By: Johnson H.B. No. 2526
73R6081 CAS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the consolidation of independent school districts.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 19.051(a), Education Code, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 (a) By the procedure described in this subchapter, any of
1-7 the following groups of school districts may consolidate into a
1-8 single school district:
1-9 (1) two or more <contiguous> independent school
1-10 districts;
1-11 (2) two or more <contiguous> common school districts;
1-12 or
1-13 (3) one or more independent school districts and one
1-14 or more common school districts <constituting as a whole one
1-15 continuous territory>.
1-16 SECTION 2. Section 23.991, Education Code, is amended to
1-17 read as follows:
1-18 Sec. 23.991. Incentive Aid. (a) Independent school
1-19 districts created after August 22, 1963, through consolidation may
1-20 qualify for incentive aid payments by the State of Texas.
1-21 (b) In addition to incentive aid payments authorized under
1-22 Subsection (a) of this section, the commissioner of education may
1-23 authorize incentive aid payments to school districts for:
1-24 (1) planning and consolidating administrative and
2-1 support functions at the regional or subregional level; and
2-2 (2) the development and administration of and training
2-3 for a revised statewide system of school district budgeting,
2-4 accounting, and reporting.
2-5 (c) No<; provided, however, no> school district may receive
2-6 <such> payments under this subchapter for a period of more than 10
2-7 years.
2-8 (d) The <Such> incentive aid payments shall be made only
2-9 upon application to the Texas Education Agency and in compliance
2-10 with the terms and conditions contained in this subchapter
2-11 <section>.
2-12 SECTION 3. Section 23.992, Education Code, is amended by
2-13 adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
2-14 (c) This section applies only to incentive aid payments
2-15 under Section 23.991(a) of this code.
2-16 SECTION 4. Section 23.993, Education Code, is amended to
2-17 read as follows:
2-18 Sec. 23.993. Minimum ADA. The new district created through
2-19 consolidation shall contain not fewer than <750 children in average
2-20 daily attendance or> a majority of the children in average daily
2-21 attendance in the county containing the majority of the land area
2-22 involved in the reorganization.
2-23 SECTION 5. Section 23.994, Education Code, is amended to
2-24 read as follows:
2-25 Sec. 23.994. Use Restricted. The incentive aid payments
2-26 under Section 23.991(a) of this code shall be used exclusively to
2-27 retire the existing bonded indebtedness of the school districts
3-1 which have been consolidated, shall be applied to the cost of
3-2 constructing new buildings required by the reorganized district, or
3-3 shall be used for renovation or improvement of existing buildings
3-4 in the reorganized district.
3-5 SECTION 6. Section 23.995, Education Code, is amended to
3-6 read as follows:
3-7 Sec. 23.995. Payments Reduced. (a) The incentive aid
3-8 payments shall be reduced in direct proportion to any reduction in
3-9 the annual average daily attendance of the reorganized school
3-10 district for the preceding year.
3-11 (b) Subsection (a) of this section applies only to incentive
3-12 aid payments under Section 23.991(a) of this code.
3-13 SECTION 7. Section 23.996, Education Code, is amended to
3-14 read as follows:
3-15 Sec. 23.996. Consolidation Defined. "Consolidation" for
3-16 purposes of this subchapter shall mean and have application to
3-17 creation of new districts by election under school district
3-18 consolidation laws and/or by enlargement of existing districts by
3-19 annexation thereto of other entire <contiguous district or>
3-20 districts, other than dormant districts, under annexation laws, and
3-21 where the district consolidated by election or enlarged by
3-22 annexation under such laws results as an independent school
3-23 district.
3-24 SECTION 8. Section 23.997, Education Code, is amended to
3-25 read as follows:
3-26 Sec. 23.997. Conditions Precedent to Payment. As a
3-27 condition precedent to receiving incentive aid payments under
4-1 Section 23.991(a) of this code:
4-2 (1) the geographical limits of the proposed
4-3 consolidated district shall be submitted to the Texas Education
4-4 Agency for approval and the geographical limits so approved shall
4-5 be set forth in the petition for any consolidation election; and
4-6 (2) the consolidation of the school districts shall
4-7 result in the formation of an independent school district.
4-8 SECTION 9. Section 23.999, Education Code, is repealed.
4-9 SECTION 10. This Act applies beginning with the 1993-1994
4-10 school year.
4-11 SECTION 11. The importance of this legislation and the
4-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-16 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-17 passage, and it is so enacted.