (a) A
school district or open-enrollment charter school that offers a
program under this subchapter shall create an educational calendar
and class schedule for the program's operation that provides for
flexibility in class scheduling and student attendance. The
commissioner shall approve reasonable exceptions to accommodate
program scheduling and achieve the program's purpose.
(b) The commissioner may waive any requirement under this
code to facilitate the purposes of this subchapter.
Sec. 12.206. ACCOUNTABILITY. (a) For purposes of
accountability, the commissioner shall evaluate the performance of
students enrolled in a program under Section 12.203(a) separately
from the performance of students enrolled in a program under
Section 12.203(b).
(b) The performance of students enrolled in a program under
Section 12.203(a) shall be evaluated under Section 39.0548 and as
provided by commissioner rule.
(c) The performance of students enrolled in a program under
Section 12.203(b) shall be evaluated under the performance
frameworks adopted under Section 29.259(o). The results of the
evaluation may not be considered in determining under Chapter 39
the accreditation status or overall or domain performance ratings
of the school district or open-enrollment charter school that
offers the program.
Sec. 12.207. FUNDING. (a) A school district or
open-enrollment charter school that offers a program under this
subchapter is entitled to receive funding for students enrolled in
the program under Section 12.203(a) as provided by Chapter 48 or
Section 12.106, as applicable, except that, for purposes of this
subchapter, the commissioner shall calculate average daily
attendance for the program as provided by commissioner rule based
on:
(1) a student's successful completion of a number of
courses as determined by commissioner rule; and
(2) a student's hours of contact time with the school.
(b) The method under Subsection (a) must provide for a
proportionate reduction in funding if a student fails to
successfully complete the number of courses determined under
Subsection (a)(1).
(c) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
that offers a program under this subchapter may use any available
state or local funding, including funding received for a campus or
campus program that has been granted a charter under Subchapter C or
funding received under Section 12.106, as applicable, to provide
the program to students described by Section 12.203(b).
(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
that offers a program under this subchapter may receive additional
funds appropriated by the legislature for:
(1) an intensive program of instruction to the same
extent as a program under Section 28.0213; or
(2) accelerated instruction to the same extent as a
program under Section 28.0217.
SECTION 2. Section 29.081(d), Education Code, as amended by
Chapters 403 (S.B. 1746), 597 (S.B. 668), and 1060 (H.B. 1051), Acts
of the 86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, is reenacted and
amended to read as follows:
(d) For purposes of this section, "student at risk of
dropping out of school" includes each student who:
(1) is under 26 years of age and who:
(A) was not advanced from one grade level to the
next for one or more school years;
(B) if the student is in grade 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or
12, did not maintain an average equivalent to 70 on a scale of 100 in
two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum during a semester
in the preceding or current school year or is not maintaining such
an average in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum in
the current semester;
(C) did not perform satisfactorily on an
assessment instrument administered to the student under Subchapter
B, Chapter 39, and who has not in the previous or current school
year subsequently performed on that instrument or another
appropriate instrument at a level equal to at least 110 percent of
the level of satisfactory performance on that instrument;
(D) if the student is in prekindergarten,
kindergarten, or grade 1, 2, or 3, did not perform satisfactorily on
a readiness test or assessment instrument administered during the
current school year;
(E) is pregnant or is a parent;
(F) has been placed in an alternative education
program in accordance with Section 37.006 during the preceding or
current school year;
(G) has been expelled in accordance with Section
37.007 during the preceding or current school year;
(H) is currently on parole, probation, deferred
prosecution, or other conditional release;
(I) was previously reported through the Public
Education Information Management System (PEIMS) to have dropped out
of school;
(J) is a student of limited English proficiency,
as defined by Section 29.052;
(K) is in the custody or care of the Department of
Family and Protective Services or has, during the current school
year, been referred to the department by a school official, officer
of the juvenile court, or law enforcement official;
(L) is homeless;
(M) resided in the preceding school year or
resides in the current school year in a residential placement
facility in the district, including a detention facility, substance
abuse treatment facility, emergency shelter, psychiatric hospital,
halfway house, cottage home operation, specialized child-care
home, or general residential operation; [or]
(N) [(14)] has been incarcerated or has a parent
or guardian who has been incarcerated, within the lifetime of the
student, in a penal institution as defined by Section 1.07, Penal
Code; or
(O) is enrolled in a school district or
open-enrollment charter school, or a campus of a school district or
open-enrollment charter school, that is designated as a dropout
recovery school under Section 39.0548; or
(2) regardless of the student's age, participates in
an adult education program provided under a high school diploma and
industry certification charter school program under Section
29.259.
SECTION 3. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, this Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022 school year.
(b) Subchapter F, Chapter 12, Education Code, as added by
this Act, applies beginning with the 2024-2025 school year.
SECTION 4. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.