By Hochberg H.B. No. 1597
75R6508 ESH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to public school district- and campus-level planning and
1-3 decision-making committees.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 11.254, Education Code, is amended by
1-6 amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read
1-7 as follows:
1-8 (b) The agency shall conduct an annual statewide survey of
1-9 the members of district- and campus-level planning and
1-10 decision-making committees about the types of district- and
1-11 campus-level decision-making and planning structures that exist,
1-12 the extent of involvement of various stakeholders in district- and
1-13 campus-level planning and decision-making, and the perceptions of
1-14 those persons of the quality and effectiveness of decisions related
1-15 to their impact on student performance.
1-16 (c) Not later than July 1 of each year, the agency shall
1-17 report the results of the survey conducted under Subsection (b) to
1-18 the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
1-19 representatives, the president of the board of trustees of each
1-20 school district, each district superintendent, and each
1-21 district-level planning and decision-making committee. The
1-22 commissioner shall require additional training under Subsection (a)
1-23 in any district in which the results of the survey show that a
1-24 majority of the members of district- and campus-level planning and
2-1 decision-making committees feel that they did not have adequate
2-2 involvement in the process or that the district improvement plan
2-3 adopted under Section 11.252 did not adequately improve student
2-4 performance.
2-5 (d) If the survey for the school year following additional
2-6 training provided under Subsection (c) shows that a majority of the
2-7 members of district- and campus-level planning and decision-making
2-8 committees feel that they did not have adequate involvement in the
2-9 process or that the district improvement plan adopted under Section
2-10 11.252 did not adequately improve student performance, the
2-11 commissioner shall conduct a special accreditation investigation to
2-12 ensure that the district's students are receiving an adequate
2-13 education.
2-14 SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 11, Education Code, is
2-15 amended by adding Section 11.255 to read as follows:
2-16 Sec. 11.255. MEETINGS OF PLANNING AND DECISION-MAKING
2-17 COMMITTEE. (a) A meeting of a district- or campus-level planning
2-18 and decision-making committee must be open to the public. A school
2-19 district shall give notice of committee meetings as provided by
2-20 this section.
2-21 (b) A school district shall give notice of a meeting of the
2-22 district-level planning and decision-making committee in the manner
2-23 provided by Subchapter C, Chapter 551, Government Code, for a
2-24 meeting of the board of trustees of a school district, except that
2-25 the notice is not required to include the subject of the meeting.
2-26 (c) A school district shall give notice of the meeting of a
2-27 campus-level planning and decision-making committee required by
3-1 Section 11.253(g) by continuously posting notice of the meeting
3-2 for the seven days preceding the day of the meeting and on the day
3-3 of the meeting on the main bulletin board inside the school and:
3-4 (1) on a changeable letter sign outside the school, if
3-5 the school has such a sign; or
3-6 (2) outside the main entrance to the school.
3-7 (d) A school district shall give notice of the meeting of a
3-8 campus-level planning and decision-making committee, other than the
3-9 meeting required by Section 11.253(g), by posting notice of the
3-10 meeting at least 24 hours before the time of the meeting on the
3-11 main bulletin board inside the school and outside the main entrance
3-12 to the school.
3-13 (e) A notice under Subsection (c) or (d) must contain the
3-14 date, hour, and place of the meeting.
3-15 (f) This section does not affect the applicability of
3-16 Chapter 551, Government Code, to district- and campus-level
3-17 planning and decision-making committees.
3-18 SECTION 3. Section 39.075(a), Education Code, is amended to
3-19 read as follows:
3-20 (a) The commissioner shall authorize special accreditation
3-21 investigations to be conducted under the following circumstances:
3-22 (1) when excessive numbers of absences of students
3-23 eligible to be tested on state assessment instruments are
3-24 determined;
3-25 (2) when excessive numbers of allowable exemptions
3-26 from the required state assessment are determined;
3-27 (3) in response to complaints submitted to the agency
4-1 with respect to alleged violations of civil rights or other
4-2 requirements imposed on the state by federal law or court order;
4-3 (4) in response to established compliance reviews of
4-4 the district's financial accounting practices and state and federal
4-5 program requirements;
4-6 (5) when extraordinary numbers of student placements
4-7 in alternative education programs, other than placements under
4-8 Sections 37.006 and 37.007, are determined; [or]
4-9 (6) in response to an allegation involving a conflict
4-10 between members of the board of trustees or between the board and
4-11 the district administration if it appears that the conflict
4-12 involves a violation of a role or duty of the board members or the
4-13 administration clearly defined by this code; or
4-14 (7) when surveys conducted under Section 11.254 show
4-15 that the district- and campus-level planning and decision-making
4-16 process is not functioning properly, as provided by Section
4-17 11.254(d).
4-18 SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 1997-1998
4-19 school year.
4-20 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-25 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-26 passage, and it is so enacted.