Texas 2023 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB5170 Introduced / Bill

Filed 03/15/2023

                    By: Dutton H.B. No. 5170


 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT
 relating to public school finance and public education.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 SECTION 1.  Section 30.003, Education Code, is amended by
 adding Subsection (b-1) and amending Subsection (f-1) to read as
 follows:
 (b-1)  For purposes of subsection (b), the maintenance and
 debt service taxes imposed by the district is reduced by the
 district's amount of local revenue in excess of entitlement for
 that year under Section 48.257.
 (f-1)  The commissioner shall determine the total amount
 that the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the
 Texas School for the Deaf would have received from school districts
 in accordance with this section if the following provisions had not
 reduced the districts' share of the cost of providing education
 services:
 (1)  H.B. No. 1, Acts of the 79th Legislature, 3rd
 Called Session, 2006;
 (2)  Section 45.0032;
 (3)  Section 48.255; and
 (4)  Section 48.2551.; and
 (5)  Section 30.003 (b-1).
 Section 2.  Section 46.003, Education Code, is amended by
 amending Subsection (a) to read as follows:
 Sec. 46.003.  SCHOOL FACILITIES ALLOTMENT. (a) For each
 year, except as provided by Sections 46.005 and 46.006, a school
 district is guaranteed a specified amount per student in state and
 local funds for each cent of tax effort, up to the maximum rate
 under Subsection (b), to pay the principal of and interest on
 eligible bonds issued to construct, acquire, renovate, or improve
 an instructional facility.  The amount of state support is
 determined by the formula:
 FYA = (FYL X ADA X BTR X 100) - (BTR X (DPV/100))
 where:
 "FYA" is the guaranteed facilities yield amount of state
 funds allocated to the district for the year;
 "FYL" is the dollar amount guaranteed level of state and
 local funds per student per cent of tax effort, which is $4535 or a
 greater amount for any year provided by appropriation;
 "ADA" is the greater of the number of students in average
 daily attendance, as determined under Section 48.005, in the
 district or 400;
 "BTR" is the district's bond tax rate for the current year,
 which is determined by dividing the amount budgeted by the district
 for payment of eligible bonds by the quotient of the district's
 taxable value of property as determined under Subchapter M, Chapter
 403, Government Code, or, if applicable, Section 48.258, divided by
 100; and
 "DPV" is the district's taxable value of property as
 determined under Subchapter M, Chapter 403, Government Code, or, if
 applicable, Section 48.258.
 Section 3.  Section 46.032, Education Code, is amended by
 amending Subsection (a) to read as follows:
 Sec. 46.032.  ALLOTMENT. (a) Each school district is
 guaranteed a specified amount per student in state and local funds
 for each cent of tax effort to pay the principal of and interest on
 eligible bonds. The amount of state support, subject only to the
 maximum amount under Section 46.034, is determined by the formula:
 EDA = (EDGL X ADA X EDTR X 100) - (EDTR X (DPV/100))
 where:
 "EDA" is the amount of state funds to be allocated to the
 district for assistance with existing debt;
 "EDGL" is the dollar amount guaranteed level of state and
 local funds per student per cent of tax effort, which is the lesser
 of:
 (1)  $4540 or a greater amount for any year provided by
 appropriation; or
 (2)  the amount that would result in a total additional
 amount of state funds under this subchapter for the current year
 equal to $60 million in excess of the state funds to which school
 districts would have been entitled under this section if the
 guaranteed level amount were $35;
 "ADA" is the number of students in average daily attendance,
 as determined under Section 48.005, in the district;
 "EDTR" is the existing debt tax rate of the district, which is
 determined by dividing the amount budgeted by the district for
 payment of eligible bonds by the quotient of the district's taxable
 value of property as determined under Subchapter M, Chapter 403,
 Government Code, or, if applicable, under Section 48.258, divided
 by 100; and
 "DPV" is the district's taxable value of property as
 determined under Subchapter M, Chapter 403, Government Code, or, if
 applicable, under Section 48.258.
 Section 4.  Section 48.0071, Education Code, is amended by
 amending Subsection (d) as follows:
 (d)  This section expires September 1, 2023.
 Section 5.  Section 48.051, Education Code, is amended by
 amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
 follows:
 (a)  For each student in average daily attendance, not
 including the time students spend each day in special education
 programs in an instructional arrangement other than mainstream or
 career and technology education programs, for which an additional
 allotment is made under Subchapter C, a district is entitled to an
 allotment equal to the lesser of $6,210160 or the amount that
 results from the following formula:
 A = $6,210160 X TR/MCR X IF
 where:
 "A" is the allotment to which a district is entitled;
 "TR" is the district's tier one maintenance and operations
 tax rate, as provided by Section 45.0032.; and
 "MCR" is the district's maximum compressed tax rate, as
 determined under Section 48.2551.; and
 "IF" is the statewide inflation factor determined under
 Section 48.0512.
 (b)  A greater amount for any school year may be provided by
 appropriation.
 (c)  During any school year for which the maximum amount of
 the basic allotment provided under Subsection (a) or (b) is greater
 than the maximum amount provided for the preceding school year, a
 school district must use at least 30 percent of the amount, if the
 amount is greater than zero, that equals the product of the average
 daily attendance of the district multiplied by the amount of the
 difference between the district's funding under this chapter per
 student in average daily attendance for the current school year and
 the preceding school year to provide compensation increases to
 full-time district employees other than administrators as follows:
 (1)  75 percent must be used to increase the
 compensation paid to classroom teachers, full-time librarians,
 full-time school counselors certified under Subchapter B, Chapter
 21, and full-time school nurses, prioritizing differentiated
 compensation for classroom teachers with more than five years of
 experience; and
 (2)  25 percent may be used as determined by the
 district to increase compensation paid to full-time district
 employees.
 (c-1)  A school district employee who received a salary
 increase under Subsection (c) from a school district for the
 2019-2020 school year is, as long as the employee remains employed
 by the same district and the district is receiving at least the same
 amount of funding as the amount of funding the district received for
 the 2019-2020 school year, entitled to salary that is at least equal
 to the salary the employee received for the 2019-2020 school year.
 This subsection does not apply if the board of trustees of the
 school district at which the employee is employed:
 (1)  complies with Sections 21.4021, 21.4022, and
 21.4032 in reducing the employee's salary; and
 (2)  has adopted a resolution declaring a financial
 exigency for the district under Section 44.011.
 (c-2)  A reduction in the salary of a school district
 employee described by Subsection (c-1) is subject to the rights
 granted to the employee under this code.
 (d)  In this section, "compensation" includes benefits such
 as insurance premiums.
 (e)  For purposes of calculating the amount of the required
 compensation increases under Subsection (c), increases to an
 allotment under Sections 48.111, 48.115, 48.151, 48.152, 48.252,
 and 48.277 are excluded from the calculation.
 Section 6.  Section 48.0512, Education Code, is added to
 read as follows:
 Sec. 48.0512.  INFLATION FACTOR FOR BASIC ALLOTMENT. (a)  In
 the second year of each biennium, the basic allotment under Section
 48.051 is adjusted by a factor equivalent to the average annual
 percentage increase in the Texas Consumer Price Index for the
 preceding 10-year period.
 (b)  In school years where an adjustment under Subsection (a)
 would result in a reduction to the basic allotment, then the basic
 allotment would equal the value for the first year of the biennium.
 Section 7.  Section 48.101, Education Code, is amended by
 amending Subsection (a) to read as follows:
 (a)  Small and mid-sized districts are entitled to an annual
 allotment in accordance with this section.  In this section:
 (1)  "AA" is the district's annual allotment per
 student in average daily attendance;
 (2)  "ADA" is the number of students in average daily
 attendance for which the district is entitled to an allotment under
 Section 48.051, excluding students counted in average daily
 attendance under Section 48.0071(b) for districts eligible to
 operate virtual programs under Section 48.007(c); and
 (3)  "BA" is the basic allotment determined under
 Section 48.051.
 Section 8.  Section 48.110, Education Code, is amended by
 amending Subsection (d) to read as follows:
 (d)  For each annual graduate in a cohort described by
 Subsection (b) who demonstrates college, career, or military
 readiness as described by Subsection (f) in excess of the minimum
 number of students determined for the applicable district cohort
 under Subsection (c), a school district is entitled to an annual
 outcomes bonus of:
 (1)  if the annual graduate is educationally
 disadvantaged, $5,000;
 (2)  if the annual graduate is not educationally
 disadvantaged, $3,000; and
 (3)  if the annual graduate is enrolled in a special
 education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, $42,000,
 regardless of whether the annual graduate is educationally
 disadvantaged.
 Section 9.  Section 48.111, Education Code, is amended by
 amending Subsections (a), (c), (c-1), (d), (d-1), (d-2), and (d-3)
 to read as follows:
 (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), a A school
 district is entitled to an annual allotment equal to the basic
 allotment multiplied by the applicable weight under Subsection
 (a-1) for each enrolled student equal to the difference, if the
 difference is greater than zero, that results from subtracting 250
 from the difference between the number of students enrolled in the
 district during the school year immediately preceding the current
 school year and the number of students enrolled in the district
 during the school year six years preceding the current school year.
 (a-1)  For purposes of Subsection (a), the agency shall
 assign the following weights:
 (1)  0.48 for each student enrolled at a district in the
 top 40 percent of districts, as determined based on the number of
 students calculated under Subsection (a);
 (2)  0.33 for each student enrolled at a district in the
 middle 30 percent of districts, as determined based on the number of
 students calculated under Subsection (a); and
 (3)  0.18 for each student enrolled at a district in the
 bottom 30 percent of districts, as determined based on the number of
 students calculated under Subsection (a).
 (a-2)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a-1), for the 2021-2022
 school year, instead of using the weights under that subsection,
 the agency shall substitute the following weights:
 (1)  0.45 for each student enrolled at a district in the
 top 40 percent of districts, as determined based on the number of
 students calculated under Subsection (a);
 (2)  0.30 for each student enrolled at a district in the
 middle 30 percent of districts, as determined based on the number of
 students calculated under Subsection (a); and
 (3)  0.15 for each student enrolled at a district in the
 bottom 30 percent of districts, as determined based on the number of
 students calculated under Subsection (a).
 (a-3)  Subsection (a-2) and this subsection expire September
 1, 2024.
 (b)  For purposes of Subsection (a), in determining the
 number of students enrolled in a school district, the commissioner
 shall exclude students enrolled in the district who receive
 full-time instruction through the state virtual school network
 under Chapter 30A.
 (c)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the total amount that
 may be used to provide allotments under Subsection (a) may not
 exceed $320 million.  If the total amount of allotments to which
 districts are entitled under Subsection (a) for a school year
 exceeds the amount permitted under this subsection, the
 commissioner shall proportionately reduce each district's
 allotment under this section.
 (c-1)  Notwithstanding Subsection (c), the total amount that
 may be used to provide allotments under Subsection (a) may not
 exceed:
 (1)  for the 2021-2022 school year, $270 million;
 (2)  for the 2022-2023 school year, $310 million; and
 (3)  for the 2023-2024 school year, $315 million.
 (c-2)  Subsection (c-1) and this subsection expire September
 1, 2025.
 (d)  Subject to the limitation under Subsection (d-1), for
 the 2021-2022 school year, the agency shall provide to each school
 district, regardless of whether the district is entitled to an
 allotment under Subsection (a) for the 2021-2022 school year, an
 amount equal to the difference, if the difference is greater than
 zero, between the amount of the allotment for the 2019-2020 school
 year under this section, as this section existed on September 1,
 2019, and the amount of the allotment for the 2021-2022 school year.
 (d-1)  The total amount that may be used to provide funding
 under Subsection (d) may not exceed $40 million. If the total amount
 of funding to which districts are entitled under Subsection (d) for
 a school year exceeds the amount permitted under this subsection,
 the commissioner shall proportionately reduce each district's
 amount under Subsection (d).
 (d-2)  The amounts to which school districts are entitled
 under Subsection (d) are not subject to the amount limitations
 described by Subsections (c) and (c-1).
 (d-3)  Subsections (d), (d-1), (d-2), and this subsection
 expire September 1, 2023.
 Section 10.  Section 48.202, Education Code, is amended by
 amending Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
 (a-1)  For purposes of Subsection (a), the dollar amount
 guaranteed level of state and local funds per weighted student per
 cent of tax effort ("GL") for a school district is:
 (1)  the greater of the amount of district tax revenue
 per weighted student per cent of tax effort available to a school
 district at the 96th percentile of wealth per weighted student or
 the amount that results from multiplying $6,2106,160, or the
 greater amount provided under Section 48.051(b), if applicable, by
 0.016, for the first eight cents by which the district's
 maintenance and operations tax rate exceeds the district's tier one
 tax rate; and
 (2)  subject to Subsection (f), the amount that results
 from multiplying $6,210$6,160, or the greater amount provided under
 Section 48.051(b), if applicable, by 0.008, for the district's
 maintenance and operations tax effort that exceeds the amount of
 tax effort described by Subdivision (1).
 Section 11.  Section 48.252, Education Code, is amended by
 adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
 (b-1)  For purposes of calculating an amount under (b)(2),
 the agency shall calculate the amount to which the district would be
 entitled to under this Chapter using the enrichment tax rate as
 defined under Section 45.0032(b) for the school year prior to the
 district entering into a contract to operate a district campus as
 provided by Section 11.174.
 Section 12.  Section 48.257, Education Code, is amended by
 adding Subsections (h) and (i) as follows:
 (h)  Subsection (i) applies only to a school district:
 (1)  for which Subsection (a) applies for the current
 school year,
 (2)  that received an allotment under Section 48.277
 for the 2023-2024 school year, and
 (3)  that adopted a maintenance and operations tax rate
 for the 2022-2023 school year of at least the district's maximum
 compressed tax rate under Section 48.2551 plus five cents per $100
 valuation of taxable property.
 (i)  Notwithstanding Subsections (a) through (g), if a
 district's maintenance and operations revenue per student in
 average daily attendance after the required reduction under
 Subsection (a) would be less than the district's 2023-2024
 maintenance and operations revenue per student in average daily
 attendance, excluding Sections 48.278, 48.279, and 48.281, the
 agency shall decrease the amount of the required reduction under
 Subsection (a) by an amount of local funds necessary to provide
 additional revenue up to the district's maintenance and operations
 revenue per student in average daily attendance for the 2023-2024
 school year.
 Section 13.  Section 49.201, Education Code, is amended to
 read as follows:
 Sec. 49.201.  AGREEMENT.  The board of trustees of a district
 with a local revenue level in excess of entitlement may execute an
 agreement to educate the students of another district in a number
 that, when the weighted average daily attendance of the students
 served is added to the weighted average daily attendance of the
 contracting district, is sufficient, in combination with any other
 actions taken under this chapter, to reduce the district's local
 revenue level to a level that is equal to or less than the level
 established under Section 48.257.  The agreement is not effective
 unless the commissioner certifies that the transfer of weighted
 average daily attendance will not result in any of the contracting
 districts' local revenue level being greater than the level
 established under Section 48.257 and that the agreement requires an
 expenditure per student in weighted average daily attendance that
 is at least equal to the amount per student in weighted average
 daily attendance required under Section 49.153, unless it is
 determined by the commissioner that a quality educational program
 can be delivered at a lesser amount. The commissioner may approve a
 special financial arrangement between districts if that
 arrangement serves the best educational interests of the state.
 Section 14.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.