By: Wentworth S.B. No. 260
73R3074 CAS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the number of days or hours of required attendance and
1-3 the number of days or hours of required instruction in the public
1-4 schools.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Sections 16.052(a) and (c), Education Code, are
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 (a) Each school district must provide for not less than 180
1-9 days of instruction for students or, if the district extends the
1-10 school day to provide for more than seven hours of instruction in
1-11 any day, not fewer than 1,260 hours of instruction, and not less
1-12 than three days of preparation for teachers for each school year,
1-13 except as provided in Subsection (c) of this section.
1-14 (c) The commissioner of education may approve the operation
1-15 of schools for less than the number of days or hours of instruction
1-16 and days of teacher preparation otherwise required when disasters,
1-17 floods, extreme weather conditions, fuel curtailments, or other
1-18 calamities have caused the closing of the school.
1-19 SECTION 2. Section 16.055, Education Code, is amended by
1-20 amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read
1-21 as follows:
1-22 (b) Contracts for personnel shall be made on the basis of a
1-23 minimum of 10 months' service, which must include the number of
1-24 days or hours of instruction for students and days of preparation
2-1 for personnel required by Section 16.052 of this code. The days of
2-2 preparation required herein shall be conducted by local boards of
2-3 education under rules and regulations established by the State
2-4 Board of Education that are consistent with the state accreditation
2-5 standards for program planning, preparation, and improvement.
2-6 Personnel employed for more than 10 months shall be paid not less
2-7 than the minimum monthly base pay plus increments for experience
2-8 for each month of actual employment. Personnel employed for 11
2-9 months at pay grades 1-11 must render 202 days of service, and
2-10 personnel employed for 12 months at pay grades 1-11 must render 220
2-11 days of service. Personnel employed for 11 months at pay grades
2-12 12-18 must render 207 days of service, and personnel employed for
2-13 12 months at pay grades 12-18 must render 226 days of service.
2-14 However, the number of days of service required by this subsection
2-15 may be reduced by the commissioner under Section 16.052(c) of this
2-16 code or by the board of trustees of a school district under
2-17 Subsection (d) of this section, and the reduction shall not reduce
2-18 the total salaries of personnel.
2-19 (c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b) of this section and
2-20 except as modified under Subsection (d) of this section, a
2-21 vocational agriculture teacher employed for 12 months shall render
2-22 226 days of service regardless of pay grade.
2-23 (d) If a school district's extension of the school day to
2-24 provide for more than seven hours of instruction increases the
2-25 number of hours personnel are required to work during a school day
2-26 and salary is based on a shorter school day, the board of trustees
2-27 of the district shall make a proportionate reduction in the number
3-1 of days of service required under this section.
3-2 SECTION 3. Section 21.008(a), Education Code, is amended to
3-3 read as follows:
3-4 (a) Each school district shall operate for either two or
3-5 three semesters during each school year, at the option of the
3-6 district, except as provided under Section 21.010 of this code or
3-7 under rules adopted under Section 21.009 of this code. The
3-8 semesters must provide the required number of days or hours of
3-9 instruction for students and preparation for teachers.
3-10 SECTION 4. Sections 21.032(a) and (b), Education Code, are
3-11 amended to read as follows:
3-12 (a) Unless specifically exempted by Section 21.033 of this
3-13 code or under other laws or unless a child is at least 17 years of
3-14 age and has been issued a high school equivalency certificate,
3-15 every child in the state who is as much as six years of age, or who
3-16 is less than seven years of age and has previously been enrolled in
3-17 first grade, and who has not completed the academic year in which
3-18 his 17th birthday occurred shall be required to attend the public
3-19 schools in the district of his residence or in some other district
3-20 to which he may be transferred as provided or authorized by law a
3-21 minimum of:
3-22 (1) 170 days of the regular school term; or
3-23 (2) 1,190 hours of the regular school term, if the
3-24 district extends the school day to provide for more than seven
3-25 hours of instruction in any day and reduces the number of days of
3-26 instruction <of the district in which the child resides or to which
3-27 he has been transferred>.
4-1 (b) A child enrolled in prekindergarten or kindergarten must
4-2 attend class or have an excused absence for a minimum of:
4-3 (1) 85 days during each semester for which the child
4-4 is enrolled; or
4-5 (2) 595 hours during each semester for which the child
4-6 is enrolled, if the district extends the school day to provide for
4-7 more than seven hours of instruction in any day and reduces the
4-8 number of days of instruction for students in prekindergarten or
4-9 kindergarten, as applicable.
4-10 SECTION 5. Section 21.041(a), Education Code, and Section
4-11 21.041(b), Education Code, as added by Section 1, Chapter 353, Acts
4-12 of the 71st Legislature, Regular Session, 1989, are amended to read
4-13 as follows:
4-14 (a) Except as provided by this section, a student may not be
4-15 given credit for a class unless the student is in attendance for at
4-16 least:
4-17 (1) 80 days during a semester; or
4-18 (2) 560 hours during a semester, if the district
4-19 extends the school day to provide for more than seven hours of
4-20 instruction in any day and reduces the number of days of
4-21 instruction.
4-22 (b) The board of trustees of each school district shall
4-23 appoint one or more attendance committees to hear petitions for
4-24 class credit by students who are in attendance fewer than 80 days
4-25 or 560 hours, as applicable, during a semester. Each board may
4-26 determine the number of committees needed in the district and the
4-27 composition of each committee. The committees may give class
5-1 credit to a student who is in attendance fewer than 80 days or 560
5-2 hours, as applicable, during a semester because of extenuating
5-3 circumstances. Each local school board shall establish guidelines
5-4 to determine what constitutes extenuating circumstances, subject to
5-5 rules adopted by the State Board of Education, and shall adopt
5-6 policies establishing alternative ways for students to make up work
5-7 or regain credit lost because of absences. A certified public
5-8 school employee may not be required to perform additional
5-9 instructional duties as a result of helping a student to make up
5-10 work or regain credit <this section>. The performance of those
5-11 additional duties may only be voluntary, and any certified public
5-12 school employee is entitled to compensation for the duties at a
5-13 reasonable rate of pay.
5-14 SECTION 6. Section 21.041(b), Education Code, as added by
5-15 Section 2.12, Chapter 813, Acts of the 71st Legislature, Regular
5-16 Session, 1989, is repealed.
5-17 SECTION 7. This Act applies beginning with the 1993-1994
5-18 school year.
5-19 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
5-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-24 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-25 passage, and it is so enacted.