By Cuellar H.B. No. 2016
76R7885 JSA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the waiver for certain high school students of tuition
1-3 fees for concurrent enrollment in junior college courses and of
1-4 fees for skills tests of students entering public institutions of
1-5 higher education.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Section 51.306(w), Education Code, is amended to
1-8 read as follows:
1-9 (w)(1) The provisions of this subsection apply to high
1-10 school students taking the test required by this section.
1-11 (2) The cost of administering the test to an eligible
1-12 high school student who is enrolled in the national free or reduced
1-13 price lunch program established under 42 U.S.C. Section 1751 et
1-14 seq., or who is otherwise shown to be financially needy under
1-15 criteria established by the board shall be borne by the state
1-16 through appropriation to the board for that purpose or other
1-17 sources of funds. An [Each] eligible high school student not shown
1-18 to be financially needy shall pay for the cost of taking the test
1-19 unless funds are appropriated to pay for that cost [for that
1-20 purpose]. The [If funds are appropriated for that purpose, the]
1-21 board and the Texas Education Agency shall develop a mechanism for
1-22 the payment of the cost of the test.
1-23 (3) The board shall arrange for the test to be offered
1-24 to high school students outside of regularly scheduled school days
2-1 and at locations throughout the state.
2-2 (4) Except as authorized by the student, test scores
2-3 of a high school student shall be reported only to the student and
2-4 the student's parents.
2-5 (5) A high school student who fails to achieve the
2-6 minimum required score set by the board may not be required to take
2-7 developmental classes while in high school. However, after
2-8 graduation from high school, a student who enters a public
2-9 institution of higher education must comply with the provisions of
2-10 this section.
2-11 (6) A high school student who achieves the minimum
2-12 required score set by the board shall be deemed to have met the
2-13 requirements of this section when enrolling at an institution of
2-14 higher education, provided that the student enrolls in the
2-15 institution not later than five years from the date the test is
2-16 taken and the set score level is achieved. A student enrolling for
2-17 the first time in an institution of higher education after the
2-18 five-year period has elapsed must comply with all provisions of
2-19 this section.
2-20 (7) The board and the Texas Education Agency shall
2-21 work together to provide high school students, their parents, and
2-22 their schools with information about the Texas Academic Skills
2-23 Program and assist them in interpreting the results of the test.
2-24 SECTION 2. Section 130.008(b), Education Code, is amended to
2-25 read as follows:
2-26 (b) The junior college may waive the tuition fee for a high
2-27 school student enrolled in a course for which the student may
3-1 receive joint credit under this section. The junior college shall
3-2 waive the tuition fee for such a student who in high school is
3-3 enrolled in the national free or reduced price lunch program
3-4 established under 42 U.S.C. Section 1751 et seq.
3-5 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-6 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.