By Ogden S.B. No. 516
76R6268 CAS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to school district high school equivalency examination
1-3 programs.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 29.086 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 29.086. SCHOOL DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL EQUIVALENCY
1-8 EXAMINATION PROGRAMS. (a) The agency shall develop a program for
1-9 school districts to prepare eligible students who are at risk of
1-10 dropping out of school to take a high school equivalency
1-11 examination.
1-12 (b) A district that participates in the program shall offer
1-13 preparatory classes for the high school equivalency examination to
1-14 each eligible district student.
1-15 (c) A student is eligible to participate in the program if:
1-16 (1) the student is 16 years of age or older at the
1-17 beginning of the school year or semester;
1-18 (2) the student and the student's parent or guardian
1-19 agree to the student's participation;
1-20 (3) there is a reasonable expectation that the student
1-21 will not graduate on schedule;
1-22 (4) there is a reasonable expectation that on
1-23 completion of the program the student will be able to perform
1-24 satisfactorily on the high school equivalency examination; and
2-1 (5) any other conditions specified by the agency are
2-2 satisfied.
2-3 (d) A district shall inform each student who has completed
2-4 the program of the time and place at which the student may take the
2-5 high school equivalency examination.
2-6 (e) The agency shall adopt rules to ensure that students are
2-7 not encouraged to participate in the program solely as a means to
2-8 divert students with discipline problems or poor academic
2-9 performance into the program as an alternative to regular high
2-10 school graduation.
2-11 (f) The agency shall request permission from the General
2-12 Educational Development Testing Service to administer the service's
2-13 high school equivalency examination to students enrolled in high
2-14 school who participate in the program.
2-15 SECTION 2. Section 7.111(a), Education Code, is amended to
2-16 read as follows:
2-17 (a) The board shall provide for the administration of high
2-18 school equivalency examinations. A person who does not have a high
2-19 school diploma may take the examination in accordance with rules
2-20 adopted by the board if the person is:
2-21 (1) over 17 years of age; or
2-22 (2) [: (1) is] 16 years of age or older[;] and:
2-23 (A) [(2)] a public agency providing supervision
2-24 of the person or having custody of the person under a court order
2-25 recommends that the person take the examination; or
2-26 (B) the person has completed a high school
2-27 equivalency preparation program under Section 29.086.
3-1 SECTION 3. Section 25.086(a), Education Code, is amended to
3-2 read as follows:
3-3 (a) A child is exempt from the requirements of compulsory
3-4 school attendance if the child:
3-5 (1) attends a private or parochial school that
3-6 includes in its course a study of good citizenship;
3-7 (2) is eligible to participate in a school district's
3-8 special education program under Section 29.003 and cannot be
3-9 appropriately served by the resident district;
3-10 (3) has a physical or mental condition of a temporary
3-11 and remediable nature that makes the child's attendance infeasible
3-12 and holds a certificate from a qualified physician specifying the
3-13 temporary condition, indicating the treatment prescribed to remedy
3-14 the temporary condition, and covering the anticipated period of the
3-15 child's absence from school for the purpose of receiving and
3-16 recuperating from that remedial treatment;
3-17 (4) is expelled in accordance with the requirements of
3-18 law in a school district that does not participate in a mandatory
3-19 juvenile justice alternative education program under Section
3-20 37.011;
3-21 (5) is at least 17 years of age and:
3-22 (A) is attending a course of instruction to
3-23 prepare for the high school equivalency examination, and:
3-24 (i) has the permission of the child's
3-25 parent or guardian to attend the course;
3-26 (ii) is required by court order to attend
3-27 the course;
4-1 (iii) has established a residence separate
4-2 and apart from the child's parent, guardian, or other person having
4-3 lawful control of the child; or
4-4 (iv) is homeless as defined by 42 U.S.C.
4-5 Section 11302; or
4-6 (B) has received a high school diploma or high
4-7 school equivalency certificate;
4-8 (6) is at least 16 years of age and:
4-9 (A) is attending a course of instruction to
4-10 prepare for the high school equivalency examination, if the child
4-11 is recommended to take the course of instruction by a public agency
4-12 that has supervision or custody of the child under a court order;
4-13 or
4-14 (B) has earned a high school equivalency
4-15 certificate after completing a program under Section 29.086;
4-16 (7) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Mathematics
4-17 and Science;
4-18 (8) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Leadership in
4-19 the Humanities; or
4-20 (9) is specifically exempted under another law.
4-21 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-26 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-27 passage, and it is so enacted.