By Denny H.B. No. 923
74R2091 CAS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to vocational education and to vocational counseling in
1-3 public schools.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 21.033(a), Education Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 (a) The following classes of children are exempt from the
1-8 requirements of compulsory attendance:
1-9 (1) any child in attendance upon a private or
1-10 parochial school which shall include in its course a study of good
1-11 citizenship;
1-12 (2) any child who is eligible to participate in a
1-13 school district's special education program as provided by
1-14 <handicapped as defined in> Section 21.503 of this code and who
1-15 cannot be appropriately served by the resident district in
1-16 accordance with the requirements of Section 21.032 of this code;
1-17 (3) any child who has a physical or mental condition
1-18 of a temporary and remediable nature which renders such child's
1-19 attendance infeasible and who holds a certificate from a qualified
1-20 physician specifying the temporary condition, indicating the
1-21 treatment prescribed to remedy the temporary condition, and
1-22 covering the anticipated period of the child's absence from school
1-23 for the purpose of receiving and recuperating from such remedial
1-24 treatment;
2-1 (4) any child expelled in accordance with the
2-2 requirements of law;
2-3 (5) any child who is at least 17 years old and in
2-4 attendance upon a course of instruction to prepare for the high
2-5 school equivalency examinations;
2-6 (6) any child who is at least 16 years old and in
2-7 attendance upon a course of instruction to prepare for the high
2-8 school equivalency examinations provided that the person is
2-9 recommended to the course of instruction by a public agency which
2-10 has supervision or custody of the person under a court order; <and>
2-11 (7) any child who is enrolled in the Texas Academy of
2-12 Leadership in the Humanities; and
2-13 (8) any child who has satisfactorily completed ninth
2-14 grade and who attends, in compliance with the attendance policy of
2-15 the program, a program providing an alternative vocational
2-16 education curriculum offered by an entity other than a public
2-17 school and approved by the State Board of Education under Section
2-18 21.1121 of this code.
2-19 SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
2-20 amended by adding Section 21.1121 to read as follows:
2-21 Sec. 21.1121. ALTERNATIVE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM.
2-22 (a) The State Board of Education shall approve, as an alternative
2-23 to the curriculum prescribed by Section 21.101, a vocational
2-24 education curriculum for students beginning at the 10th grade level
2-25 that:
2-26 (1) satisfies criteria the board adopts; and
2-27 (2) is offered by:
3-1 (A) a public school; or
3-2 (B) an entity other than a public school that
3-3 satisfies any additional criteria the board adopts.
3-4 (b) In addition to the criteria adopted under Subsection
3-5 (a), the State Board of Education shall adopt criteria that address
3-6 the type and amount of training a student must complete and level
3-7 of proficiency a student must achieve to successfully complete an
3-8 approved curriculum. The training must include a sufficient
3-9 academic component to ensure an understanding of essential academic
3-10 skills and a sufficient vocational component to ensure a high level
3-11 of technical capability. The board shall issue a certificate of
3-12 completion to a student who successfully completes an approved
3-13 curriculum. Based on the training and proficiency required to earn
3-14 a certificate of completion, the certificate shall be considered
3-15 equivalent to a high school diploma or high school equivalency
3-16 certificate.
3-17 SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
3-18 amended by adding Section 21.1131 to read as follows:
3-19 Sec. 21.1131. VOCATIONAL COUNSELING. In addition to any
3-20 other counseling services a school district offers, a district
3-21 shall consider offering vocational counseling to students beginning
3-22 at the eighth grade level.
3-23 SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 1995-1996
3-24 school year.
3-25 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-3 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-4 passage, and it is so enacted.