1-1     By:  Hochberg (Senate Sponsor - Sibley)                H.B. No. 211
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 7, 1999;
 1-3     May 10, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Education; May 14, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable
 1-5     Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0;
 1-6     May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 211                   By:  Bivins
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to compliance by school districts and open-enrollment
1-11     charter schools with the public information law and the open
1-12     meetings law and to the governance of an open-enrollment charter
1-13     school.
1-14           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-15           SECTION 1.  Section 12.105(b), Education Code, is amended to
1-16     read as follows:
1-17           (b)  The governing body of the school is considered a
1-18     governmental body for purposes of Chapters 551 and 552, Government
1-19     Code.  Any requirement in those chapters relating to a school
1-20     district, school board, or school children applies to an
1-21     open-enrollment charter school and to children attending an
1-22     open-enrollment school.
1-23           SECTION 2.  Section 12.111, Education Code, is amended to
1-24     read as follows:
1-25           Sec. 12.111.  CONTENT.  Each charter granted under this
1-26     subchapter must:
1-27                 (1)  describe the educational program to be offered,
1-28     which must include the required curriculum as provided by Section
1-29     28.002;
1-30                 (2)  specify the period for which the charter or any
1-31     charter renewal is valid;
1-32                 (3)  provide that continuation or renewal of the
1-33     charter is contingent on acceptable student performance on
1-34     assessment instruments adopted under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, and
1-35     on compliance with any accountability provision specified by the
1-36     charter, by a deadline or at intervals specified by the charter;
1-37                 (4)  establish the level of student performance that is
1-38     considered acceptable for purposes of Subdivision (3);
1-39                 (5)  specify any basis, in addition to a basis
1-40     specified by this subchapter, on which the charter may be placed on
1-41     probation or revoked or on which renewal of the charter may be
1-42     denied;
1-43                 (6)  prohibit discrimination in admission policy on the
1-44     basis of sex, national origin, ethnicity, religion, disability,
1-45     academic or athletic ability, or the district the child would
1-46     otherwise attend in accordance with this code, although the charter
1-47     may provide for the exclusion of a student who has a documented
1-48     history of a criminal offense, a juvenile court adjudication, or
1-49     discipline problems under Subchapter A, Chapter 37;
1-50                 (7)  specify the grade levels to be offered;
1-51                 (8)  describe the governing structure of the program,
1-52     including:
1-53                       (A)  the officer positions designated;
1-54                       (B)  the manner in which officers are selected
1-55     and removed from office;
1-56                       (C)  the manner in which members of the governing
1-57     body are selected and removed from office;
1-58                       (D)  the manner in which vacancies on the
1-59     governing board are filled;
1-60                       (E)  the term for which members of the governing
1-61     body serve; and
1-62                       (F)  whether the terms are to be staggered;
1-63                 (9)  specify the qualifications to be met by
1-64     professional employees of the program;
 2-1                 (10)  describe the process by which the person
 2-2     providing the program will adopt an annual budget;
 2-3                 (11)  describe the manner in which an annual audit of
 2-4     the financial and programmatic operations of the program is to be
 2-5     conducted, including the manner in which the person providing the
 2-6     program will provide information necessary for the school district
 2-7     in which the program is located to participate, as required by this
 2-8     code or by State Board of Education rule, in the Public Education
 2-9     Information Management System (PEIMS);
2-10                 (12)  describe the facilities to be used;
2-11                 (13)  describe the geographical area served by the
2-12     program; and
2-13                 (14)  specify any type of enrollment criteria to be
2-14     used.
2-15           SECTION 3.  Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
2-16     amended by adding Sections 12.119 and 12.120 to read as follows:
2-17           Sec. 12.119.  BYLAWS; ANNUAL REPORT.  (a)  The entity to
2-18     which a charter is granted for an open-enrollment charter school
2-19     shall file with the State Board of Education a copy of its bylaws,
2-20     or a comparable document if the entity does not have bylaws, within
2-21     the period and in the manner prescribed by the board.
2-22           (b)  Each year within the period and in a form prescribed by
2-23     the State Board of Education, each open-enrollment charter school
2-24     shall file with the board the following information:
2-25                 (1)  the name, address, and telephone number of each
2-26     officer and member of the governing body of the open-enrollment
2-27     charter school; and
2-28                 (2)  the amount of annual compensation the
2-29     open-enrollment charter school pays to each officer and member of
2-30     the governing body.
2-31           (c)  On request, the State Board of Education shall provide
2-32     the information required by this section and Section 12.111(8) to a
2-33     member of the public.  The board may charge a reasonable fee to
2-34     cover the board's cost in providing the information.
2-35           Sec. 12.120.  LIMITATION ON SERVING AS OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE.
2-36     A person who has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor
2-37     involving moral turpitude may not serve as an officer or member of
2-38     the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school.
2-39           SECTION 4.  Section 53.02, Education Code, is amended by
2-40     adding Subdivision (13) to read as follows:
2-41                 (13)  "Authorized charter school" means an
2-42     open-enrollment charter school that holds a charter granted under
2-43     Subchapter D, Chapter 12.
2-44           SECTION 5.  Section 53.48, Education Code, is amended to read
2-45     as follows:
2-46           Sec. 53.48.  BONDS FOR ACCREDITED PRIMARY OR SECONDARY
2-47     SCHOOLS.  In the same manner that a corporation may issue bonds
2-48     under this chapter for an institution of higher education, a
2-49     corporation created under Section 53.35(b) may issue bonds to
2-50     finance or refinance educational facilities or housing facilities
2-51     to be used by an accredited primary or secondary school or by an
2-52     authorized charter school.
2-53           SECTION 6.  Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
2-54     amended by adding Section 552.131 to read as follows:
2-55           Sec. 552.131.  EXCEPTION:  CERTAIN INFORMATION HELD BY SCHOOL
2-56     DISTRICT.  (a)  "Informer" means a student or former student or an
2-57     employee or former employee of a school district who has furnished
2-58     a report of another person's or persons' possible violation of
2-59     criminal, civil, or regulatory law to the school district or the
2-60     proper regulatory enforcement authority.
2-61           (b)  An informer's name or information that would
2-62     substantially reveal the identity of an informer is excepted from
2-63     the requirements of Section 552.021.
2-64           (c)  Subsection (b) does not apply:
2-65                 (1)  if the informer is a student or former student,
2-66     and the student or former student, or the legal guardian, or spouse
2-67     of the student or former student consents to disclosure of the
2-68     student's or former student's name; or
2-69                 (2)  if the informer is an employee or former employee
 3-1     who consents to disclosure of the employee's or former employee's
 3-2     name; or
 3-3                 (3)  if the informer planned, initiated, or
 3-4     participated in the possible violation.
 3-5           (d)  Information excepted under Subsection (b) may be made
 3-6     available to a law enforcement agency or prosecutor for official
 3-7     purposes of the agency or prosecutor upon proper request made in
 3-8     compliance with applicable law and procedure.
 3-9           (e)  This section does not infringe on or impair the
3-10     confidentiality of information considered to be confidential by
3-11     law, whether it be constitutional, statutory, or by judicial
3-12     decision, including information excepted from the requirements of
3-13     Section 552.021.
3-14           SECTION 7.  Section 552.3241, Government Code, as added by
3-15     this Act, applies only to a decision of the attorney general issued
3-16     on or after the effective date of this Act.
3-17           SECTION 8.  Section 26.007(b), Education Code, is amended to
3-18     read as follows:
3-19           (b)  A board of trustees of a school district must hold each
3-20     public meeting of the board within the boundaries of the district
3-21     except as required by law or except to hold a joint meeting with
3-22     another district or with another governmental entity, as defined by
3-23     Section 2051.041, Government Code, if the boundaries of the
3-24     governmental entity are in whole or in part within the boundaries
3-25     of the district.  All public meetings must comply with Chapter 551,
3-26     Government Code.
3-27           SECTION 9.  (a)  Each open-enrollment charter school for
3-28     which a charter is granted before September 1, 1999, shall revise
3-29     its charter as necessary to comply with Section 12.111, Education
3-30     Code, as amended by this Act, not later than January 1, 2000.
3-31           (b)  The entity to which a charter for an open-enrollment
3-32     charter school is granted before September 1, 1999, shall file a
3-33     copy of its bylaws or other document as required by Section
3-34     12.119(a), Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than
3-35     January 1, 2000.
3-36           SECTION 10.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-37     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-38     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-39     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-40     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-41     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-42     passage, and it is so enacted.
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