By Dunnam H.B. No. 2923
76R3304 CAS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the election of the members of the governing body of an
1-3 open-enrollment charter school.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 12.111, Education Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 12.111. CONTENT. Each charter granted under this
1-8 subchapter must:
1-9 (1) describe the educational program to be offered,
1-10 which must include the required curriculum as provided by Section
1-11 28.002;
1-12 (2) specify the period for which the charter or any
1-13 charter renewal is valid;
1-14 (3) provide that continuation or renewal of the
1-15 charter is contingent on acceptable student performance on
1-16 assessment instruments adopted under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, and
1-17 on compliance with any accountability provision specified by the
1-18 charter, by a deadline or at intervals specified by the charter;
1-19 (4) establish the level of student performance that is
1-20 considered acceptable for purposes of Subdivision (3);
1-21 (5) specify any basis, in addition to a basis
1-22 specified by this subchapter, on which the charter may be placed on
1-23 probation or revoked or on which renewal of the charter may be
1-24 denied;
2-1 (6) prohibit discrimination in admission policy on the
2-2 basis of sex, national origin, ethnicity, religion, disability,
2-3 academic or athletic ability, or the district the child would
2-4 otherwise attend in accordance with this code, although the charter
2-5 may provide for the exclusion of a student who has a documented
2-6 history of a criminal offense, a juvenile court adjudication, or
2-7 discipline problems under Subchapter A, Chapter 37;
2-8 (7) specify the grade levels to be offered;
2-9 (8) describe the governing structure of the program,
2-10 including the term for which members of the governing body serve,
2-11 whether the terms are to be staggered, and any other provision
2-12 necessary for the election of members of the governing body in
2-13 accordance with Section 12.119;
2-14 (9) specify the qualifications to be met by
2-15 professional employees of the program;
2-16 (10) describe the process by which the person
2-17 providing the program will adopt an annual budget;
2-18 (11) describe the manner in which an annual audit of
2-19 the financial and programmatic operations of the program is to be
2-20 conducted, including the manner in which the person providing the
2-21 program will provide information necessary for the school district
2-22 in which the program is located to participate, as required by this
2-23 code or by State Board of Education rule, in the Public Education
2-24 Information Management System (PEIMS);
2-25 (12) describe the facilities to be used;
2-26 (13) describe the geographical area served by the
2-27 program; and
3-1 (14) specify any type of enrollment criteria to be
3-2 used.
3-3 SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
3-4 amended by adding Section 12.119 to read as follows:
3-5 Sec. 12.119. ELECTION OF GOVERNING BODY. (a) The members of
3-6 the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school shall be
3-7 elected at an election held in the geographical area served by the
3-8 program as described by the charter in accordance with Section
3-9 12.111(13).
3-10 (b) In each geographical area served by an open-enrollment
3-11 charter school, the commissioners court of the county containing
3-12 that geographical area shall order an election to be held in
3-13 accordance with this section. If that geographical area extends
3-14 into more than one county, the commissioners court of each county
3-15 in which a portion of the geographical area is located shall
3-16 jointly order and hold the election. The commissioners court shall
3-17 hold the first election on the first uniform election date provided
3-18 by Section 41.001, Election Code, that is at least 120 days after
3-19 the date the charter is granted. At that election, all positions
3-20 on the governing body shall be filled for terms provided by the
3-21 charter. The person operating the open-enrollment charter school
3-22 shall reimburse the commissioners court for all necessary costs of
3-23 ordering and conducting the election.
3-24 (c) If the charter provides that the terms are to be
3-25 staggered, the members of the governing body elected at the
3-26 election under Subsection (b) shall draw lots for terms. In the
3-27 case of an established open-enrollment charter school, the term of
4-1 each member of the governing body of the open-enrollment charter
4-2 school in office on the date of that election ends when the
4-3 member's successor has qualified for office. In the case of an
4-4 open-enrollment charter school with a newly-granted charter,
4-5 control of the open-enrollment charter school transfers from the
4-6 person to whom the charter was granted to the governing body on the
4-7 date a quorum of the governing body of the open-enrollment charter
4-8 school elected under Subsection (b) has qualified for office.
4-9 (d) The governing body of an open-enrollment charter school
4-10 shall order and conduct subsequent elections of members of the
4-11 governing body. With the appropriate modifications, Sections
4-12 11.054-11.058 and 11.060 apply to the election under Subsection (b)
4-13 and to subsequent elections of members of the governing body.
4-14 SECTION 3. For an open-enrollment charter school for which a
4-15 charter is granted before September 1, 1999, the appropriate
4-16 commissioners courts shall hold the initial election of charter
4-17 school governing boards on the third Saturday in January 2000.
4-18 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
4-19 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.