Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2236 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R1025 PRL-F
2	2	By: Dutton H.B. No. 2236
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the inclusion of chronically absent students as
10	10	students at risk of dropping out of school and the collection and
11	11	reporting of data regarding those students.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 29.081(d), Education Code, is amended to
14	14	read as follows:
15	15	(d) For purposes of this section, "student at risk of
16	16	dropping out of school" includes each student who:
17	17	(1) is under 26 years of age and who:
18	18	(A) except as provided by Subsection (h) or if
19	19	retained for prekindergarten under Section 28.02124, was not
20	20	advanced from one grade level to the next for one or more school
21	21	years;
22	22	(B) if the student is in grade 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or
23	23	12, did not maintain an average equivalent to 70 on a scale of 100 in
24	24	two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum during a semester
25	25	in the preceding or current school year or is not maintaining such
26	26	an average in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum in
27	27	the current semester;
28	28	(C) did not perform satisfactorily on an
29	29	assessment instrument administered to the student under Subchapter
30	30	B, Chapter 39, and who has not in the previous or current school
31	31	year subsequently performed on that instrument or another
32	32	appropriate instrument at a level equal to at least 110 percent of
33	33	the level of satisfactory performance on that instrument;
34	34	(D) if the student is in prekindergarten,
35	35	kindergarten, or grade 1, 2, or 3, did not perform satisfactorily on
36	36	a readiness test or assessment instrument administered during the
37	37	current school year;
38	38	(E) is pregnant or is a parent;
39	39	(F) has been placed in an alternative education
40	40	program in accordance with Section 37.006 during the preceding or
41	41	current school year;
42	42	(G) has been expelled in accordance with Section
43	43	37.007 during the preceding or current school year;
44	44	(H) is currently on parole, probation, deferred
45	45	prosecution, or other conditional release;
46	46	(I) was previously reported through the Public
47	47	Education Information Management System (PEIMS) to have dropped out
48	48	of school;
49	49	(J) is an emergent bilingual student, as defined
50	50	by Section 29.052;
51	51	(K) is in the custody or care of the Department of
52	52	Family and Protective Services or has, during the current school
53	53	year, been referred to the department by a school official, officer
54	54	of the juvenile court, or law enforcement official;
55	55	(L) is homeless;
56	56	(M) resided in the preceding school year or
57	57	resides in the current school year in a residential placement
58	58	facility in the district, including a detention facility, substance
59	59	abuse treatment facility, emergency shelter, psychiatric hospital,
60	60	halfway house, cottage home operation, specialized child-care
61	61	home, or general residential operation;
62	62	(N) has been incarcerated or has a parent or
63	63	guardian who has been incarcerated, within the lifetime of the
64	64	student, in a penal institution as defined by Section 1.07, Penal
65	65	Code; [or]
66	66	(O) is enrolled in a school district or
67	67	open-enrollment charter school, or a campus of a school district or
68	68	open-enrollment charter school, that is designated as a dropout
69	69	recovery school under Section 39.0548; or
70	70	(P) is a chronically absent student, as defined
71	71	by Section 48.009; or
72	72	(2) regardless of the student's age, participates in
73	73	an adult education program provided under the adult high school
74	74	charter school program under Subchapter G, Chapter 12.
75	75	SECTION 2. Section 48.009, Education Code, is amended by
76	76	amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (c-1) to
77	77	read as follows:
78	78	(a) In this section:
79	79	(1) "Chronically absent student" means a student who
80	80	is absent from school for more than 10 percent of the minutes of
81	81	school operation time allocated under Section 25.081 for
82	82	instruction within:
83	83	(A) a school year; or
84	84	(B) a six-week grade reporting period.
85	85	(2) "Full-time [, "full-time] equivalent school
86	86	counselor" means 40 hours of counseling services a week.
87	87	(b) The commissioner by rule shall require each school
88	88	district and open-enrollment charter school to report through the
89	89	Public Education Information Management System information
90	90	regarding:
91	91	(1) the number of students enrolled in the district or
92	92	school who are identified as having dyslexia;
93	93	(2) the availability of school counselors, including
94	94	the number of full-time equivalent school counselors, at each
95	95	campus;
96	96	(3) the availability of expanded learning
97	97	opportunities as described by Section 33.252 at each campus;
98	98	(4) the total number of students, other than students
99	99	described by Subdivision (5), enrolled in the district or school
100	100	with whom the district or school, as applicable, used intervention
101	101	strategies, as that term is defined by Section 26.004, at any time
102	102	during the year for which the report is made;
103	103	(5) the total number of students enrolled in the
104	104	district or school to whom the district or school provided aids,
105	105	accommodations, or services under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act
106	106	of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794), at any time during the year for
107	107	which the report is made;
108	108	(6) disaggregated by campus and grade, the number of:
109	109	(A) children who are required to attend school
110	110	under Section 25.085, are not exempted under Section 25.086, and
111	111	fail to attend school without excuse for 10 or more days or parts of
112	112	days within a six-month period in the same school year;
113	113	(B) students for whom the district initiates a
114	114	truancy prevention measure under Section 25.0915(a-4); and
115	115	(C) parents of students against whom an
116	116	attendance officer or other appropriate school official has filed a
117	117	complaint under Section 25.093; [and]
118	118	(7) the number of students who are enrolled in a high
119	119	school equivalency program, a dropout recovery school, or an adult
120	120	education program provided under a high school diploma and industry
121	121	certification charter school program provided by the district or
122	122	school and who:
123	123	(A) are at least 18 years of age and under 26
124	124	years of age;
125	125	(B) have not previously been reported to the
126	126	agency as dropouts; and
127	127	(C) enroll in the program at the district or
128	128	school after not attending school for a period of at least nine
129	129	months; and
130	130	(8) the total number of chronically absent students
131	131	enrolled at each campus in the district or school disaggregated by
132	132	students' race, ethnicity, and status as:
133	133	(A) students enrolled in a special education
134	134	program;
135	135	(B) students identified as having dyslexia;
136	136	(C) educationally disadvantaged students; and
137	137	(D) emergent bilingual students, as defined by
138	138	Section 29.052.
139	139	(c-1) The agency shall annually aggregate and make publicly
140	140	available the data on student chronic absenteeism collected under
141	141	Subsection (b)(8). The data must:
142	142	(1) be shown at the campus and district aggregate
143	143	levels; and
144	144	(2) include the percentage of chronically absent
145	145	students in each demographic category listed under Subsection
146	146	(b)(8).
147	147	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.