1-1     By:  Maxey (Senate Sponsor - Barrientos)               H.B. No. 583

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 14, 1997;

 1-3     May 15, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on

 1-4     Education; May 18, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable

 1-5     Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 10, Nays 0;

 1-6     May 18, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 583               By:  Barrientos

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to public education, including the parental involvement

1-11     division of the Texas Education Agency, waivers by school campuses

1-12     and districts, public school campus report cards, liability of

1-13     school districts, and the use of certain public school funds.

1-14           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-15           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 7, Education Code, is

1-16     amended by adding Section 7.025 to read as follows:

1-17           Sec. 7.025.  PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.  The agency shall develop,

1-18     implement, and administer programs and activities to encourage and

1-19     maintain parental involvement in public schools.

1-20           SECTION 2.  Section 39.052 (b), Education Code, is amended to

1-21     read as follows:

1-22           (b)  The report card shall include the following information

1-23     where applicable:

1-24                 (1)  the academic excellence indicators adopted under

1-25     Sections 39.051(b)(1) through (8);

1-26                 (2)  student/teacher ratios; [and]

1-27                 (3)  administrative and instructional costs per

1-28     student;

1-29                 (4)  the phone number at the agency to call for

1-30     parental involvement; and

1-31                 (5)  the phone number at the agency to call for

1-32     information concerning assessment instruments under Section 39.023.

1-33           SECTION 3.  Section 45.105(c), Education Code, is amended to

1-34     read as follows:

1-35           (c)  Local school funds from district taxes, tuition fees of

1-36     students not entitled to a free education, [and] other local

1-37     sources, and state funds not designated for a specific purpose may

1-38     be used for the purposes listed for state and county funds and for

1-39     purchasing appliances and supplies, paying insurance premiums,

1-40     paying janitors and other employees, buying school sites, and

1-41     buying, building, repairing, and renting school buildings,

1-42     including acquiring school buildings and sites by leasing through

1-43     annual payments with an ultimate option to purchase, and [paying]

1-44     for other purposes [goods and services] necessary in the conduct of

1-45     the public schools determined by the board of trustees.  The

1-46     accounts and vouchers for county districts must be approved by the

1-47     county superintendent.  If the state available school fund in any

1-48     municipality or district is sufficient to maintain the schools in

1-49     any year for at least eight months and leave a surplus, the surplus

1-50     may be spent for the purposes listed in this subsection.

1-51           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-52           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-53     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-54     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-55     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-56     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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