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.

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