By Cuellar of Webb H.B. No. 362
74R1401 CAS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to pilot projects in public schools to implement a mentor
1-3 program for at-risk students at certain grade levels.
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 11.2093 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 11.2093. PARTNERSHIPS FOR EMPOWERING LIFE-LONG LEARNING
1-8 PILOT PROJECT. (a) With the approval of the Central Education
1-9 Agency and the Texas Commission on the Arts, a school district may
1-10 establish a pilot project to be known as the Partnerships for
1-11 Empowering Life-long Learning (PELL) project.
1-12 (b) Under each PELL project, artists shall:
1-13 (1) serve as mentors for middle school and junior high
1-14 school students at risk of dropping out of school;
1-15 (2) help teachers of those students integrate fine
1-16 arts into the teaching of English language arts, speech, social
1-17 studies, Texas and United States history, and civics in a way that
1-18 recognizes the individual learning styles of students; and
1-19 (3) coordinate local governmental, business,
1-20 health-related, social, and artistic and cultural organizations
1-21 into a community-wide support system to motivate and challenge
1-22 students at risk of dropping out of school to improve their
1-23 personal lives and achieve academic success.
1-24 (c) Each artist serving as a mentor in a PELL project must:
2-1 (1) be screened by a panel of teachers, curriculum
2-2 coordinators, and art educators;
2-3 (2) be trained in curriculum construction, counseling,
2-4 and educational policy;
2-5 (3) meet throughout the year with the other artists
2-6 participating in the project and with a campus advisory committee
2-7 composed of parents, counselors, student council advisors, English
2-8 and civics teachers, the campus principal, and a campus vice
2-9 principal to guide community implementation and assess the project;
2-10 and
2-11 (4) meet at least three times a year with a community
2-12 advisory committee to foster cooperation with local governments,
2-13 the business community, health-related service agencies, social
2-14 service agencies, artistic and cultural institutions, school
2-15 district administration, and related organizations.
2-16 (d) The artists and advisory committees shall collaborate in
2-17 assessing the project based on:
2-18 (1) dropout rates, TAAS scores, and academic
2-19 performance of students participating in the project;
2-20 (2) parental involvement; and
2-21 (3) community involvement.
2-22 (e) The Central Education Agency, in collaboration with the
2-23 Texas Commission on the Arts, shall adopt a procedure a school
2-24 district must use to apply to establish a pilot project and
2-25 criteria, in addition to the criteria prescribed by this
2-26 subsection, a district must satisfy to be eligible to establish a
2-27 project. The procedure must include a requirement that each school
3-1 district submit a proposal for a project. From among the
3-2 applicants, the agency, in collaboration with the commission, shall
3-3 select 10 school districts to establish a pilot project under this
3-4 section. Each district selected must be located primarily in an
3-5 urban area and have a high percentage of students at risk of
3-6 dropping out of school.
3-7 (f) The Texas Commission on the Arts, with the consent of a
3-8 school district, may work with the district in establishing and
3-9 operating a project. With a district's consent, the commission may
3-10 enter into a cooperative agreement with one or more other state
3-11 agencies having a mission similar to that of the commission to
3-12 assist the district in establishing or operating a pilot project.
3-13 The commission and other agencies shall work with the Central
3-14 Education Agency and school districts to identify and attract funds
3-15 for the pilot projects established under this section.
3-16 (g) If sufficient state, federal, or other funds are
3-17 available, pilot projects shall be established under this section
3-18 beginning with the 1995-1996 school year. A pilot project
3-19 established under this section shall operate for the 1995-1996 and
3-20 1996-1997 school years as long as sufficient funds are available.
3-21 (h) The Central Education Agency, in collaboration with the
3-22 Texas Commission on the Arts, may adopt rules as necessary to
3-23 implement this section. The rules shall provide for the method of
3-24 selecting members to serve on the campus and community advisory
3-25 committees.
3-26 (i) In this section, "student at risk of dropping out of
3-27 school" has the meaning assigned by Section 21.557(f).
4-1 (j) This section expires September 1, 1997.
4-2 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
4-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-7 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-8 passage, and it is so enacted.