| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the scheduling of the first day of school for students |
|
|
by school districts. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 12A.003(b), Education Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(b) A local innovation plan must: |
|
|
(1) provide for a comprehensive educational program |
|
|
for the district, which [program] may include: |
|
|
(A) innovative curriculum, instructional |
|
|
methods, and provisions regarding community participation, campus |
|
|
governance, and parental involvement; |
|
|
(B) except as provided by Section 12A.004(a), |
|
|
modifications to the school day or year; |
|
|
(C) provisions regarding the district budget and |
|
|
sustainable program funding; |
|
|
(D) accountability and assessment measures that |
|
|
exceed the requirements of state and federal law; and |
|
|
(E) any other innovations prescribed by the board |
|
|
of trustees; and |
|
|
(2) identify requirements imposed by this code that |
|
|
inhibit the goals of the plan and from which the district should be |
|
|
exempted on adoption of the plan, subject to Section 12A.004. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 12A.004(a), Education Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) A local innovation plan may not provide for the |
|
|
exemption of a district designated as a district of innovation from |
|
|
the following provisions of this title: |
|
|
(1) a state or federal requirement applicable to an |
|
|
open-enrollment charter school operating under Subchapter D, |
|
|
Chapter 12; |
|
|
(2) Subchapters A, C, D, and E, Chapter 11, except that |
|
|
a district may be exempt from Sections 11.1511(b)(5) and (14) and |
|
|
Section 11.162; |
|
|
(3) state curriculum and graduation requirements |
|
|
adopted under Chapter 28; [and] |
|
|
(4) academic and financial accountability and |
|
|
sanctions under Chapters 39 and 39A; and |
|
|
(5) the first day of instruction requirements under |
|
|
Section 25.0811. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 25.0811(a), Education Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) Except as provided by this section, a school district |
|
|
may not begin instruction for students for a school year before the |
|
|
first [fourth] Monday in September [August]. A school district may: |
|
|
(1) begin instruction for students for a school year |
|
|
before the first [fourth] Monday in September [August] if the |
|
|
district operates a year-round system under Section 25.084; or |
|
|
(2) begin instruction for students for a school year |
|
|
on or after the third [first] Monday in August at a campus or at not |
|
|
more than 20 percent of the campuses in the district if: |
|
|
(A) the district has a student enrollment of |
|
|
190,000 or more; |
|
|
(B) the district at the beginning of the school |
|
|
year provides, financed with local funds, days of instruction for |
|
|
students at the campus or at each of the multiple campuses, in |
|
|
addition to the minimum instructional time [number of days of |
|
|
instruction] required under Section 25.081; |
|
|
(C) the campus or each of the multiple campuses |
|
|
is [are] undergoing comprehensive reform, as determined by the |
|
|
board of trustees of the district; and |
|
|
(D) a majority of the students at the campus or at |
|
|
each of the multiple campuses are educationally disadvantaged. |
|
|
SECTION 4. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of |
|
|
this section, this Act applies beginning with the 2026-2027 school |
|
|
year. |
|
|
(b) Sections 12A.003 and 12A.004, Education Code, as |
|
|
amended by this Act, apply only to a local innovation plan adopted |
|
|
or renewed on or after the effective date of this Act. A local |
|
|
innovation plan adopted or renewed before the effective date of |
|
|
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the plan was |
|
|
adopted or renewed, and the former law is continued in effect for |
|
|
that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |