| 1 | 1 | | By: King S.B. No. 784 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (In the Senate - Filed January 15, 2025; February 7, 2025, |
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| 3 | 3 | | read first time and referred to Committee on Education K-16; |
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| 4 | 4 | | April 24, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 10, |
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| 5 | 5 | | Nays 0; April 24, 2025, sent to printer.) |
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| 6 | 6 | | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 7 | 7 | | |
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| 8 | 8 | | |
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| 9 | 9 | | |
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| 10 | 10 | | |
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| 11 | 11 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 12 | 12 | | AN ACT |
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| 13 | 13 | | relating to the transfer of certain public school students who are |
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| 14 | 14 | | children of peace officers. |
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| 15 | 15 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 16 | 16 | | SECTION 1. Section 12A.004(a), Education Code, is amended |
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| 17 | 17 | | to read as follows: |
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| 18 | 18 | | (a) A local innovation plan may not provide for the |
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| 19 | 19 | | exemption of a district designated as a district of innovation from |
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| 20 | 20 | | the following provisions of this title: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (1) a state or federal requirement applicable to an |
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| 22 | 22 | | open-enrollment charter school operating under Subchapter D, |
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| 23 | 23 | | Chapter 12; |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2) Subchapters A, C, D, and E, Chapter 11, except that |
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| 25 | 25 | | a district may be exempt from Sections 11.1511(b)(5) and (14) and |
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| 26 | 26 | | Section 11.162; |
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| 27 | 27 | | (3) transfers of students who are the children of |
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| 28 | 28 | | peace officers under Section 25.0344; |
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| 29 | 29 | | (4) [(3)] state curriculum and graduation |
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| 30 | 30 | | requirements adopted under Chapter 28; and |
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| 31 | 31 | | (5) [(4)] academic and financial accountability and |
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| 32 | 32 | | sanctions under Chapters 39 and 39A. |
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| 33 | 33 | | SECTION 2. Section 25.0344, Education Code, as added by |
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| 34 | 34 | | Chapter 322 (H.B. 1959), Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular |
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| 35 | 35 | | Session, 2023, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding |
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| 36 | 36 | | Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows: |
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| 37 | 37 | | (b) On request of a peace officer who is a parent of or |
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| 38 | 38 | | person standing in parental relation to a student, the board of |
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| 39 | 39 | | trustees of a school district or the board's designee shall |
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| 40 | 40 | | transfer the student to: |
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| 41 | 41 | | (1) another district campus; or |
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| 42 | 42 | | (2) any other [to another] school district in this |
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| 43 | 43 | | state, regardless of whether the sending district and the receiving |
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| 44 | 44 | | district have entered into [under] an agreement under Section |
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| 45 | 45 | | 25.035. |
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| 46 | 46 | | (e) Notwithstanding any other law, both the sending |
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| 47 | 47 | | district and the receiving district must approve a transfer under |
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| 48 | 48 | | this section without exception. |
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| 49 | 49 | | (f) A school district may not charge a tuition fee under |
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| 50 | 50 | | Section 25.038 to a student who transfers to the district under this |
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| 51 | 51 | | section. |
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| 52 | 52 | | SECTION 3. Section 12A.004(a), Education Code, as amended |
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| 53 | 53 | | by this Act, applies only to a local innovation plan adopted or |
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| 54 | 54 | | renewed on or after the effective date of this Act. A local |
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| 55 | 55 | | innovation plan adopted or renewed before the effective date of |
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| 56 | 56 | | this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the plan was |
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| 57 | 57 | | adopted or renewed, and the former law is continued in effect for |
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| 58 | 58 | | that purpose. |
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| 59 | 59 | | SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026 |
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| 60 | 60 | | school year. |
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| 61 | 61 | | SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 62 | 62 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 63 | 63 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 64 | 64 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 65 | 65 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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| 66 | 66 | | * * * * * |
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