By Keffer                                       H.B. No. 1705

      75R5714 ESH-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to eligibility for high school equivalency examinations.

 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 7.111(a), Education Code, is amended to

 1-5     read as follows:

 1-6           (a)  The board shall provide for the administration of high

 1-7     school equivalency examinations.  A person who does not have a high

 1-8     school diploma may take the examination in accordance with rules

 1-9     adopted by the board if:

1-10                 (1)  the person is over 17 years of age; or

1-11                 (2)  the person [: (1)] is 16 years of age or older[;]

1-12     and:

1-13                       (A) [(2)]  a public agency providing supervision

1-14     of the person or having custody of the person under a court order

1-15     recommends that the person take the examination; or

1-16                       (B)  a district judge, statutory county court

1-17     judge, justice of the peace, or municipal court judge orders the

1-18     person to take the examination.

1-19           SECTION 2.  Section 25.086(a), Education Code, is amended to

1-20     read as follows:

1-21           (a)  A child is exempt from the requirements of compulsory

1-22     school attendance if the child:

1-23                 (1)  attends a private or parochial school that

1-24     includes in its course a study of good citizenship;

 2-1                 (2)  is eligible to participate in a school district's

 2-2     special education program under Section 29.003 and cannot be

 2-3     appropriately served by the resident district;

 2-4                 (3)  has a physical or mental condition of a temporary

 2-5     and remediable nature that makes the child's attendance infeasible

 2-6     and holds a certificate from a qualified physician specifying the

 2-7     temporary condition, indicating the treatment prescribed to remedy

 2-8     the temporary condition, and covering the anticipated period of the

 2-9     child's absence from school for the purpose of receiving and

2-10     recuperating from that remedial treatment;

2-11                 (4)  is expelled in accordance with the requirements of

2-12     law;

2-13                 (5)  is at least 17 years of age and:

2-14                       (A)  is attending a course of instruction to

2-15     prepare for the high school equivalency examination; or

2-16                       (B)  has received a high school diploma or high

2-17     school equivalency certificate;

2-18                 (6)  is at least 16 years of age and:

2-19                       (A)  is attending a course of instruction to

2-20     prepare for the high school equivalency examination, if the child

2-21     is recommended to take the course [of instruction] by a public

2-22     agency that has supervision or custody of the child under a court

2-23     order or is  attending the course under order of a district judge,

2-24     statutory county court judge, justice of the peace, or municipal

2-25     court judge; or

2-26                       (B)  has received a high school equivalency

2-27     certificate;

 3-1                 (7)  is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Mathematics

 3-2     and Science;

 3-3                 (8)  is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Leadership in

 3-4     the Humanities; or

 3-5                 (9)  is specifically exempted under another law.

 3-6           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

 3-7     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 3-8     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-9     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

3-10     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

3-11     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

3-12     passage, and it is so enacted.