1-1 By: Harris S.B. No. 465
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 5, 1997; February 11, 1997,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
1-4 March 6, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 11,
1-5 Nays 0; March 6, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the authority of a school district to charge a fee for
1-9 transporting certain students.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 11.158, Education Code,
1-12 is amended to read as follows:
1-13 (a) The board of trustees of an independent school district
1-14 may require payment of:
1-15 (1) a fee for materials used in any program in which
1-16 the resultant product in excess of minimum requirements becomes, at
1-17 the student's option, the personal property of the student, if the
1-18 fee does not exceed the cost of materials;
1-19 (2) membership dues in student organizations or clubs
1-20 and admission fees or charges for attending extracurricular
1-21 activities, if membership or attendance is voluntary;
1-22 (3) a security deposit for the return of materials,
1-23 supplies, or equipment;
1-24 (4) a fee for personal physical education and athletic
1-25 equipment and apparel, although any student may provide the
1-26 student's own equipment or apparel if it meets reasonable
1-27 requirements and standards relating to health and safety
1-28 established by the board;
1-29 (5) a fee for items of personal use or products that a
1-30 student may purchase at the student's option, such as student
1-31 publications, class rings, annuals, and graduation announcements;
1-32 (6) a fee specifically permitted by any other statute;
1-33 (7) a fee for an authorized voluntary student health
1-34 and accident benefit plan;
1-35 (8) a reasonable fee, not to exceed the actual annual
1-36 maintenance cost, for the use of musical instruments and uniforms
1-37 owned or rented by the district;
1-38 (9) a fee for items of personal apparel that become
1-39 the property of the student and that are used in extracurricular
1-40 activities;
1-41 (10) a parking fee or a fee for an identification
1-42 card;
1-43 (11) a fee for a driver training course, not to exceed
1-44 the actual district cost per student in the program for the current
1-45 school year;
1-46 (12) a fee for a course offered for credit that
1-47 requires the use of facilities not available on the school premises
1-48 or the employment of an educator who is not part of the school's
1-49 regular staff, if participation in the course is at the student's
1-50 option; [or]
1-51 (13) a fee for a course offered during summer school,
1-52 except that the board may charge a fee for a course required for
1-53 graduation only if the course is also offered without a fee during
1-54 the regular school year; or
1-55 (14) a reasonable fee for transportation of a student
1-56 who lives within two miles of the school the student attends to and
1-57 from that school, except that the board may not charge a fee for
1-58 transportation for which the school district receives funds under
1-59 Section 42.155(d).
1-60 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
1-61 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-62 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-63 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-64 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-1 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-2 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-3 * * * * *