By Williamson H.B. No. 2407
75R8453 ESH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the abolition of the University Interscholastic League.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. The University Interscholastic League is
1-5 abolished and Sections 7.102(b)(28), 33.083, 33.084, and 67.26,
1-6 Education Code, are repealed.
1-7 SECTION 2. Section 33.081, Education Code, is amended to
1-8 read as follows:
1-9 Sec. 33.081. EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES. (a) The advisory
1-10 committee on extracurricular activities consists of 12 members, as
1-11 follows:
1-12 (1) three members must be full-time coaches of
1-13 athletic teams involved in interscholastic competition;
1-14 (2) three members must be full-time coaches of
1-15 academic teams involved in interscholastic competition;
1-16 (3) three members must be full-time coaches of
1-17 artistic teams involved in interscholastic competition; and
1-18 (4) three members must be citizens, each of whom:
1-19 (A) is not and has not been employed by a school
1-20 district; and
1-21 (B) is not serving and has not served as a
1-22 member of the board of trustees of a school district.
1-23 (b) The lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
1-24 representatives, and the commissioner shall each appoint one member
2-1 of the advisory committee from each category listed in Subsection
2-2 (a). A member serves at the will of the member's appointing
2-3 authority.
2-4 (c) The advisory committee on extracurricular activities is
2-5 not subject to Article 6252-33, Revised Statutes. A member of the
2-6 committee may not receive compensation for serving on the committee
2-7 but is entitled to receive reimbursement for expenses incurred
2-8 while conducting the business of the committee.
2-9 (d) The commissioner, with the advice of the advisory
2-10 committee on extracurricular activities, shall adopt rules
2-11 governing athletic, academic, and artistic competitions between
2-12 public education institutions in this state. A person may not
2-13 conduct an extracurricular activity involving interscholastic
2-14 competition unless the person complies with the commissioner's
2-15 rules.
2-16 (e) The commissioner [State Board of Education] by rule
2-17 shall limit participation in and practice for extracurricular
2-18 activities during the school day and the school week. The rules
2-19 must, to the extent possible, preserve the school day for academic
2-20 activities without interruption for extracurricular activities. In
2-21 scheduling those activities and practices, a school district must
2-22 comply with the rules of the commissioner [board].
2-23 (f) [(b)] A student who is enrolled in a school district in
2-24 this state or who participates in an extracurricular activity or [a
2-25 University Interscholastic League] competition is subject to school
2-26 district policy and the commissioner's [University Interscholastic
2-27 League] rules regarding participation only when the student is
3-1 under the direct supervision of an employee of the school or
3-2 district in which the student is enrolled or at any other time
3-3 specified by resolution of the board of trustees of the district.
3-4 (g) [(c)] A student who is enrolled in a school district in
3-5 this state [or who participates in a University Interscholastic
3-6 League competition] shall be suspended from participation in any
3-7 extracurricular activity [sponsored or sanctioned by the school
3-8 district or the University Interscholastic League] after a grade
3-9 evaluation period in which the student received a grade lower than
3-10 the equivalent of 70 on a scale of 100 in any academic class other
3-11 than an identified honors or advanced class. A suspension
3-12 continues for at least three weeks and is not removed during the
3-13 school year until the conditions of Subsection (h) [(d)] are met.
3-14 A suspension does not last beyond the end of a school year. For
3-15 purposes of this subsection, "grade evaluation period" means:
3-16 (1) the six-week grade reporting period; or
3-17 (2) the first six weeks of a semester and each grade
3-18 reporting period thereafter, in the case of a district with a grade
3-19 reporting period longer than six weeks.
3-20 (h) [(d)] Until the suspension is removed under this
3-21 subsection or the school year ends, a school district shall review
3-22 the grades of a student suspended under Subsection (g) [(c)] at the
3-23 end of each three-week period following the date on which the
3-24 suspension began. At the time of a review, the suspension is
3-25 removed if the student's grade in each class, other than an
3-26 identified honors or advanced class, is equal to or greater than
3-27 the equivalent of 70 on a scale of 100. The principal and each of
4-1 the student's teachers shall make the determination concerning the
4-2 student's grades.
4-3 (i) [(e)] Suspension of a student with a disability that
4-4 significantly interferes with the student's ability to meet
4-5 regular academic standards must be based on the student's failure
4-6 to meet the requirements of the student's individualized education
4-7 program. The determination of whether a disability significantly
4-8 interferes with a student's ability to meet regular academic
4-9 standards must be made by the student's admission, review, and
4-10 dismissal committee. For purposes of this subsection, "student
4-11 with a disability" means a student who is eligible for a district's
4-12 special education program under Section 29.003(b).
4-13 (j) [(f)] A student suspended under this section may
4-14 practice or rehearse with other students for an extracurricular
4-15 activity but may not participate in a competition or other public
4-16 performance.
4-17 (k) [(g)] An appeal to the commissioner is not a contested
4-18 case under Chapter 2001, Government Code, if the issues presented
4-19 relate to a student's eligibility to participate in extracurricular
4-20 activities, including issues related to the student's grades or the
4-21 school district's grading policy as applied to the student's
4-22 eligibility. The commissioner may delegate the matter for decision
4-23 to a person the commissioner designates. The decision of the
4-24 commissioner or the commissioner's designee in a matter governed by
4-25 this subsection may not be appealed except on the grounds that the
4-26 decision is arbitrary or capricious. Evidence may not be
4-27 introduced on appeal other than the record of the evidence before
5-1 the commissioner.
5-2 SECTION 3. Section 7.057(d), Education Code, is amended to
5-3 read as follows:
5-4 (d) A person aggrieved by an action of the agency or
5-5 decision of the commissioner may appeal to a district court in
5-6 Travis County. An appeal must be made by serving the commissioner
5-7 with citation issued and served in the manner provided by law for
5-8 civil suits. The petition must state the action or decision from
5-9 which the appeal is taken. At trial, the court shall determine all
5-10 issues of law and fact, except as provided by Section 33.081(k)
5-11 [33.081(g)].
5-12 SECTION 4. Section 105.98, Education Code, is amended to
5-13 read as follows:
5-14 Sec. 105.98. EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES. The academy may
5-15 offer any extracurricular activity that a public secondary school
5-16 could offer. Students attending the academy may participate in all
5-17 extracurricular activities conducted in compliance with rules
5-18 adopted [sanctioned] by the commissioner of education [university
5-19 interscholastic league].
5-20 SECTION 5. Section 46.11(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
5-21 as follows:
5-22 (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the punishment
5-23 prescribed for an offense under this chapter is increased to the
5-24 punishment prescribed for the next highest category of offense if
5-25 it is shown beyond a reasonable doubt on the trial of the offense
5-26 that the actor committed the offense in a place that the actor knew
5-27 was:
6-1 (1) within 300 feet of the premises of a school; or
6-2 (2) on premises where:
6-3 (A) an official school function is taking place;
6-4 or
6-5 (B) an extracurricular event conducted in
6-6 compliance with rules adopted [sponsored or sanctioned] by the
6-7 commissioner of education [University Interscholastic League] is
6-8 taking place.
6-9 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
6-10 SECTION 7. (a) On September 1, 1997, the University
6-11 Interscholastic League shall transfer to the Texas Education Agency
6-12 all records of the University Interscholastic League relating to
6-13 extracurricular activities in public schools. Other assets of the
6-14 league shall also be transferred to the agency unless the asset was
6-15 acquired at the expense of The University of Texas at Austin, in
6-16 which case the asset shall be transferred to the university.
6-17 (b) All forms, rules, and procedures adopted by the
6-18 University Interscholastic League that relate to extracurricular
6-19 activities in public schools and that are in effect on September 1,
6-20 1997, remain in effect on and after that date as if adopted by the
6-21 commissioner of education under Section 33.081, Education Code, as
6-22 amended by this Act, until amended, repealed, withdrawn, or
6-23 otherwise superseded by the commissioner of education.
6-24 (c) The lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
6-25 representatives, and the commissioner of education shall appoint
6-26 the initial members of the advisory committee on extracurricular
6-27 activities as required by Section 33.081, Education Code, as
7-1 amended by this Act, not later than October 1, 1997.
7-2 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
7-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.