Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2209 Compare Versions

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1	1	H.B. No. 2209
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to establishing the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership
6	6	(R-PEP) program and creating an allotment and outcomes bonus under
7	7	the Foundation School Program to support the program.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
10	10	amended by adding Section 29.912 to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 29.912. RURAL PATHWAY EXCELLENCE PARTNERSHIP (R-PEP)
12	12	PROGRAM. (a) In this section, "program" means the Rural Pathway
13	13	Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program.
14	14	(b) The commissioner shall establish and administer the
15	15	Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program to
16	16	incentivize and support multidistrict, cross-sector, rural college
17	17	and career pathway partnerships that expand opportunities for
18	18	underserved students to succeed in school and life while promoting
19	19	economic development in rural areas.
20	20	(b-1) The commissioner shall ensure that agency employees
21	21	assigned to administer the program have experience with or training
22	22	in the procedures relating to a school district contracting to
23	23	partner to operate a district campus under Section 11.174.
24	24	(c) The program must enable an eligible school district that
25	25	has fewer than 1,600 students in average daily attendance to
26	26	partner with at least one other school district located within a
27	27	distance of 100 miles to offer a broader array of robust college and
28	28	career pathways. Each partnership must:
29	29	(1) offer college and career pathways that align with
30	30	regional labor market projections for high-wage, high-demand
31	31	careers; and
32	32	(2) be managed by a coordinating entity that:
33	33	(A) has or will have at the time students are
34	34	served under the partnership the capacity to effectively coordinate
35	35	the partnership;
36	36	(B) has entered into a performance agreement
37	37	approved by the board of trustees of each partnering school
38	38	district that confers on the coordinating entity the same authority
39	39	with respect to pathways offered under the partnership provided to
40	40	an entity that contracts to operate a district campus under Section
41	41	11.174;
42	42	(C) is an eligible entity as defined by Section
43	43	12.101(a); and
44	44	(D) has on the entity's governing board as either
45	45	voting or ex officio members, or has on an advisory body,
46	46	representatives of each partnering school district and members of
47	47	regional higher education and workforce organizations.
48	48	(d) The performance agreement described by Subsection
49	49	(c)(2)(B) must:
50	50	(1) include ambitious and measurable performance
51	51	goals and progress measures tied to current college, career, and
52	52	military readiness outcomes and longitudinal postsecondary
53	53	completion and employment-related outcomes;
54	54	(2) allocate responsibilities for accessing and
55	55	managing progress and outcome information and annually publish that
56	56	information on the Internet website of each partnering district and
57	57	the coordinating entity;
58	58	(3) authorize the coordinating entity to optimize the
59	59	value of each college and career pathway offered through the
60	60	partnership by:
61	61	(A) determining scheduling;
62	62	(B) adding or removing a pathway;
63	63	(C) selecting and assigning pathway-specific
64	64	personnel;
65	65	(D) developing and exercising final approval of
66	66	pathway budgets, which must include at least 80 percent of the state
67	67	and local funding to which each partnering school district is
68	68	entitled under Sections 48.106, 48.110, and 48.118; and
69	69	(E) determining any other matter critical to the
70	70	efficacy of the pathways; and
71	71	(4) provide that any eligible student enrolled in a
72	72	partnering school district may participate in a college or career
73	73	pathway offered through the partnership.
74	74	(e) An employee of a coordinating entity that manages a
75	75	partnership under the program is eligible for membership in and
76	76	benefits from the Teacher Retirement System of Texas if the
77	77	employee would be eligible for membership and benefits by holding a
78	78	similar position at a partnering school district. An employee is
79	79	eligible for membership under this subsection if a partnership
80	80	would be authorized to participate in the program, as determined by
81	81	the commissioner, but for the maximum expenditure established in
82	82	Section 48.118(f).
83	83	(f) A student enrolled in a college or career pathway
84	84	offered through a partnership under the program is not considered
85	85	for accountability purposes under Chapter 39 to have dropped out of
86	86	high school or failed to complete the curriculum requirements for
87	87	high school graduation until the sixth anniversary of the student's
88	88	first day in high school.
89	89	(g) A school district proposing to enter into a performance
90	90	agreement under this section shall notify the commissioner of the
91	91	district's intent to enter into the agreement. The commissioner
92	92	shall establish procedures for a district to notify the
93	93	commissioner, including establishing the period within which
94	94	notification is required before the school year in which the
95	95	proposed agreement would take effect, and to provide any additional
96	96	information required by the commissioner.
97	97	(h) In authorizing partnerships to participate in the
98	98	program, the commissioner shall give priority to partnerships in
99	99	which participating districts contract with a coordinating entity
100	100	that has at least two years' experience or employs an executive
101	101	officer with at least two years' experience managing college and
102	102	career pathways under a performance contract.
103	103	(i) Not later than the 60th day after the date the
104	104	commissioner receives notification of a proposed agreement and all
105	105	other information required by the commissioner, the commissioner
106	106	shall notify the school districts whether the proposed performance
107	107	agreement is approved and the partnering districts are authorized
108	108	for participation in the program.
109	109	(j) The commissioner shall make grants available for use by
110	110	a coordinating entity for a two-year period to assist with costs
111	111	associated with the planning, development, establishment, or
112	112	expansion, as applicable, of partnerships under the program using a
113	113	portion of state funds allocated under Section 48.118 as well as
114	114	money appropriated for that purpose, federal funds, and any other
115	115	funds available. The commissioner may award a grant only to a
116	116	coordinating entity that has entered into a performance agreement
117	117	approved under Subsection (i) or, if in the planning stage, has
118	118	entered into a memorandum of understanding to enter into a
119	119	performance agreement, unless the source of funds does not permit a
120	120	grant to the coordinating entity, in which case the grant shall be
121	121	made to a participating school district acting as fiscal agent.
122	122	Eligible use of grant funds shall include planning, development,
123	123	establishment, or expansion of partnerships under the program. The
124	124	commissioner may use not more than 15 percent of the money allocated
125	125	for the grants to cover the cost of administering grants awarded
126	126	under the program and to provide technical assistance and support
127	127	to partnerships under the program.
128	128	(k) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
129	129	implement this section, including rules establishing:
130	130	(1) requirements of a performance agreement between
131	131	participating districts and the coordinating entity;
132	132	(2) the period during which a partnership under the
133	133	program may operate after receiving commissioner approval and
134	134	before a renewal of commissioner authorization is required; and
135	135	(3) performance standards for a renewal of
136	136	commissioner authorization to participate in the program.
137	137	(l) This section does not prohibit an agreement between a
138	138	school district and another entity for the provision of services at
139	139	a district campus.
140	140	(m) The commissioner may accept gifts, grants, and
141	141	donations from any source, including private and nonprofit
142	142	organizations, for the program. A private or nonprofit
143	143	organization that contributes to the program may receive an award
144	144	under Section 7.113.
145	145	SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 48, Education Code, is
146	146	amended by adding Section 48.118 to read as follows:
147	147	Sec. 48.118. RURAL PATHWAY EXCELLENCE PARTNERSHIP (R-PEP)
148	148	ALLOTMENT AND OUTCOMES BONUS. (a) For each full-time equivalent
149	149	student in average daily attendance in grades 9 through 12 in a
150	150	college or career pathway offered through a partnership under the
151	151	Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program under Section
152	152	29.912, a school district is entitled to an allotment equal to the
153	153	basic allotment, or, if applicable, the sum of the basic allotment
154	154	and the allotment under Section 48.101 to which the district is
155	155	entitled, multiplied by:
156	156	(1) 1.15 if the student is educationally
157	157	disadvantaged; or
158	158	(2) 1.11 if the student is not educationally
159	159	disadvantaged.
160	160	(b) Each year, the commissioner shall determine for each
161	161	school district the minimum number of annual graduates of a college
162	162	or career pathway described by Subsection (a) in each cohort
163	163	described by Section 48.110(b) who would have to obtain not later
164	164	than five years after high school graduation a postsecondary
165	165	credential of value, as determined by the Texas Higher Education
166	166	Coordinating Board based on analyses of wages and costs associated
167	167	with the credential, including a degree, certificate, or other
168	168	credential from credit and noncredit programs that equip students
169	169	for continued learning and greater earnings in the state economy,
170	170	in order for the district to qualify for an outcomes bonus under
171	171	Subsection (c).
172	172	(c) In addition to the allotment under Subsection (a), for
173	173	each annual graduate in a cohort described by Subsection (b) who
174	174	obtains a postsecondary credential of value in excess of the
175	175	minimum number of students determined for the applicable district
176	176	cohort under Subsection (b), a school district is entitled to an
177	177	annual outcomes bonus of:
178	178	(1) if the annual graduate is educationally
179	179	disadvantaged, $1,500;
180	180	(2) if the annual graduate is not educationally
181	181	disadvantaged, $750; and
182	182	(3) if the annual graduate is enrolled in a special
183	183	education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, $1,500,
184	184	regardless of whether the annual graduate is educationally
185	185	disadvantaged.
186	186	(d) A school district is entitled to an outcomes bonus under
187	187	each subdivision in Subsection (c) for which an annual graduate
188	188	qualifies.
189	189	(e) A school district may receive funding for a student
190	190	under this section and any other section for which the student
191	191	qualifies. At least 80 percent of funds allocated under this
192	192	section must be spent as provided in the budget adopted by the board
193	193	of the coordinating entity.
194	194	(f) The total amount of state funding for allotments and
195	195	outcomes bonuses under this section may not exceed $5 million per
196	196	year. If the total amount of allotments and outcomes bonuses to
197	197	which school districts are entitled under this section exceeds the
198	198	amount permitted under this subsection, the agency shall allocate
199	199	state funding to districts under this section in the following
200	200	order:
201	201	(1) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school
202	202	districts participating in partnerships prioritized under Section
203	203	29.912(h) are eligible;
204	204	(2) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school
205	205	districts that entered into a memorandum of understanding or letter
206	206	of commitment regarding a multidistrict pathway partnership, as
207	207	defined by commissioner rule, before May 1, 2023, are eligible;
208	208	(3) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school
209	209	districts that have entered into a performance agreement under
210	210	Section 29.912 with a coordinating entity that is an institution of
211	211	higher education, as defined by Section 61.003, are eligible;
212	212	(4) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school
213	213	districts with the highest percentage of students who are
214	214	educationally disadvantaged, in descending order, are eligible;
215	215	and
216	216	(5) outcomes bonuses under Subsection (c) for which
217	217	school districts with the highest percentage of students who are
218	218	educationally disadvantaged, in descending order, are eligible.
219	219	SECTION 3. Section 29.912, Education Code, as added by this
220	220	Act, applies beginning with the 2023-2024 school year.
221	221	SECTION 4. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
222	222	section, this Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of
223	223	two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by
224	224	Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not
225	225	receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes
226	226	effect September 1, 2023.
227	227	(b) Section 48.118, Education Code, as added by this Act,
228	228	takes effect September 1, 2023.
229	229	______________________________ ______________________________
230	230	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
231	231	I certify that H.B. No. 2209 was passed by the House on April
232	232	28, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 108, Nays 38, 1 present, not
233	233	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
234	234	No. 2209 on May 15, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 120, Nays 23,
235	235	1 present, not voting.
236	236	______________________________
237	237	Chief Clerk of the House
238	238	I certify that H.B. No. 2209 was passed by the Senate, with
239	239	amendments, on May 11, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays
240	240	2.
241	241	______________________________
242	242	Secretary of the Senate
243	243	APPROVED: __________________
244	244	Date
245	245	__________________
246	246	Governor