Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB992 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		88R7403 CXP-D
2		-	By: ~~Hinojosa~~ S.B. No. 992
	2	+	By: Hughes S.B. No. 992
3	3
4	4
5	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6		AN ACT
7	7		relating to establishing the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership
8	8		(R-PEP) program and creating an allotment and outcomes bonus under
9	9		the Foundation School Program to support the program.
10	10		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11		SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
12	12		amended by adding Section 29.912 to read as follows:
13	13		Sec. 29.912. RURAL PATHWAY EXCELLENCE PARTNERSHIP (R-PEP)
14	14		PROGRAM. (a) In this section, "program" means the Rural Pathway
15	15		Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program established under this
16	16		section.
17	17		(b) The commissioner shall establish and administer the
18	18		Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program to
19	19		incentivize and support multidistrict, cross-sector, rural college
20	20		and career pathway partnerships that expand opportunities for
21	21		underserved students to succeed in school and life while promoting
22	22		economic development in rural areas.
23	23		(c) The program must enable an eligible school district that
24	24		lacks an economy of scale, as determined by commissioner rule, to
25	25		partner with at least one other school district to offer a broader
26	26		array of robust college and career pathways. Each partnership must:
27	27		(1) offer college and career pathways that align with
28	28		regional labor market projections for high-wage, high-demand
29	29		careers; and
30	30		(2) be managed by a coordinating entity that:
31	31		(A) has or will have at the time students are
32	32		served under the partnership the capacity to effectively coordinate
33	33		the partnership;
34	34		(B) has entered into a performance agreement
35	35		approved by the board of trustees of each partnering school
36	36		district that confers to the coordinating entity the same authority
37	37		with respect to the partnership as provided to an entity that
38	38		contracts to operate a district campus under Section 11.174;
39	39		(C) is eligible to be awarded a charter under
40	40		Section 12.101(a);
41	41		(D) has been granted a charter by each partnering
42	42		school district under Subchapter C, Chapter 12; and
43	43		(E) has on the entity's governing board as either
44	44		voting or ex officio members representatives of each partnering
45	45		school district and members of regional higher education and
46	46		workforce organizations.
47	47		(d) The performance agreement described by Subsection
48	48		(c)(2)(B) must:
49	49		(1) include ambitious and measurable performance
50	50		goals and progress measures tied to current college, career, and
51	51		military readiness outcomes and longitudinal postsecondary
52	52		completion and employment-related outcomes;
53	53		(2) allocate responsibilities for accessing and
54	54		managing progress and outcome information and annually publishing
55	55		that information on the Internet website of each partnering
56	56		district and the coordinating entity;
57	57		(3) authorize the coordinating entity to optimize the
58	58		value of each college and career pathway offered through the
59	59		partnership by determining scheduling, adding or removing a
60	60		pathway, hiring of pathway-specific personnel, setting
61	61		pathway-specific budgets, and other matters critical to the
62	62		efficacy of the pathways; and
63	63		(4) provide that any eligible student residing in a
64	64		partnering school district may participate in a college or career
65	65		pathway offered through the partnership.
66	66		(e) An employee of a coordinating entity that manages a
67	67		partnership under the program is eligible for membership in and
68	68		benefits from the Teacher Retirement System of Texas if the
69	69		employee would be eligible for membership and benefits by holding
70	70		the same position at a partnering school district.
71	71		(f) A student enrolled in a college or career pathway
72	72		offered through a partnership under the program is not considered
73	73		for accountability purposes under Chapter 39 to have dropped out of
74	74		high school or failed to complete the curriculum requirements for
75	75		high school graduation until the sixth anniversary of the student's
76	76		first day in high school.
77	77		(g) A school district proposing to enter into a performance
78	78		agreement under this section shall notify the commissioner of the
79	79		district's intent to enter into the agreement. The commissioner
80	80		shall establish procedures for a district to notify the
81	81		commissioner, including the period within which notification is
82	82		required before the school year in which the proposed agreement
83	83		would take effect, and to provide any additional information
84	84		required by the commissioner. The commissioner shall notify the
85	85		district whether the proposed agreement is approved or denied not
86	86		later than the 60th day after the date the commissioner receives
87	87		notification of the proposed agreement and all other information
88	88		required by the commissioner. If the commissioner fails to notify
89	89		the district that the proposed agreement has been approved or
90	90		denied within the period prescribed by this subsection, the
91	91		proposed agreement is considered approved.
92	92		(h) From money appropriated for that purpose, the
93	93		commissioner shall establish a grant program to assist in the
94	94		planning and implementation of a partnership under the program.
95	95		The commissioner may award a grant only to a coordinating entity
96	96		that has entered into a performance agreement approved under
97	97		Subsection (g). The commissioner may use not more than 15 percent
98	98		of the money appropriated for the grant program to cover the cost of
99	99		administering the grant program and to provide technical assistance
100	100		and support to partnerships under the program.
101	101		(i) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
102	102		implement this section, including rules establishing:
103	103		(1) requirements for a coordinating entity and a
104	104		performance agreement with the entity;
105	105		(2) the period for which a partnership under the
106	106		program may operate after commissioner approval before renewal of
107	107		commissioner approval is required; and
108	108		(3) standards for renewal of commissioner approval for
109	109		a partnership under the program.
110	110		(j) This section does not prohibit an agreement between a
111	111		school district and another entity for the provision of services at
112	112		a district campus.
113	113		(k) The commissioner may accept gifts, grants, and
114	114		donations from any source, including private and nonprofit
115	115		organizations, for the program. A private or nonprofit
116	116		organization that contributes to the program may receive an award
117	117		under Section 7.113.
118	118		SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 48, Education Code, is
119	119		amended by adding Section 48.118 to read as follows:
120	120		Sec. 48.118. RURAL PATHWAY EXCELLENCE PARTNERSHIP (R-PEP)
121	121		ALLOTMENT AND OUTCOME BONUS. (a) For each full-time equivalent
122	122		student in average daily attendance in grades 9 through 12 in a
123	123		college or career pathway offered through a partnership under the
124	124		Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program under Section
125	125		29.912, a school district is entitled to an allotment equal to the
126	126		basic allotment or, if applicable, the sum of the basic allotment
127	127		and the allotment under Section 48.101 to which the district is
128	128		entitled, multiplied by:
129	129		(1) 1.15, if the student is educationally
130	130		disadvantaged; or
131	131		(2) 1.11, if the student is not educationally
132	132		disadvantaged.
133	133		(b) Each year, the commissioner shall determine for each
134	134		school district the minimum number of annual graduates of a college
135	135		or career pathway described by Subsection (a) in each cohort
136	136		described by Section 48.110(b) who would have to demonstrate
137	137		college, career, or military readiness, as determined by
138	138		commissioner rule, in order for the district to qualify for an
139	139		outcomes bonus under Subsection (c).
140	140		(c) In addition to the allotment under Subsection (a), for
141	141		each annual graduate in a cohort described by Subsection (b) who
142	142		demonstrates college, career, or military readiness, as determined
143	143		by commissioner rule, in excess of the minimum number of students
144	144		determined for the applicable district cohort under Subsection (b),
145	145		a school district is entitled to an annual outcomes bonus of:
146	146		(1) if the annual graduate is educationally
147	147		disadvantaged, $2,000;
148	148		(2) if the annual graduate is not educationally
149	149		disadvantaged, $1,000; and
150	150		(3) if the annual graduate is enrolled in a special
151	151		education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, $2,000,
152	152		regardless of whether the annual graduate is educationally
153	153		disadvantaged.
154	154		(d) A school district is entitled to an outcomes bonus under
155	155		each subdivision of Subsection (c) for which an annual graduate
156	156		qualifies.
157	157		(e) A school district may receive funding for a student
158	158		under this section and any other section for which the student
159	159		qualifies.
160	160		SECTION 3. Section 29.912, Education Code, as added by this
161	161		Act, applies beginning with the 2023-2024 school year.
162	162		SECTION 4. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
163	163		section, this Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of
164	164		two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by
165	165		Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not
166	166		receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes
167	167		effect September 1, 2023.
168	168		(b) Section 48.118, Education Code, as added by this Act,
169	169		takes effect September 1, 2023.