By Van de Putte H.B. No. 531
74R3220 KKA-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to community education and community education development
1-3 projects.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 11.201(c), Education Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 (c) In <For purposes of> this section, "community
1-8 education" means the process by which the citizens in a school
1-9 district, using the resources and facilities of the district,
1-10 organize to support each other and to solve their mutual
1-11 educational problems and meet their mutual lifelong needs.
1-12 Community education may include:
1-13 (1) educational programs, including programs for
1-14 occupational and technological skills training, retraining of
1-15 displaced workers, cultural awareness, parenting skills education
1-16 and parental involvement in school programs, and multilevel adult
1-17 education and personal growth;
1-18 (2) community involvement programs, including programs
1-19 for community economic development, school volunteers, partnerships
1-20 between schools and businesses, coordination with community
1-21 agencies, school-age child care, family and workplace literacy, and
1-22 community use of facilities; and
1-23 (3) programs for youth enrolled in schools, including
1-24 programs for dropout prevention and recovery programs, drug-free
2-1 school programs, school-age parenting programs, and academic
2-2 enhancement <community education services are defined in accordance
2-3 with the definition contained in Subdivision (3) of Subsection (a)
2-4 of Section 11.18 of this code>.
2-5 SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 11, Education Code, is
2-6 amended by adding Section 11.2011 to read as follows:
2-7 Sec. 11.2011. COMMUNITY EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS. (a)
2-8 The legislature may appropriate money from the foundation school
2-9 fund to the Central Education Agency for the purpose of developing
2-10 and implementing community education projects. The foundation
2-11 school fund budget committee shall consider the cost of community
2-12 education development projects in estimating the money needed for
2-13 foundation school fund purposes. The agency shall actively seek
2-14 gifts, grants, or other donations for purposes related to community
2-15 education development projects, unless the acceptance is prohibited
2-16 by other law. Money received under this subsection shall be
2-17 deposited in the account established under Subsection (b) and may
2-18 be appropriated only for the purpose for which the money was given.
2-19 (b) The community education development account is created
2-20 as a dedicated account in the foundation school fund in the state
2-21 treasury. The account shall consist of community education related
2-22 gifts, grants, and donations, and shall be administered by the
2-23 Central Education Agency.
2-24 (c) Subject to legislative appropriation and except as
2-25 provided by Subsection (g), a school district to which the Central
2-26 Education Agency awards money for a community education development
2-27 project is entitled to receive money for a period of three years.
3-1 After that period, a project must be funded wholly from local
3-2 sources. State funding under this section may not exceed:
3-3 (1) $50,000 for the first year of a project;
3-4 (2) $35,000 for the second year of a project; or
3-5 (3) $20,000 for the third year of a project.
3-6 (d) The State Board of Education by rule shall establish
3-7 procedures for distributing community education development money
3-8 to school districts. The procedures must include a statewide
3-9 competitive process by which the Central Education Agency, in
3-10 accordance with procedures adopted by board rule, evaluates
3-11 applications for community education development money and awards
3-12 money to the districts whose projects the agency determines have
3-13 the greatest merit. A school district may seek review of an agency
3-14 determination regarding the award of money only in accordance with
3-15 an administrative review process adopted by board rule. A school
3-16 district may not seek judicial review of an agency determination.
3-17 (e) An application for funding under this section must
3-18 include:
3-19 (1) a resolution adopted by the board of trustees of
3-20 the school district adopting a particular community education
3-21 development project plan;
3-22 (2) in accordance with rules adopted by the State
3-23 Board of Education, a description of:
3-24 (A) the objectives of the proposed project,
3-25 including, if appropriate, quantitative targets for the objectives;
3-26 and
3-27 (B) the particular means by which the objectives
4-1 are to be achieved;
4-2 (3) the estimated funding requirements and the data or
4-3 analysis used to prepare the estimate;
4-4 (4) a statement outlining the manner in which the
4-5 proposed project achieves goals for community education and
4-6 complies with the requirements of this section;
4-7 (5) a statement of the manner in which the project is
4-8 to be funded after the third year;
4-9 (6) a provision for a survey of community education
4-10 needs in the district that:
4-11 (A) incorporates the objectives of community
4-12 education;
4-13 (B) is completed and analyzed by the district in
4-14 the first year of the project; and
4-15 (C) adheres to statistical techniques recognized
4-16 as valid by professional statisticians;
4-17 (7) a provision for the maximum efficient use of
4-18 existing school facilities in the first year of the project;
4-19 (8) a provision for the establishment of an advisory
4-20 committee of at least 15 members who:
4-21 (A) are selected without regard to race or sex;
4-22 (B) are selected to reflect persons from the
4-23 local business community, governmental agencies, public and private
4-24 nonprofit educational interests, parents, and the general public;
4-25 and
4-26 (C) serve without compensation; and
4-27 (9) a designation of a district community education
5-1 administrator whose primary responsibility is the implementation
5-2 and supervision of the community education program.
5-3 (f) The Central Education Agency shall monitor each project
5-4 awarded money under this section in accordance with rules adopted
5-5 by the State Board of Education. The agency shall evaluate whether
5-6 the project has satisfactorily carried out the district's
5-7 objectives as set out in the community education project plan. The
5-8 board by rule may provide a process for amending the plan.
5-9 (g) A school district is not entitled to funding for any
5-10 year of a project for which:
5-11 (1) the district did not apply for funding; or
5-12 (2) the Central Education Agency suspends the funding
5-13 based on the agency's determination that the district has failed to
5-14 satisfactorily implement the project's objectives.
5-15 (h) The State Board of Education by rule shall provide for
5-16 an administrative process for the suspension of funding under
5-17 Subsection (g)(2). The rules must be consistent with Chapter 2001,
5-18 Government Code.
5-19 (i) The State Board of Education may adopt rules necessary
5-20 to implement and enforce this section, including rules relating to
5-21 financial audits of school districts that receive money under this
5-22 section. Rules adopted under this section by the State Board of
5-23 Education may not permit the board or the Central Education Agency
5-24 to waive any provision of this section.
5-25 (j) The Central Education Agency may not use more than five
5-26 percent of the funds appropriated for the projects under this
5-27 section for the agency's administration of this section.
6-1 (k) In this section, "community education" has the meaning
6-2 assigned by Section 11.201(c).
6-3 SECTION 3. Section 11.18(e), Education Code, is amended to
6-4 read as follows:
6-5 (e) Funds shall be appropriated to implement statewide adult
6-6 basic education, adult bilingual education, high school
6-7 equivalency, and high school credit programs to eliminate
6-8 illiteracy in Texas and to implement and support a statewide
6-9 program to meet the total range of adult needs for adult education
6-10 and<,> related skill training<, and pilot programs to demonstrate
6-11 the effectiveness of the community education concept>. An
6-12 additional sum of money may be appropriated to the Texas Department
6-13 of Commerce for the purpose of skill training in direct support of
6-14 industrial expansion and start-up, and those locations, industries,
6-15 and occupations designated by the Texas Department of Commerce,
6-16 when such training is also in support of the basic purposes of this
6-17 section. To fulfill the basic purposes of this section, an
6-18 additional sum of money may be appropriated for skill training that
6-19 is conducted to support the expansion of civilian employment
6-20 opportunities on United States military reservations. The Central
6-21 Education Agency, in conjunction with the Texas Department of
6-22 Commerce, may adopt rules to administer such skill training
6-23 programs for which the Central Education Agency is responsible, and
6-24 the Texas Department of Commerce may adopt rules to administer such
6-25 skill training programs for which it is responsible.
6-26 SECTION 4. Section 11.18(a)(3), Education Code, is repealed.
6-27 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
7-1 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
7-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.