By Oakley H.B. No. 1607
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to chief school business administrators of school
1-3 districts.
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 11.2092 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 11.2092. CHIEF SCHOOL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATORS. (a)
1-8 Each school district shall employ a certified chief school business
1-9 administrator to manage the district's finances.
1-10 (b) The Central Education Agency shall develop a procedure
1-11 for certification of chief school business administrators. The
1-12 procedure shall provide for issuance of a certificate based on
1-13 satisfactory completion of a training program and satisfactory
1-14 performance on an examination, approved by the commissioner of
1-15 education. The commissioner may approve a training program
1-16 provided by a professional association.
1-17 (c) The agency also shall establish standards an individual
1-18 must satisfy to be eligible for certification as a chief school
1-19 business administrator, including a requirement that an individual
1-20 must have earned a bachelor's degree.
1-21 (d) In addition, the agency shall establish a procedure and
1-22 eligibility standards for renewal of certification.
1-23 (e) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to
2-1 implement the procedure and standards the agency develops. The
2-2 rules also shall establish a fee for certification that is
2-3 reasonable and designed to cover the administrative costs of
2-4 reviewing the credentials of the applicant and issuing or renewing
2-5 the certificate. The board may adjust the amount of the fee, as
2-6 necessary, and may adopt a lower fee for renewal than for issuance
2-7 of a certificate.
2-8 (f) The commissioner may suspend or cancel the certificate
2-9 of a chief school business administrator if the chief school
2-10 business administrator:
2-11 (1) conducts the business of the district in violation
2-12 of local, state, or federal law;
2-13 (2) abandons a written employment contract entered
2-14 into with the board of trustees of a district without good cause or
2-15 without the consent of the board; or
2-16 (3) acts in violation of or fails to act as provided
2-17 by State Board of Education rule for retaining certification.
2-18 (g) Before the commissioner suspends or cancels a
2-19 certificate under Subsection (f) of this section, the commissioner
2-20 must give the holder of the certificate written notice and the
2-21 opportunity for a hearing. After a hearing at which the
2-22 commissioner suspends or cancels the certificate, the
2-23 commissioner's decision may be appealed to a district court in
2-24 Travis County.
2-25 (h) Not earlier than the first anniversary of the date on
3-1 which the decision to revoke or suspend a certificate becomes
3-2 final, an individual formerly certified as a chief school business
3-3 administrator may request the commissioner to reinstate the
3-4 certificate. If the commissioner finds good cause exists, the
3-5 commissioner may reinstate the certificate. If the commissioner
3-6 refuses to reinstate the certificate, the individual may appeal the
3-7 commissioner's decision to a district court in Travis County.
3-8 SECTION 2. Section 21.201(1), Education Code, is amended to
3-9 read as follows:
3-10 (1) "Teacher" means a superintendent, principal,
3-11 supervisor, classroom teacher, counselor, or other full-time
3-12 professional employee, except a paraprofessional employee or a
3-13 chief school business administrator <personnel>, who is required to
3-14 hold a valid certificate or teaching permit.
3-15 SECTION 3. An individual responsible for managing the
3-16 finances of a school district on the effective date of this Act
3-17 shall be certified as a chief school business administrator by the
3-18 commissioner of education if the board of trustees of the district
3-19 employing the individual recommends to the commissioner that the
3-20 individual be certified.
3-21 SECTION 4. Each school district shall employ a chief school
3-22 business administrator as required by Section 11.2092, Education
3-23 Code, as added by this Act, not later than September 1, 1995.
3-24 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-4 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-5 passage, and it is so enacted.