By Price H.B. No. 2487
75R7437 T
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to public school district and campus advisory committees.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 7.056(b), Education Code, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 (b) A school campus or district seeking a waiver must submit
1-7 a written application to the commissioner not later than the 31st
1-8 day before the campus or district intends to take action requiring
1-9 a waiver. The application must include:
1-10 (1) a written plan approved by the board of trustees
1-11 of the district that states the achievement objectives of the
1-12 campus or district and the inhibition imposed on those objectives
1-13 by the requirement, restriction, or prohibition; and
1-14 (2) written comments from the campus- or
1-15 district-level advisory committee established under Section 11.251.
1-16 SECTION 2. Section 8.051, Education Code, is amended
1-17 to read as follows:
1-18 Each regional education service center shall use funds
1-19 distributed to the center under Section 8.121 for developing and
1-20 maintaining core services for purchase by school districts and
1-21 campuses. The core services are:
1-22 (1) training and assistance in teaching each subject
1-23 area assessed under Section 39.023;
1-24 (2) training and assistance in providing each program
2-1 that qualifies for a funding allotment under Section 42.151,
2-2 42.152, 42.153, or 42.156;
2-3 (3) assistance specifically designed for a school
2-4 district rated academically unacceptable under Section 39.072(a) or
2-5 a campus whose performance is considered unacceptable based on the
2-6 indicators adopted under Section 39.051;
2-7 (4) training and assistance to teachers,
2-8 administrators, members of district boards of trustees, and members
2-9 of site-based advisory [decision-making] committees; and
2-10 (5) assistance in complying with state laws and rules.
2-11 SECTION 3. Section 11.011, Education Code, is amended to
2-12 read as follows:
2-13 The board of trustees of an independent school district, the
2-14 superintendent of the district, the campus administrators, and the
2-15 district- and campus-level advisory committees established under
2-16 Section 11.251 shall contribute to the operation of the district in
2-17 the manner provided by this code and by the board of trustees of
2-18 the district in a manner not inconsistent with this code.
2-19 SECTION 4. Subchapter F, Chapter 11, Education Code, is
2-20 amended to read as follows:
2-21 SUBCHAPTER F. DISTRICT AND CAMPUS ADVISORY COMMITTEES
2-22 [DISTRICT-LEVEL AND SITE-BASED DECISION-MAKING]
2-23 Sec. 11.251. DISTRICT- AND CAMPUS-LEVEL ADVISORY [PLANNING
2-24 AND DECISION-MAKING] PROCESS. (a) The board of trustees of each
2-25 independent school district shall ensure that a district
2-26 improvement plan and improvement plans for each campus are
2-27 developed, reviewed, and revised annually for the purpose of
3-1 improving the performance of all students. The board shall
3-2 annually approve district and campus performance objectives and
3-3 shall ensure that the district and campus plans:
3-4 (1) are mutually supportive to accomplish the
3-5 identified objectives; and
3-6 (2) at a minimum, support the state goals and
3-7 objectives under Chapter 4.
3-8 (b) The board shall adopt a policy to establish a district-
3-9 and campus-level advisory [planning and decision-making] process
3-10 that will involve the professional staff of the district, parents,
3-11 and community members in establishing and reviewing the district's
3-12 and campuses' educational plans, goals, performance objectives, and
3-13 major classroom instructional programs. The board shall establish
3-14 a procedure under which meetings are held regularly by district-
3-15 and campus-level advisory [planning and decision-making] committees
3-16 that include representative professional staff, parents of students
3-17 enrolled in the district, and community members. The committees
3-18 shall include business representatives, without regard to whether a
3-19 business representative resides in the district or whether the
3-20 business the person represents is located in the district. The
3-21 board, or the board's designee, shall periodically meet with the
3-22 district-level advisory committee to review the [district-level]
3-23 committee's deliberations.
3-24 (c) For purposes of establishing the composition of
3-25 committees under this section:
3-26 (1) a person who stands in parental relation to a
3-27 student is considered a parent;
4-1 (2) a parent who is an employee of the school district
4-2 is not considered a parent representative on the committee;
4-3 (3) a parent is not considered a representative of
4-4 community members on the committee; and
4-5 (4) community members must reside in the district and
4-6 must be at least 18 years of age.
4-7 (d) The board shall also ensure that an administrative
4-8 procedure is provided to clearly define the respective roles and
4-9 responsibilities of the superintendent, central office staff,
4-10 principals, teachers, district-level advisory committee members,
4-11 and campus-level advisory committee members in the areas of
4-12 planning, budgeting, curriculum, staffing patterns, staff
4-13 development, and school organization. The board shall ensure that
4-14 the district-level advisory [planning and decision-making]
4-15 committee will be actively involved in establishing the
4-16 administrative procedure that defines the respective roles and
4-17 responsibilities pertaining to advisory committees [planning and
4-18 decision-making] at the district and campus levels.
4-19 (e) The board shall adopt a procedure, consistent with
4-20 Section 21.407(a), for the professional staff in the district to
4-21 nominate and elect the professional staff representatives who shall
4-22 meet with the board or the board designee as required under this
4-23 section. At least two-thirds of the elected professional staff
4-24 representatives must be classroom teachers. The remaining staff
4-25 representatives shall include both campus- and district-level
4-26 professional staff members. Board policy must provide procedures
4-27 for:
5-1 (1) the selection of parents to the district-level and
5-2 campus-level committees; and
5-3 (2) the selection of community members and business
5-4 representatives to serve on the district-level committee in a
5-5 manner that provides for appropriate representation of the
5-6 community's diversity.
5-7 (f) The district policy must provide that all pertinent
5-8 federal planning requirements are addressed through the district-
5-9 and campus-level planning process.
5-10 (g) This section does not:
5-11 (1) prohibit the board from conducting meetings with
5-12 teachers or groups of teachers other than the meetings described by
5-13 this section;
5-14 (2) prohibit the board from establishing policies
5-15 providing avenues for input from others, including students or
5-16 paraprofessional staff, in district- or campus-level advisory
5-17 committees [planning and decision-making];
5-18 (3) limit or affect the power of the board to govern
5-19 the public schools; or
5-20 (4) create a new cause of action or require collective
5-21 bargaining.
5-22 Sec. 11.252. DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT PLAN [DISTRICT-LEVEL
5-23 PLANNING AND DECISION-MAKING]
5-24 (a) Each school district shall have a district improvement
5-25 plan that is developed, evaluated, and revised annually, in
5-26 accordance with district policy, by the superintendent with the
5-27 assistance of the district-level advisory committee established
6-1 under Section 11.251. The purpose of the district improvement plan
6-2 is to guide district and campus staff in the improvement of student
6-3 performance for all student groups in order to attain state
6-4 standards in respect to the academic excellence indicators adopted
6-5 under Section 39.051. The district improvement plan must include
6-6 provisions for:
6-7 (1) a comprehensive needs assessment addressing
6-8 district student performance on the academic excellence indicators,
6-9 and other appropriate measures of performance, that are
6-10 disaggregated by all student groups served by the district,
6-11 including categories of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sex, and
6-12 populations served by special programs;
6-13 (2) measurable district performance objectives for all
6-14 appropriate academic excellence indicators for all student
6-15 populations, appropriate objectives for special needs populations,
6-16 and other measures of student performance that may be identified
6-17 through the comprehensive needs assessment;
6-18 (3) strategies for improvement of student performance
6-19 that include:
6-20 (A) instructional methods for addressing the
6-21 needs of student groups not achieving their full potential;
6-22 (B) methods for addressing the needs of students
6-23 for special programs, such as suicide prevention, conflict
6-24 resolution, violence prevention, or dyslexia treatment programs;
6-25 (C) dropout reduction;
6-26 (D) integration of technology in instructional
6-27 and administrative programs;
7-1 (E) discipline management;
7-2 (F) staff development for professional staff of
7-3 the district;
7-4 (G) career education to assist students in
7-5 developing the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary for a
7-6 broad range of career opportunities; and
7-7 (H) accelerated education;
7-8 (4) resources needed to implement identified
7-9 strategies;
7-10 (5) staff responsible for ensuring the accomplishment
7-11 of each strategy;
7-12 (6) timelines for ongoing monitoring of the
7-13 implementation of each improvement strategy; and
7-14 (7) formative evaluation criteria for determining
7-15 periodically whether strategies are resulting in intended
7-16 improvement of student performance.
7-17 (b) A district's plan for the improvement of student
7-18 performance is not filed with the agency, but the district must
7-19 make the plan available to the agency on request.
7-20 (c) In a district that has only one campus, the district-
7-21 and campus-level advisory committees may be one committee and the
7-22 district and campus plans may be one plan.
7-23 (d) At least every two years, each district shall evaluate
7-24 the effectiveness of the district's [decision-making and planning]
7-25 policies, procedures, and staff development activities related to
7-26 this subchapter [district- and campus-level decision-making and
7-27 planning] to ensure that they are effectively structured to
8-1 positively impact student performance.
8-2 [(d-1) Expired.]
8-3 (e) The district-level advisory committee established under
8-4 Section 11.251 shall hold at least one public meeting per year.
8-5 The required meeting shall be held after receipt of the annual
8-6 district performance report from the agency for the purpose of
8-7 discussing the performance of the district and the district
8-8 performance objectives. District policy and procedures must be
8-9 established to ensure that systematic communications measures are
8-10 in place to periodically obtain broad-based community, parent, and
8-11 staff input and to provide information to those persons regarding
8-12 the recommendations of the district-level committee. This section
8-13 does not create a new cause of action or require collective
8-14 bargaining.
8-15 (f) A superintendent shall regularly consult the
8-16 district-level committee in the planning, operation, supervision,
8-17 and evaluation of the district educational program.
8-18 Sec. 11.253. CAMPUS IMPROVEMENT PLAN [PLANNING AND
8-19 SITE-BASED DECISION- MAKING]
8-20 (a) Each school district shall maintain [current] policies
8-21 and procedures to foster an [ensure that] effective advisory
8-22 process [planning and site-based decision-making occur] at each
8-23 campus to [direct and] support the improvement of student
8-24 performance for all students.
8-25 (b) Each district's policies [policy] and procedures shall
8-26 establish campus-level advisory [planning and decision-making]
8-27 committees as provided for through the procedures provided by
9-1 Sections 11.251(b)-(e).
9-2 (c) Each school year, the principal of each school campus,
9-3 with the assistance of the campus-level committee, shall develop,
9-4 review, and revise the campus improvement plan for the purpose of
9-5 improving student performance for all student populations with
9-6 respect to the academic excellence indicators adopted under Section
9-7 39.051 and any other appropriate performance measures for special
9-8 needs populations.
9-9 (d) Each campus improvement plan must:
9-10 (1) assess the academic achievement for each student
9-11 in the school using the academic excellence indicator system as
9-12 described by Section 39.051;
9-13 (2) set the campus performance objectives based on the
9-14 academic excellence indicator system, including objectives for
9-15 special needs populations;
9-16 (3) identify how the campus goals will be met for each
9-17 student;
9-18 (4) determine the resources needed to implement the
9-19 plan;
9-20 (5) identify staff needed to implement the plan;
9-21 (6) set timelines for reaching the goals; and
9-22 (7) measure progress toward the performance objectives
9-23 periodically to ensure that the plan is resulting in academic
9-24 improvement.
9-25 (e) In accordance with the administrative procedures
9-26 established under Section 11.251(b), the campus-level committee
9-27 shall be involved in [decisions in the areas of] planning,
10-1 budgeting, curriculum, staffing patterns, staff development, and
10-2 school organization. The campus-level committee must provide
10-3 written comment on [approve] the portions of the campus plan
10-4 addressing campus staff development needs.
10-5 (f) This section does not create a new cause of action or
10-6 require collective bargaining.
10-7 (g) Each campus-level committee shall hold at least one
10-8 public meeting per year. The required meeting shall be held after
10-9 receipt of the annual campus rating from the agency to discuss the
10-10 performance of the campus and the campus performance objectives.
10-11 District policy and campus procedures must be established to ensure
10-12 that systematic communications measures are in place to
10-13 periodically obtain broad-based community, parent, and staff input,
10-14 and to provide information to those persons regarding the
10-15 recommendations of the campus-level committees.
10-16 (h) A principal shall regularly consult the campus-level
10-17 committee in the planning, operation, supervision, and evaluation
10-18 of the campus educational program.
10-19 Sec. 11.254. STATE RESPONSIBILITIES [FOR THE PLANNING AND
10-20 DECISION-MAKING PROCESS]
10-21 (a) The commissioner shall oversee the provision of training
10-22 and technical support to all districts and campuses with [in]
10-23 respect to district- and campus-level advisory committees [planning
10-24 and-site-based decision-making] through one or more sources,
10-25 including regional education service centers, for school board
10-26 trustees, superintendents, principals, teachers, parents, and other
10-27 members of advisory [school] committees.
11-1 (b) The agency shall conduct an annual statewide survey of
11-2 the types of district- and campus-level advisory committees
11-3 [decision-making and planning structures] that exist, the extent of
11-4 involvement of various stakeholders in the process [district- and
11-5 campus-level planning and decision-making], and the perceptions of
11-6 those persons of the quality and effectiveness of the committees
11-7 [decisions] related to their impact on student performance.
11-8 SECTION 5. Section 21.352(a), Education Code, is
11-9 amended to read as follows:
11-10 (a) In appraising teachers, each school district shall use:
11-11 (1) the appraisal process and performance criteria
11-12 developed by the commissioner; or
11-13 (2) an appraisal process and performance criteria:
11-14 (A) developed by the district- and campus-level
11-15 advisory committees established under Section 11.251;
11-16 (B) containing the items described by Sections
11-17 21.351(a)(1) and (2); and
11-18 (C) adopted by the board of trustees.
11-19 SECTION 6. Section 21.354(c), Education Code, is amended to
11-20 read as follows:
11-21 (c) Each school district shall appraise each administrator
11-22 annually using either:
11-23 (1) the commissioner's recommended appraisal process
11-24 and performance criteria; or
11-25 (2) an appraisal process and performance criteria:
11-26 (A) developed by the district with the advice of
11-27 [in consultation with] the district- and campus-level advisory
12-1 committees established under Section 11.251; and
12-2 (B) adopted by the board of trustees.
12-3 SECTION 7. Section 21.451(b), Education Code, is amended to
12-4 read as follows:
12-5 (b) The staff development must be predominantly
12-6 campus-based[,] and related to achieving campus performance
12-7 objectives established under Section 11.253 [, and developed and
12-8 approved by the campus-level committee established under Section
12-9 11.251]. Campus staff development may include activities that
12-10 enable the campus staff to plan together to enhance existing
12-11 skills, to share effective strategies, to reflect on curricular and
12-12 instructional issues, to analyze student achievement results, to
12-13 reflect on means of increasing student achievement, to study
12-14 research, to practice new methods, to identify students' strengths
12-15 and needs, to develop meaningful programs for students, to
12-16 appropriately implement site-based advisory committees
12-17 [decision-making], and to conduct action research. The campus
12-18 staff development activities may be conducted using study teams,
12-19 individual research, peer coaching, workshops, seminars,
12-20 conferences, or other reasonable methods that have the potential to
12-21 improve student achievement.
12-22 SECTION 8. Section 37.001(a), Education Code, is amended to
12-23 read as follows:
12-24 (a) Each school district shall, with the advice of its
12-25 district-level advisory committee established under Section 11.251,
12-26 and jointly, as appropriate, with the juvenile board of each county
12-27 in which the district is located, adopt a student code of conduct
13-1 for the district. In addition to establishing standards for
13-2 student conduct, the student code of conduct must:
13-3 (1) specify the circumstances, in accordance with this
13-4 subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom,
13-5 campus, or alternative education program;
13-6 (2) outline the responsibilities of each juvenile
13-7 board concerning the establishment and operation of a juvenile
13-8 justice alternative education program under Section 37.011;
13-9 (3) define the conditions on payments from the
13-10 district to each juvenile board;
13-11 (4) specify conditions that authorize or require a
13-12 principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student
13-13 to an alternative education program; and
13-14 (5) outline conditions under which a student may be
13-15 suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by
13-16 Section 37.007.
13-17 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
13-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
13-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
13-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
13-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
13-22 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
13-23 passage, and it is so enacted.