By: Leo-Wilson H.B. No. 646
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a severance payment to a superintendent of a school
district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 11.201(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) For purposes of this subsection, "severance payment"
means any amount paid by the board of trustees of an independent
school district to or in behalf of a superintendent on early
termination of the superintendent's contract that exceeds the
amount earned by the superintendent under the contract as of the
date of termination, including any amount that exceeds the amount
of earned standard salary and benefits that is paid as a condition
of early termination of the contract. The board of trustees may not
make a severance payment to a superintendent. The board of trustees
that makes a severance payment to a superintendent shall report the
terms of the severance payment to the commissioner. [The
commissioner shall reduce the district's Foundation School Program
funds by any amount that the amount of the severance payment to the
superintendent exceeds an amount equal to one year's salary and
benefits under the superintendent's terminated contract.] The
commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to administer this
subsection.
SECTION 2. Section 11.201(c), Education Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a severance payment made by the board of
trustees of an independent school district to a superintendent
under an agreement entered into on or after the effective date of
this Act. A severance payment made by the board of trustees of an
independent school district to a superintendent under an agreement
entered into before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect at the time the agreement was made, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
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, 2023.