By Goolsby                                            H.B. No. 3672
         Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
         Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to organization of certain school districts.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 13, Education Code, is
 1-5     amended by adding Section 13.106 to read as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 13.106.  DIVISION OF CERTAIN DISTRICTS.  (a)  A school
 1-7     district with less than 200,000 students located in whole or part
 1-8     in a county with a population of more than 1.8 million shall divide
 1-9     into three districts pursuant to this section.
1-10           (b)  The board of trustees of the district shall initiate
1-11     division of the district by resolution adopted by a majority of the
1-12     board.  The resolution shall set metes and bounds of each new
1-13     district and shall allocate the property and debt of the former
1-14     district equitably among the three districts.  Each new district
1-15     created must contain at least twenty percent of the previous year's
1-16     student enrollment in the district.
1-17           (c)  Any trustee may appeal the boundaries and allocations
1-18     adopted to the commissioner of education under Section 7.057.  The
1-19     commissioner may adjust the boundaries and allocations to the
1-20     extend necessary to provide adequate resources to each new district
1-21     for the education of students who reside within its boundaries.  An
 2-1     appeal to the commissioner must be made within 10 days of the date
 2-2     of the resolution and a decision of the commissioner under this
 2-3     section is final and may not be appealed.
 2-4           (d)  An employee of a district divided pursuant to this
 2-5     section is entitled to the same contractual rights, if any, with
 2-6     one of the new districts.  The board resolution shall specify which
 2-7     employees are assigned to each new district, provided that an
 2-8     employee currently assigned to a campus may not be transferred by
 2-9     action of the board's resolution.
2-10           (e)  The board of the district shall continue to administer
2-11     the affairs of the district until the next regular election, at
2-12     which time new boards of trustees shall be elected in the same
2-13     manner as provided for the election of the previous board.
2-14           (f)  Should the division of a school district under this
2-15     section be disallowed, either under a court order or by
2-16     administrative disapproval by the United States Department of
2-17     Justice, or should the board fail to approve a resolution within
2-18     the time allowed under this section, the commissioner shall develop
2-19     a division of the district and its assets and liabilities,
2-20     including assignment of employees, which shall take effect at the
2-21     next regularly scheduled election at which trustees can be
2-22     selected.
2-23           (g)  The board of trustees of a district subject to this
2-24     section must adopt a resolution in compliance with this section no
2-25     later than 90 days after the date on which the district becomes
 3-1     subject to this section.
 3-2           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
 3-3     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 3-4     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 3-5     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 3-6     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.