By: Bettencourt, et al. S.B. No. 215
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of the office of inspector general at the
Texas Education Agency to investigate the administration of public
education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 7, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter E to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER E. OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
Sec. 7.151. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Fraud" means an intentional deception or
misrepresentation made by a person with the knowledge that the
deception could result in some unauthorized benefit to that person
or some other person. The term includes any act that constitutes
fraud under applicable federal or state law.
(2) "Local education agency" includes a school
district or county system described by Subchapter G, Chapter 11.
(3) "Office" means the office of inspector general
established under this subchapter.
Sec. 7.152. OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL. (a) The office of
inspector general is established as a division within the agency.
(b) The commissioner shall appoint an inspector general to
serve as director of the office. The inspector general serves until
removed by the commissioner.
(c) The agency shall provide staff and administrative
resources and support services as necessary to ensure
investigations and reviews authorized by this subchapter are
conducted expeditiously.
Sec. 7.153. GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES. (a) The office is
responsible for the investigation, prevention, and detection of
wrongdoing and of fraud, waste, and abuse in the administration of
public education by school districts, open-enrollment charter
schools, regional education service centers, and other local
education agencies in this state.
(b) The office may investigate allegations of fraud, waste,
and abuse and violations of this code or other law.
(c) The office may:
(1) conduct civil and administrative investigations
and initiate reviews of a school district, an open-enrollment
charter school, a regional education service center, or another
local education agency as considered appropriate by the inspector
general;
(2) receive and investigate complaints from any source
on its own initiative;
(3) conduct special accreditation investigations
authorized by the commissioner under Section 39.057(a); and
(4) make findings of fact that a school district, an
open-enrollment charter school, a regional education service
center, or another local education agency or an employee or agent of
the entity committed an act of wrongdoing, fraud, waste, or abuse in
the administration of public education and take appropriate action
as determined by the commissioner, regardless of any time
requirement relating to the action under Chapter 8, 12, or 39A.
(d) The commissioner may order the office to conduct a
forensic audit of any entity over which the office has
jurisdiction. The entity for which the audit was ordered shall pay
the costs of the audit.
(e) The office shall perform all other duties and exercise
all other powers granted to the office by this subchapter or other
law.
Sec. 7.154. GENERAL POWERS. (a) The office has all the
powers necessary or appropriate to carry out its responsibilities
and functions under this subchapter and other law.
(b) Subject to Subsection (c), in conducting an
investigation under this subchapter of the board of trustees of a
school district, the governing body of an open-enrollment charter
school, the board of directors of a regional education service
center, another local education agency, or the executive leadership
of any of those entities, the office may:
(1) attend any meeting or proceeding of the school
district, open-enrollment charter school, regional education
service center, or other local education agency, including a
meeting or proceeding that is closed to the public, except for a
private consultation of the entity with its attorney permitted
under Section 551.071, Government Code; and
(2) inspect the records, documents, and files of the
school district, open-enrollment charter school, regional
education service center, or other local education agency,
including any record, document, or file that is not subject to
public disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, or other law.
(c) The office's authority under Subsection (b) applies
only to a meeting, a proceeding, or information that is relevant to
the discovery of relevant information regarding an allegation of
wrongdoing or a violation of this code or of fraud, waste, or abuse
in the administration of public education by a person or entity
described by Subsection (b). The office may not inspect a record,
document, or file that is a privileged communication between an
individual and the individual's attorney.
(d) The inspection or disclosure of a record, document, or
file for purposes of an investigation under this subchapter is not a
voluntary disclosure under Section 552.007, Government Code. A
record, document, or file made available to the office for purposes
of an investigation under this subchapter is not subject to public
disclosure by the office.
Sec. 7.155. SUBPOENAS. (a) The inspector general may issue
a subpoena to compel the attendance of a relevant witness at a
hearing or deposition under this subchapter or to compel the
production, for inspection or copying, of books, papers, records,
documents, or other relevant materials, including electronic data,
in connection with an investigation, review, hearing, or deposition
conducted under this subchapter.
(b) A subpoena may be served personally or by certified
mail. If a person fails to comply with a subpoena, the inspector
general, acting through the attorney general, may file suit to
enforce the subpoena in a district court in this state.
(c) On finding that good cause exists for issuing the
subpoena, the court shall order the person to comply with the
subpoena. The court may hold in contempt a person who fails to obey
the court order.
Sec. 7.156. COOPERATION WITH OTHER ENTITIES. The office
may refer matters for further civil and administrative action to
appropriate administrative agencies, including the attorney
general.
SECTION 2. Section 39.057(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The commissioner may authorize special accreditation
investigations to be conducted:
(1) when excessive numbers of absences of students
eligible to be tested on state assessment instruments are
determined;
(2) when excessive numbers of allowable exemptions
from the required state assessment instruments are determined;
(3) in response to complaints submitted to the agency
with respect to alleged violations of civil rights or other
requirements imposed on the state by federal law or court order;
(4) in response to established compliance reviews of
the district's financial accounting practices and state and federal
program requirements;
(5) when extraordinary numbers of student placements
in disciplinary alternative education programs, other than
placements under Sections 37.006 and 37.007, are determined;
(6) in response to an allegation involving a conflict
between members of the board of trustees or between the board and
the district administration if it appears that the conflict
involves a violation of a role or duty of the board members or the
administration clearly defined by this code;
(7) when excessive numbers of students in special
education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, are assessed
through assessment instruments developed or adopted under Section
39.023(b);
(8) in response to an allegation regarding or an
analysis using a statistical method result indicating a possible
violation of an assessment instrument security procedure
established under Section 39.0301, including for the purpose of
investigating or auditing a school district under that section;
(9) when a significant pattern of decreased academic
performance has developed as a result of the promotion in the
preceding two school years of students who did not perform
satisfactorily as determined by the commissioner under Section
39.0241(a) on assessment instruments administered under Section
39.023(a), (c), or (l);
(10) when excessive numbers of students eligible to
enroll fail to complete an Algebra II course or any other advanced
course as determined by the commissioner;
(11) when resource allocation practices as evaluated
under Section 39.0821 indicate a potential for significant
improvement in resource allocation;
(12) when a disproportionate number of students of a
particular demographic group is graduating with a particular
endorsement under Section 28.025(c-1);
(13) when an excessive number of students is
graduating with a particular endorsement under Section
28.025(c-1);
(14) in response to a complaint submitted to the
agency with respect to alleged inaccurate data that is reported
through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS)
or through other reports required by state or federal law or rule or
court order and that is used by the agency to make a determination
relating to public school accountability, including accreditation,
under this chapter;
(15) when a school district for any reason fails to
produce, at the request of the agency, evidence or an investigation
report relating to an educator who is under investigation by the
State Board for Educator Certification; [or]
(16) by the office of inspector general for the
purpose of investigating allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse in
the administration of public education; or
(17) as the commissioner otherwise determines
necessary.
SECTION 3. 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, 2021.