By:  Stiles                                            H.B. No. 673
       73R2046 CAS-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to chief school business administrators of school
    1-3  districts.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 11, Education Code, is
    1-6  amended by adding Section 11.2092 to read as follows:
    1-7        Sec. 11.2092.  CHIEF SCHOOL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATORS.  (a)
    1-8  Each school district shall employ a certified chief school business
    1-9  administrator to manage the district's finances.
   1-10        (b)  The Central Education Agency shall develop a procedure
   1-11  for certification of chief school business administrators.  The
   1-12  procedure shall provide for issuance of a certificate based on
   1-13  satisfactory completion of a training program and satisfactory
   1-14  performance on an examination, approved by the commissioner of
   1-15  education.  The commissioner may approve a training program
   1-16  provided by a professional association.
   1-17        (c)  The agency also shall  establish standards an individual
   1-18  must satisfy to be eligible for certification as a chief school
   1-19  business administrator, including a requirement that an individual
   1-20  must have earned a bachelor's degree.
   1-21        (d)  In addition, the agency shall establish a procedure and
   1-22  eligibility standards for renewal of certification.
   1-23        (e)  The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to
   1-24  implement the procedure and standards the agency develops.  The
    2-1  rules also shall establish a fee for certification that is
    2-2  reasonable and designed to cover the administrative costs of
    2-3  reviewing the credentials of the applicant and issuing or renewing
    2-4  the certificate.  The board may adjust the amount of the fee, as
    2-5  necessary, and may adopt a lower fee for renewal than for issuance
    2-6  of a certificate.
    2-7        (f)  The commissioner may suspend or cancel the certificate
    2-8  of a chief school business administrator if the chief school
    2-9  business administrator:
   2-10              (1)  conducts the business of the district in violation
   2-11  of local, state, or federal law;
   2-12              (2)  abandons a written employment contract entered
   2-13  into with the board of trustees of a district without good cause or
   2-14  without the consent of the board; or
   2-15              (3)  acts in violation of or fails to act as provided
   2-16  by State Board of Education rule for retaining certification.
   2-17        (g)  Before the commissioner suspends or cancels a
   2-18  certificate under Subsection (f) of this section, the commissioner
   2-19  must give the holder of the certificate written notice and the
   2-20  opportunity for a hearing.  After a hearing at which the
   2-21  commissioner suspends or cancels the certificate, the
   2-22  commissioner's decision may be appealed to a district court in
   2-23  Travis County.
   2-24        (h)  Not earlier than the first anniversary of the date on
   2-25  which the decision to revoke or suspend a certificate becomes
   2-26  final, an individual formerly certified as a chief school business
   2-27  administrator may request the commissioner to reinstate the
    3-1  certificate.  If the commissioner finds good cause exists, the
    3-2  commissioner may reinstate the certificate.  If the commissioner
    3-3  refuses to reinstate the certificate, the individual may appeal the
    3-4  commissioner's decision to a district court in Travis County.
    3-5        SECTION 2.  Section 21.201(1), Education Code, is amended to
    3-6  read as follows:
    3-7              (1)  "Teacher" means a superintendent, principal,
    3-8  supervisor, classroom teacher, counselor, or other full-time
    3-9  professional employee, except a paraprofessional employee or a
   3-10  chief school business administrator <personnel>, who is required to
   3-11  hold a valid certificate or teaching permit.
   3-12        SECTION 3.  An individual responsible for managing the
   3-13  finances of a school district on the effective date of this Act
   3-14  shall be certified as a chief school business administrator by the
   3-15  commissioner of education if the board of trustees of the district
   3-16  employing the individual recommends to the commissioner that the
   3-17  individual be certified.
   3-18        SECTION 4.  Each school district shall employ a chief school
   3-19  business administrator as required by Section  11.2092, Education
   3-20  Code, as added by this Act, not later than September 1, 1995.
   3-21        SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-22  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-23  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-24  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-25  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   3-26  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   3-27  passage, and it is so enacted.