Texas 2023 - 88th 3rd C.S.

Texas House Bill HB198 Compare Versions

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1	1	88S30797 PRL-F
2	2	By: Cunningham H.B. No. 198
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the minimum number of instructional days provided by
8	8	public schools.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 25.081, Education Code, is amended to
11	11	read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 25.081. OPERATION OF SCHOOLS. (a) Except as
13	13	authorized under Subsection (a-1) or (b) of this section, Section
14	14	25.0815, Section 25.084, or Section 29.0821, for each school year
15	15	each school district must operate:
16	16	(1) for a minimum of 175 instructional days; and
17	17	(2) for at least 75,600 minutes of operation,
18	18	including time allocated for instruction, intermissions, and
19	19	recesses for students.
20	20	(a-1) Subsection (a)(1) does not apply to a school district
21	21	with a student enrollment of less than 8,000.
22	22	(b) The commissioner may approve the operation of schools
23	23	for fewer than the number of instructional days or minutes of
24	24	operation required under Subsection (a) if disaster, flood, extreme
25	25	weather conditions, fuel curtailment, or another calamity causes
26	26	the closing of schools.
27	27	(c) If the commissioner does not approve reduced
28	28	instructional days or minutes of operation [time] under Subsection
29	29	(b), a school district may add additional instructional days to the
30	30	school year or minutes of operation to the end of the district's
31	31	normal school hours as necessary to compensate for instructional
32	32	days or minutes of operation lost due to school closures caused by
33	33	disaster, flood, extreme weather conditions, fuel curtailment, or
34	34	another calamity.
35	35	(d) The commissioner may adopt rules to implement this
36	36	section, including rules:
37	37	(1) [for the application, on the basis of the minimum
38	38	minutes of operation required by Subsection (a), of any provision
39	39	of this title that refers to a minimum number of days of instruction
40	40	under this section;
41	41	[(2)] to determine the minutes of operation that are
42	42	equivalent to a day;
43	43	(2) [(3)] defining minutes of operation and
44	44	instructional time; and
45	45	(3) [(4)] establishing the minimum number of minutes of
46	46	instructional time required for a full-day and a half-day program
47	47	to meet the time requirements under Subsection (a).
48	48	(e) A school district or education program is exempt from
49	49	the minimum required instructional days or minutes of operation
50	50	[requirement] if the district's or program's average daily
51	51	attendance is calculated under Section 48.005(j).
52	52	(f) The commissioner may proportionally reduce the amount
53	53	of funding a district receives under Chapter 46, 48, or 49 and the
54	54	average daily attendance calculation for the district if the
55	55	district operates on a calendar that provides fewer instructional
56	56	days or minutes of operation than required under Subsection (a).
57	57	(g) A school district may not provide student instruction on
58	58	Memorial Day. If a school district would be required to provide
59	59	student instruction on Memorial Day to compensate for instructional
60	60	days or minutes of operation [instruction] lost because of school
61	61	closures caused by disaster, flood, extreme weather conditions,
62	62	fuel curtailment, or another calamity, the commissioner shall
63	63	approve the instruction of students for fewer than the number of
64	64	instructional days or minutes of operation required under
65	65	Subsection (a).
66	66	SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
67	67	amended by adding Section 25.0813 to read as follows:
68	68	Sec. 25.0813. MAINTENANCE OF FOUR-DAY SCHOOL WEEK SCHEDULE.
69	69	(a) Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by
70	70	Subsection (b), a school district that adopted a four-day school
71	71	week schedule for the 2022-2023 school year may maintain a four-day
72	72	school week schedule in each subsequent school year.
73	73	(b) If a school district adopts a four-day school week and
74	74	the agency assigns a performance rating of D or F to one or more
75	75	campuses in the district, the district must adopt and maintain a
76	76	five-day school week in each subsequent school year until each
77	77	campus in the district is assigned a performance rating of C or
78	78	higher.
79	79	SECTION 3. Sections 25.0815(a) and (b), Education Code, are
80	80	amended to read as follows:
81	81	(a) The commissioner shall provide a waiver allowing for
82	82	fewer instructional days and fewer minutes of operation [and
83	83	instructional time] than required under Section 25.081(a) for a
84	84	school district that requires each educator employed by the
85	85	district to attend an approved school safety training course.
86	86	(b) A waiver under this section:
87	87	(1) must allow sufficient time for the school
88	88	district's educators to attend the school safety training course;
89	89	and
90	90	(2) may not:
91	91	(A) result in an inadequate number of minutes of
92	92	instructional time for students; or
93	93	(B) reduce:
94	94	(i) the number of instructional days by
95	95	more than one day; or
96	96	(ii) the number of minutes of operation
97	97	[and instructional time] by more than 420 minutes.
98	98	SECTION 4. Section 29.0822(c), Education Code, is amended
99	99	to read as follows:
100	100	(c) Except in the case of a course designed for a student
101	101	described by Subsection (a)(3) or enrolled in a course described by
102	102	Subsection (b)(4), a course offered in a program under this section
103	103	must provide for at least the same number of instructional hours as
104	104	required for a course offered in a program that meets the required
105	105	minimum number of instructional days [minutes of operation] under
106	106	Section 25.081.
107	107	SECTION 5. Section 29.162(a), Education Code, is amended to
108	108	read as follows:
109	109	(a) The commissioner may adopt rules for this subchapter,
110	110	including rules establishing full-day and half-day instructional
111	111	days and minutes of operation requirements as provided by Section
112	112	25.081.
113	113	SECTION 6. Section 37.011(f), Education Code, is amended to
114	114	read as follows:
115	115	(f) A juvenile justice alternative education program must
116	116	operate at least seven hours per day and 175 [180] days per year,
117	117	except that a program may apply to the Texas Juvenile Justice
118	118	Department for a waiver of the 175-day [180-day] requirement. The
119	119	department may not grant a waiver to a program under this subsection
120	120	for a number of days that exceeds the highest number of
121	121	instructional days waived by the commissioner during the same
122	122	school year for a school district served by the program.
123	123	SECTION 7. Sections 48.005(i), (j), and (m), Education
124	124	Code, are amended to read as follows:
125	125	(i) A district or a charter school operating under Chapter
126	126	12 that operates a prekindergarten program is eligible to receive
127	127	one-half of average daily attendance under Subsection (a) if the
128	128	district's or charter school's prekindergarten program provides at
129	129	least 32,400 minutes of instructional time to students over the
130	130	minimum required number of instructional days.
131	131	(j) A district or charter school is eligible to earn full
132	132	average daily attendance under Subsection (a) if the district or
133	133	school provides at least 43,200 minutes of instructional time
134	134	during a school year to students enrolled in:
135	135	(1) a dropout recovery school or program operating
136	136	under Section 12.1141(c) or Section 39.0548;
137	137	(2) an alternative education program operating under
138	138	Section 37.008;
139	139	(3) a school program located at a day treatment
140	140	facility, residential treatment facility, psychiatric hospital, or
141	141	medical hospital;
142	142	(4) a school program offered at a correctional
143	143	facility; or
144	144	(5) a school operating under Subchapter G, Chapter 12.
145	145	(m) The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to
146	146	implement this section, including rules that:
147	147	(1) establish the minimum amount of instructional time
148	148	per day that allows a school district or charter school to be
149	149	eligible for full average daily attendance, which may differ based
150	150	on the instructional program offered by the district or charter
151	151	school;
152	152	(2) establish the requirements necessary for a school
153	153	district or charter school to be eligible for one-half of average
154	154	daily attendance, which may differ based on the instructional
155	155	program offered by the district or charter school;
156	156	(3) proportionally reduce the average daily
157	157	attendance for a school district if any campus or instructional
158	158	program in the district provides to students fewer than the
159	159	required minimum number of instructional days or minutes of
160	160	operation [instruction to students]; and
161	161	(4) allow a grade or course repeated under Section
162	162	28.02124 to qualify for average daily attendance even if the
163	163	student previously passed or earned credit for the grade or course,
164	164	if the grade or course would otherwise be eligible.
165	165	SECTION 8. Section 48.0051(a), Education Code, is amended
166	166	to read as follows:
167	167	(a) The [Subject to Subsection (a-1), the] commissioner
168	168	shall adjust the average daily attendance of a school district or
169	169	open-enrollment charter school under Section 48.005 in the manner
170	170	provided by Subsection (b) if the district or school:
171	171	(1) provides the minimum number of minutes of
172	172	operational and instructional time required under Section 25.081
173	173	and commissioner rules adopted under that section over the minimum
174	174	required number of instructional days or minutes of operation [at
175	175	least 180 days of instruction]; and
176	176	(2) offers an additional 30 days of half-day
177	177	instruction for students enrolled in prekindergarten through fifth
178	178	grade.
179	179	SECTION 9. This Act applies beginning with the 2024-2025
180	180	school year.
181	181	SECTION 10. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
182	182	last day of the legislative session.