89R14985 KJE-F
By: Bell of Kaufman H.B. No. 120
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to career and technology education programs in public
schools, the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program,
and a high school advising program, including funding for those
programs under the Foundation School Program, and to the new
instructional facility allotment and the permissible uses of
funding under the Foundation School Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.182(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The state plan must include procedures designed to
ensure that:
(1) all secondary and postsecondary students have the
opportunity to participate in career and technology education
programs;
(2) the state complies with requirements for
supplemental federal career and technology education funding;
(3) career and technology education is established as
a part of the total education system of this state and constitutes
an option for student learning that provides a rigorous course of
study consistent with the required curriculum under Section 28.002
and under which a student may receive specific education in a career
and technology program that:
(A) incorporates competencies leading to
academic and technical skill attainment;
(B) leads to:
(i) an industry-recognized license,
credential, or certificate; or
(ii) at the postsecondary level, an
associate or baccalaureate degree;
(C) includes opportunities for students to earn
college credit for coursework; and
(D) includes, as an integral part of the program,
participation by students and teachers in activities of career and
technical student organizations supported by the agency and the
State Board of Education; [and]
(4) a school district provides, to the greatest extent
possible, to a student participating in a career and technology
education program opportunities to enroll in dual credit courses
designed to lead to a degree, license, or certification as part of
the program; and
(5) a course of study offered under a Junior Reserve
Officers' Training Corps program established under 10 U.S.C.
Section 2031 is considered a career and technology education
program.
SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.9016 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.9016. MILITARY PATHWAY GRANT PROGRAM. (a) The
agency shall establish a grant program to provide money to school
districts to implement a program under which the district:
(1) establishes a Junior Reserve Officers' Training
Corps program under 10 U.S.C. Section 2031 for students enrolled in
high school in the district;
(2) annually administers the Armed Services
Vocational Aptitude Battery test to each student participating in
the program described by Subdivision (1); and
(3) provides career counseling at least once per year
to each student administered the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude
Battery test under Subdivision (2) based on the results of the test.
(b) The amount of each grant awarded under the grant program
is $50,000.
(c) The total amount of grants awarded under the grant
program for a school year may not exceed $2 million.
SECTION 3. Section 29.912, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c-1) and amending Subsections (e) and (j) to
read as follows:
(c-1) A school district that has participated in the program
may continue to participate in the program regardless of the number
of students in average daily attendance in the district for the
current school year.
(e) An employee of a coordinating entity that manages a
partnership under the program is eligible for membership in and
benefits from the Teacher Retirement System of Texas if the
employee would be eligible for membership and benefits by holding a
similar position at a partnering school district. [An employee is
eligible for membership under this subsection if a partnership
would be authorized to participate in the program, as determined by
the commissioner, but for the maximum expenditure established in
Section 48.118(f).]
(j) The commissioner shall make grants available for use by
a coordinating entity for a two-year period to assist with costs
associated with the planning, development, establishment, or
expansion, as applicable, of partnerships under the program using
[a portion of state funds allocated under Section 48.118 as well as]
money appropriated for that purpose, federal funds, and any other
funds available. The commissioner may award a grant only to a
coordinating entity that has entered into a performance agreement
approved under Subsection (i) or, if in the planning stage, has
entered into a memorandum of understanding to enter into a
performance agreement, unless the source of funds does not permit a
grant to the coordinating entity, in which case the grant shall be
made to a participating school district acting as fiscal agent.
Eligible use of grant funds shall include planning, development,
establishment, or expansion of partnerships under the program. The
commissioner may use not more than 15 percent of the money allocated
for the grants to cover the cost of administering grants awarded
under the program and to provide technical assistance and support
to partnerships under the program.
SECTION 4. Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.939 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.939. HIGH SCHOOL ADVISING PROGRAM. (a) The agency
shall establish a high school advising program through which
participating school districts and open-enrollment charter schools
provide college or career advising supports to students, either by
hiring employees or contracting with service providers.
(b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
participating in the program must have at least one partnership
agreement with:
(1) if the district or school provides college
advisors, a public institution of higher education to support
students to transition successfully from high school graduation to
college enrollment, persistence, and completion; and
(2) if the district or school provides career
advisors:
(A) a vocational program at a public institution
of higher education;
(B) an employer; or
(C) a local workforce board.
(c) An advisor under the program must be trained in:
(1) practices relating to college advising to serve as
a college advisor; and
(2) practices relating to career advising to serve as
a career advisor.
(d) A full-time equivalent advisor under the program may not
have a caseload of more than 200 students and must prioritize
students in grade levels 11 and 12.
(e) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to
implement this section. In adopting rules, the commissioner shall
consult with the Texas Workforce Commission and the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board.
SECTION 5. Section 45.105(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) Local school funds from district taxes, tuition fees of
students not entitled to a free education, other local sources, and
state funds not designated for a specific purpose may be used for
the purposes listed for state and county available funds and for
purchasing appliances and supplies, paying insurance premiums,
paying janitors and other employees, buying school sites, buying,
building, repairing, and renting school buildings, including
acquiring school buildings and sites by leasing through annual
payments with an ultimate option to purchase, providing advising
support as described by Section 48.0035(1), and educating students
as described by Section 48.0035(2), and, except as provided by
Subsection (c-1), for other purposes necessary in the conduct of
the public schools determined by the board of trustees. The
accounts and vouchers for county districts must be approved by the
county superintendent. If the state available school fund in any
municipality or district is sufficient to maintain the schools in
any year for at least eight months and leave a surplus, the surplus
may be spent for the purposes listed in this subsection.
SECTION 6. Subchapter A, Chapter 48, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 48.0035 and 48.0055 to read as follows:
Sec. 48.0035. USE OF FUNDING FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES. A school
district may use funding to which the district is entitled under
this chapter to:
(1) provide district graduates, during the first two
years after high school graduation, advising support toward the
successful completion of a certificate or degree program at a
public institution of higher education or a postsecondary
vocational training program; and
(2) educate a student who has graduated from high
school but is enrolled in the district in a program through which
the student may earn dual credit, including the Pathways in
Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) program under
Subchapter N, Chapter 29, and the Rural Pathway Excellence
Partnership (R-PEP) program under Section 29.912.
Sec. 48.0055. ENROLLMENT-BASED FUNDING. The commissioner
by rule shall establish the method for determining average
enrollment for purposes of funding provided based on average
enrollment under Chapter 46 and this chapter.
SECTION 7. Section 48.106, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a-1) and adding Subsection (a-2) to read as
follows:
(a-1) In addition to the amounts under Subsection (a), for
each student in average enrollment [daily attendance], a district
is entitled to $150 [$50] for each of the following in which the
student is enrolled:
(1) a campus designated as a P-TECH school under
Section 29.556; or
(2) a campus that is a member of the New Tech Network
and that focuses on project-based learning and work-based
education.
(a-2) A district is entitled to funding under Subsection
(a-1) for a student who has graduated from high school but is
enrolled in the district in a program offered under Subchapter N,
Chapter 29, through which the student may earn dual credit. The
district is not entitled to any other funding under this chapter for
a student described by this subsection.
SECTION 8. Sections 48.106(b)(1) and (1-a), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(1) "Approved career and technology education
program":
(A) means:
(i) a sequence of career and technology
education courses, including technology applications courses,
authorized by the State Board of Education; and
(ii) courses offered under a Junior Reserve
Officers' Training Corps program established under 10 U.S.C.
Section 2031; and
(B) includes only courses that qualify for high
school credit.
(1-a) "Approved program of study" means a course
sequence that:
(A) provides students with the knowledge and
skills necessary for success in the students' chosen careers,
including the military; and
(B) is approved by the agency for purposes of the
Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century
Act (Pub. L. No. 115-224).
SECTION 9. Section 48.118, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (g) to
read as follows:
(a) For each full-time equivalent student in average daily
attendance in grades 9 through 12 in a college or career pathway
offered through a partnership under the Rural Pathway Excellence
Partnership (R-PEP) program under Section 29.912 who meets the
requirements under Subsection (g), a school district is entitled to
an allotment equal to the basic allotment, or, if applicable, the
sum of the basic allotment and the allotment under Section 48.101 to
which the district is entitled, multiplied by:
(1) 1.15 if the student is educationally
disadvantaged; or
(2) 1.11 if the student is not educationally
disadvantaged.
(a-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a school district
described by Section 29.912(c-1) may receive funding under this
section for up to 110 percent of the number of students who
qualified under Subsection (a) for the school year immediately
preceding the school year in which the district's enrollment first
reached 1,600 or more.
(g) To be eligible for funding under this section, a
partnership under the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP)
program under Section 29.912 must offer at least one of the
following programs of study through in-person instruction, remote
instruction, or a hybrid of in-person and remote instruction:
(1) computer programming and software development; or
(2) a specialized skilled trade, such as:
(A) plumbing and pipefitting;
(B) electrical;
(C) welding;
(D) diesel and heavy equipment;
(E) aviation maintenance; or
(F) applied agricultural engineering.
SECTION 10. Section 48.152(a)(2), Education Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(2) "New instructional facility" includes:
(A) a newly constructed instructional facility;
(B) a repurposed instructional facility; [and]
(C) a leased facility operating for the first
time as an instructional facility with a minimum lease term of not
less than 10 years; and
(D) a renovated portion of an instructional
facility to be used for the first time to provide high-cost and
undersubscribed career and technology education programs, as
determined by the commissioner.
SECTION 11. Section 48.152(f), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(f) The amount appropriated for allotments under this
section may not exceed $150 [$100] million in a school year. If the
total amount of allotments to which districts are entitled under
this section for a school year exceeds the amount appropriated
under this subsection, the commissioner:
(1) shall reduce each district's allotment under this
section in the manner provided by Section 48.266(f); and
(2) for new instructional facilities described by
Subsection (a)(2)(D), may remove a career and technology education
program from the list of programs that qualify under that
subsection.
SECTION 12. Subchapter D, Chapter 48, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 48.162 to read as follows:
Sec. 48.162. HIGH SCHOOL ADVISING ALLOTMENT. (a) Subject
to Subsections (b) and (c), for each full-time equivalent advisor
or contracted service provider under the high school advising
program established under Section 29.939, a school district is
entitled to $50,000.
(b) The number of advisors for whom a school district may
receive an allotment under this section may not exceed the quotient
of, rounded up to the nearest whole number:
(1) the number of students enrolled in the district in
grade levels 11 and 12; and
(2) 200.
(c) Beginning with the fifth school year for which a school
district receives an allotment under this section, the commissioner
shall reduce the district's allotment by 20 percent for each school
year unless the district's performance under Section 48.110 for the
preceding school year:
(1) exceeded the average of the district's performance
under that section for the two school years preceding that school
year;
(2) was in the top 25 percent of statewide performance
under that section; or
(3) established that at least 40 percent of the
district's educationally disadvantaged annual graduates
demonstrated college, career, or military readiness as described by
Section 48.110(f).
SECTION 13. Sections 29.912(h) and 48.118(b), (c), (d), and
(f), Education Code, are repealed.
SECTION 14. Sections 29.9016 and 29.939, Education Code, as
added by this Act, and Section 29.912, Education Code, as amended by
this Act, apply beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.
SECTION 15. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) or (c)
of this section, 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, 2025.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section,
the amendments by this Act to Chapter 48, Education Code, take
effect September 1, 2025.
(c) Section 48.118(a), Education Code, as amended by this
Act, and Section 48.118(g), Education Code, as added by this Act,
take effect September 1, 2027.