By: West, Menéndez S.B. No. 605
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of a new open-enrollment charter
school campus by certain charter holders and to the expansion of an
open-enrollment charter school.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.101(b-4), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b-4) Notwithstanding Section 12.114, approval of the
commissioner under that section is not required for establishment
of a new open-enrollment charter school campus if the requirements
of this subsection are satisfied. A charter holder having an
accreditation status of accredited and at least 50 percent of its
student population in grades assessed under Subchapter B, Chapter
39, or at least 50 percent of the students in the grades assessed
having been enrolled in the school for at least three school years
may establish one or more new campuses under an existing charter
held by the charter holder if:
(1) the charter holder is currently evaluated under
the standard accountability procedures for evaluation under
Chapter 39 and received a district rating in the highest or second
highest performance rating category under Subchapter C, Chapter 39,
for three of the last five years with at least 75 percent of the
campuses rated under the charter also receiving a rating in the
highest or second highest performance rating category and with no
campus with a rating in the lowest performance rating category in
the most recent ratings;
(2) the charter holder and each campus operating under
the charter are not currently subject to an action of the
commissioner described by Section 39A.002(7) or (8);
(3) [(2)] the charter holder provides written notice
to the commissioner of the establishment of any campus under this
subsection in the time, manner, and form provided by rule of the
commissioner; and
(4) [(3)] not later than the 60th day after the date
the charter holder provides written notice under Subdivision (3)
[(2)], the commissioner does not provide written notice to the
charter holder that the commissioner has determined that the
charter holder does not satisfy the requirements of this section.
SECTION 2. Section 12.114, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c-1) The commissioner may not approve a request for
approval of an expansion amendment if the charter holder or any
campus operating under the charter is currently subject to an
action of the commissioner described by Section 39A.002(7) or (8).
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a new open-enrollment charter school campus established or a
request for approval of an expansion amendment by an
open-enrollment charter school submitted on or after the effective
date of this Act. A campus established or a request submitted
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the campus was established or request submitted,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.