Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2132 Compare Versions

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1	1	2025S0158-1 03/03/25
2	2	By: Hinojosa of Hidalgo S.B. No. 2132
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP)
10	10	program, including funding for that program under the Foundation
11	11	School Program.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 29.912, Education Code, is amended by
14	14	adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
15	15	(c-1) A school district that has participated in the program
16	16	may continue to participate in the program regardless of the number
17	17	of students in average daily attendance in the district for the
18	18	current school year.
19	19	SECTION 2. Section 48.118, Education Code, is amended by
20	20	amending Subsections (a) and (f) and adding Subsections (a-1),
21	21	(a-2), (a-3), and (g) to read as follows:
22	22	(a) Subject to Subsection (a-1), for [For] each full-time
23	23	equivalent student in average daily attendance in grades 9 through
24	24	12 in a college or career pathway offered through a partnership
25	25	under the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program
26	26	under Section 29.912 that meets the requirements under Subsection
27	27	(g), a school district is entitled to an allotment equal to the
28	28	basic allotment, or, if applicable, the sum of the basic allotment
29	29	and the allotment under Section 48.101 to which the district is
30	30	entitled, multiplied by:
31	31	(1) 1.15 if the student is educationally
32	32	disadvantaged; or
33	33	(2) 1.11 if the student is not educationally
34	34	disadvantaged.
35	35	(a-1) A school district is eligible to receive an allotment
36	36	under Subsection (a) only if the district has adopted a school
37	37	calendar for that school year that provides for at least:
38	38	(1) 175 instructional days; or
39	39	(2) five instructional days per week for the majority
40	40	of the school year.
41	41	(a-2) The commissioner may waive the requirement under
42	42	Subsection (a-1) for a school district for the 2025-2026 school
43	43	year on application by the district if the district demonstrates
44	44	that the district has adopted a school calendar for the 2026-2027
45	45	school year that complies with that subsection. This subsection
46	46	expires September 1, 2026.
47	47	(a-3) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a school district
48	48	described by Section 29.912(c-1) may receive funding under this
49	49	section for up to 110 percent of the number of students who
50	50	qualified under Subsection (a) for the school year immediately
51	51	preceding the school year in which the district's enrollment first
52	52	reached 1,600 or more.
53	53	(f) The total amount of state funding for allotments and
54	54	outcomes bonuses under this section may not exceed $5 million per
55	55	year. If the total amount of allotments and outcomes bonuses to
56	56	which school districts are entitled under this section exceeds the
57	57	amount permitted under this subsection, the agency shall allocate
58	58	state funding to districts under this section in the following
59	59	order:
60	60	(1) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school
61	61	districts participating in partnerships prioritized under Section
62	62	29.912(h) are eligible;
63	63	(2) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school
64	64	districts that entered into a memorandum of understanding or letter
65	65	of commitment regarding a multidistrict pathway partnership, as
66	66	defined by commissioner rule, before May 1, 2023, are eligible;
67	67	(3) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school
68	68	districts that have entered into a performance agreement under
69	69	Section 29.912 with a coordinating entity that is an institution of
70	70	higher education, as defined by Section 61.003, are eligible; and
71	71	(4) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school
72	72	districts with the highest percentage of students who are
73	73	educationally disadvantaged, in descending order, are eligible[;
74	74	and
75	75	[(5) outcomes bonuses under Subsection (c) for which
76	76	school districts with the highest percentage of students who are
77	77	educationally disadvantaged, in descending order, are eligible].
78	78	(g) To be eligible for funding under this section, a
79	79	partnership under the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP)
80	80	program under Section 29.912 must offer at least one of the
81	81	following programs of study through in-person instruction, remote
82	82	instruction, or a hybrid of in-person and remote instruction:
83	83	(1) computer programming and software development or
84	84	cybersecurity; or
85	85	(2) a specialized skilled trade, such as:
86	86	(A) plumbing and pipefitting;
87	87	(B) electrical;
88	88	(C) welding;
89	89	(D) diesel and heavy equipment;
90	90	(E) aviation maintenance; or
91	91	(F) applied agricultural engineering.
92	92	SECTION 3. Sections 48.118(b), (c), and (d), Education
93	93	Code, are repealed.
94	94	SECTION 4. Section 29.912, Education Code, as amended by
95	95	this Act, applies beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.
96	96	SECTION 5. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) or (c)
97	97	of this section, this Act takes effect immediately if it receives a
98	98	vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
99	99	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
100	100	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
101	101	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
102	102	(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section,
103	103	Section 48.118, Education Code, as amended by this Act, takes
104	104	effect September 1, 2025.
105	105	(c) Section 48.118(g), Education Code, as added by this Act,
106	106	takes effect September 1, 2027.