Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB991 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 991
2	2
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to the inclusion of chronically absent and truant students
9	9	as students at risk of dropping out of school and the collection and
10	10	reporting of data regarding those students.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 29.081(d), Education Code, is amended to
13	13	read as follows:
14	14	(d) For purposes of this section, "student at risk of
15	15	dropping out of school" includes each student who:
16	16	(1) is under 26 years of age and who:
17	17	(A) except as provided by Subsection (h) or if
18	18	retained for prekindergarten under Section 28.02124, was not
19	19	advanced from one grade level to the next for one or more school
20	20	years;
21	21	(B) if the student is in grade 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or
22	22	12, did not maintain an average equivalent to 70 on a scale of 100 in
23	23	two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum during a semester
24	24	in the preceding or current school year or is not maintaining such
25	25	an average in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum in
26	26	the current semester;
27	27	(C) did not perform satisfactorily on an
28	28	assessment instrument administered to the student under Subchapter
29	29	B, Chapter 39, and who has not in the previous or current school
30	30	year subsequently performed on that instrument or another
31	31	appropriate instrument at a level equal to at least 110 percent of
32	32	the level of satisfactory performance on that instrument;
33	33	(D) if the student is in prekindergarten,
34	34	kindergarten, or grade 1, 2, or 3, did not perform satisfactorily on
35	35	a readiness test or assessment instrument administered during the
36	36	current school year;
37	37	(E) is pregnant or is a parent;
38	38	(F) has been placed in an alternative education
39	39	program in accordance with Section 37.006 during the preceding or
40	40	current school year;
41	41	(G) has been expelled in accordance with Section
42	42	37.007 during the preceding or current school year;
43	43	(H) is currently on parole, probation, deferred
44	44	prosecution, or other conditional release;
45	45	(I) was previously reported through the Public
46	46	Education Information Management System (PEIMS) to have dropped out
47	47	of school;
48	48	(J) is an emergent bilingual student, as defined
49	49	by Section 29.052;
50	50	(K) is in the custody or care of the Department of
51	51	Family and Protective Services or has, during the current school
52	52	year, been referred to the department by a school official, officer
53	53	of the juvenile court, or law enforcement official;
54	54	(L) is homeless;
55	55	(M) resided in the preceding school year or
56	56	resides in the current school year in a residential placement
57	57	facility in the district, including a detention facility, substance
58	58	abuse treatment facility, emergency shelter, psychiatric hospital,
59	59	halfway house, cottage home operation, specialized child-care
60	60	home, or general residential operation;
61	61	(N) has been incarcerated or has a parent or
62	62	guardian who has been incarcerated, within the lifetime of the
63	63	student, in a penal institution as defined by Section 1.07, Penal
64	64	Code; [or]
65	65	(O) is enrolled in a school district or
66	66	open-enrollment charter school, or a campus of a school district or
67	67	open-enrollment charter school, that is designated as a dropout
68	68	recovery school under Section 39.0548; [or]
69	69	(P) is a chronically absent student, as defined
70	70	by Section 48.009; or
71	71	(Q) is required to attend school under Section
72	72	25.085, is not exempted under Section 25.086, and fails to attend
73	73	school without excuse for 10 or more days or parts of days within a
74	74	six-month period in the same school year; or
75	75	(2) regardless of the student's age, participates in
76	76	an adult education program provided under the adult high school
77	77	charter school program under Subchapter G, Chapter 12.
78	78	SECTION 2. Section 48.009, Education Code, is amended by
79	79	amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (c-1) to
80	80	read as follows:
81	81	(a) In this section:
82	82	(1) "Chronically absent student" means a student who
83	83	is absent from school for more than 10 percent of the school's
84	84	required operation and instructional time within:
85	85	(A) a school year; or
86	86	(B) an enrollment period that exceeds 30
87	87	instructional days.
88	88	(2) "Full-time[, "full-time] equivalent school
89	89	counselor" means 40 hours of counseling services a week.
90	90	(b) The commissioner by rule shall require each school
91	91	district and open-enrollment charter school to report through the
92	92	Public Education Information Management System information
93	93	regarding:
94	94	(1) the number of students enrolled in the district or
95	95	school who are identified as having dyslexia;
96	96	(2) the availability of school counselors, including
97	97	the number of full-time equivalent school counselors, at each
98	98	campus;
99	99	(3) the availability of expanded learning
100	100	opportunities as described by Section 33.252 at each campus;
101	101	(4) the total number of students, other than students
102	102	described by Subdivision (5), enrolled in the district or school
103	103	with whom the district or school, as applicable, used intervention
104	104	strategies, as that term is defined by Section 26.004, at any time
105	105	during the year for which the report is made;
106	106	(5) the total number of students enrolled in the
107	107	district or school to whom the district or school provided aids,
108	108	accommodations, or services under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act
109	109	of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794), at any time during the year for
110	110	which the report is made;
111	111	(6) disaggregated by campus and grade, the number of:
112	112	(A) children who are required to attend school
113	113	under Section 25.085, are not exempted under Section 25.086, and
114	114	fail to attend school without excuse for 10 or more days or parts of
115	115	days within a six-month period in the same school year, in total and
116	116	disaggregated by whether the child is receiving instructional
117	117	services under Section 29.081;
118	118	(B) students for whom the district initiates a
119	119	truancy prevention measure under Section 25.0915(a-4); and
120	120	(C) parents of students against whom an
121	121	attendance officer or other appropriate school official has filed a
122	122	complaint under Section 25.093; [and]
123	123	(7) the number of students who are enrolled in a high
124	124	school equivalency program, a dropout recovery school, or an adult
125	125	education program provided under a high school diploma and industry
126	126	certification charter school program provided by the district or
127	127	school and who:
128	128	(A) are at least 18 years of age and under 26
129	129	years of age;
130	130	(B) have not previously been reported to the
131	131	agency as dropouts; and
132	132	(C) enroll in the program at the district or
133	133	school after not attending school for a period of at least nine
134	134	months; and
135	135	(8) the number of chronically absent students enrolled
136	136	at each campus in the district or school, in total and disaggregated
137	137	by whether the student is receiving instructional services under
138	138	Section 29.081.
139	139	(c-1) The agency shall annually aggregate at the campus and
140	140	district levels and make publicly available the data on truancy
141	141	collected under Subsection (b)(6)(A) and student chronic
142	142	absenteeism collected under Subsection (b)(8).
143	143	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.