By Hochberg H.B. No. 211
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to compliance by school districts and open-enrollment
1-3 charter schools with the public information law and the open
1-4 meetings law and to the governance of an open-enrollment charter
1-5 school.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Section 12.105(b), Education Code, is amended to
1-8 read as follows:
1-9 (b) The governing body of the school is considered a
1-10 governmental body for purposes of Chapters 551 and 552, Government
1-11 Code. Any requirement in those chapters relating to a school
1-12 district, school board, or school children applies to an
1-13 open-enrollment charter school and to children attending an
1-14 open-enrollment school.
1-15 SECTION 2. Section 12.111, Education Code, is amended to
1-16 read as follows:
1-17 Sec. 12.111. CONTENT. Each charter granted under this
1-18 subchapter must:
1-19 (1) describe the educational program to be offered,
1-20 which must include the required curriculum as provided by Section
1-21 28.002;
1-22 (2) specify the period for which the charter or any
1-23 charter renewal is valid;
1-24 (3) provide that continuation or renewal of the
2-1 charter is contingent on acceptable student performance on
2-2 assessment instruments adopted under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, and
2-3 on compliance with any accountability provision specified by the
2-4 charter, by a deadline or at intervals specified by the charter;
2-5 (4) establish the level of student performance that is
2-6 considered acceptable for purposes of Subdivision (3);
2-7 (5) specify any basis, in addition to a basis
2-8 specified by this subchapter, on which the charter may be placed on
2-9 probation or revoked or on which renewal of the charter may be
2-10 denied;
2-11 (6) prohibit discrimination in admission policy on the
2-12 basis of sex, national origin, ethnicity, religion, disability,
2-13 academic or athletic ability, or the district the child would
2-14 otherwise attend in accordance with this code, although the charter
2-15 may provide for the exclusion of a student who has a documented
2-16 history of a criminal offense, a juvenile court adjudication, or
2-17 discipline problems under Subchapter A, Chapter 37;
2-18 (7) specify the grade levels to be offered;
2-19 (8) describe the governing structure of the program,
2-20 including:
2-21 (A) the officer positions designated;
2-22 (B) the manner in which officers are selected
2-23 and removed from office;
2-24 (C) the manner in which members of the governing
2-25 body are selected and removed from office;
2-26 (D) the manner in which vacancies on the
2-27 governing board are filled;
3-1 (E) the term for which members of the governing
3-2 body serve; and
3-3 (F) whether the terms are to be staggered;
3-4 (9) specify the qualifications to be met by
3-5 professional employees of the program;
3-6 (10) describe the process by which the person
3-7 providing the program will adopt an annual budget;
3-8 (11) describe the manner in which an annual audit of
3-9 the financial and programmatic operations of the program is to be
3-10 conducted, including the manner in which the person providing the
3-11 program will provide information necessary for the school district
3-12 in which the program is located to participate, as required by this
3-13 code or by State Board of Education rule, in the Public Education
3-14 Information Management System (PEIMS);
3-15 (12) describe the facilities to be used;
3-16 (13) describe the geographical area served by the
3-17 program; and
3-18 (14) specify any type of enrollment criteria to be
3-19 used.
3-20 SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
3-21 amended by adding Sections 12.119 and 12.120 to read as follows:
3-22 Sec. 12.119. BYLAWS; ANNUAL REPORT. (a) The entity to
3-23 which a charter is granted for an open-enrollment charter school
3-24 shall file with the State Board of Education a copy of its bylaws,
3-25 or a comparable document if the entity does not have bylaws, within
3-26 the period and in the manner prescribed by the board.
3-27 (b) Each year within the period and in a form prescribed by
4-1 the State Board of Education, each open-enrollment charter school
4-2 shall file with the board the following information:
4-3 (1) the name, address, and telephone number of each
4-4 officer and member of the governing body of the open-enrollment
4-5 charter school; and
4-6 (2) the amount of annual compensation the
4-7 open-enrollment charter school pays to each officer and member of
4-8 the governing body.
4-9 (c) On request, the State Board of Education shall provide
4-10 the information required by this section and Section 12.111(8) to a
4-11 member of the public. The board may charge a reasonable fee to
4-12 cover the board's cost in providing the information.
4-13 Sec. 12.120. LIMITATION ON SERVING AS OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE.
4-14 A person who has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor
4-15 involving moral turpitude may not serve as an officer or member of
4-16 the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school.
4-17 SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
4-18 amended by adding Section 552.131 to read as follows:
4-19 Sec. 552.131. EXCEPTION: CERTAIN INFORMATION HELD BY SCHOOL
4-20 DISTRICT. (a) Information held by a school district collected in
4-21 connection with an internal investigation conducted by the district
4-22 is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 to the extent
4-23 that the information names or otherwise identifies a student or
4-24 former student or an employee or former employee of the district.
4-25 (b) Subsection (a) does not apply if:
4-26 (1) the student, former student, employee, or former
4-27 employee was the person on whom the internal investigation focused
5-1 or whose conduct was at issue; or
5-2 (2) the student or former student, or the parent,
5-3 legal guardian, or spouse of the student or former student, or the
5-4 employee or former employee consents to disclosure of the person's
5-5 name.
5-6 (c) Information excepted under Subsection (a) shall be made
5-7 available to a law enforcement agency or prosecutor for official
5-8 purposes on the request of the agency or prosecutor.
5-9 (d) This section does not infringe on or impair the
5-10 informer's privilege recognized and applied as making information
5-11 confidential under Section 552.108.
5-12 SECTION 5. Subchapter H, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
5-13 amended by adding Section 552.3241 to read as follows:
5-14 Sec. 552.3241. APPEAL BY SCHOOL DISTRICT OR OPEN-ENROLLMENT
5-15 CHARTER SCHOOL PROHIBITED. Notwithstanding any other provision in
5-16 this chapter, a school district or an open-enrollment charter
5-17 school, or the officer for public information or other agent of the
5-18 district or school, may not file a suit challenging a decision of
5-19 the attorney general issued under Subchapter G or otherwise seeking
5-20 relief from compliance with the decision. This section applies
5-21 only to information that:
5-22 (1) relates to a student or former student of the
5-23 school district or school; and
5-24 (2) is requested from the school district or school by
5-25 a parent or guardian of the student or former student.
5-26 SECTION 6. Section 552.3241, Government Code, as added by
5-27 this Act, applies only to a decision of the attorney general issued
6-1 on or after the effective date of this Act.
6-2 SECTION 7. Section 26.007(b), Education Code, is amended to
6-3 read as follows:
6-4 (b) A board of trustees of a school district must hold each
6-5 public meeting of the board within the boundaries of the district
6-6 except as required by law or except to hold a joint meeting with
6-7 another district or with another governmental entity, as defined by
6-8 Section 2051.041, Government Code, if the boundaries of the
6-9 governmental entity are in whole or in part within the boundaries
6-10 of the district. All public meetings must comply with Chapter 551,
6-11 Government Code.
6-12 SECTION 8. (a) Each open-enrollment charter school for
6-13 which a charter is granted before September 1, 1999, shall revise
6-14 its charter as necessary to comply with Section 12.111, Education
6-15 Code, as amended by this Act, not later than January 1, 2000.
6-16 (b) The entity to which a charter for an open-enrollment
6-17 charter school is granted before September 1, 1999, shall file a
6-18 copy of its bylaws or other document as required by Section
6-19 12.119(a), Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than
6-20 January 1, 2000.
6-21 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
6-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-26 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-27 passage, and it is so enacted.