1-1     By:  Shapiro                                           S.B. No. 876
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 4, 1999; March 8, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Education; May 7, 1999,
 1-4     reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 7, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 876                By:  Zaffirini
 1-7                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-8                                   AN ACT
 1-9     relating to restaffing certain low-performing public schools.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subsection (b), Section 39.131, Education Code,
1-12     is amended to read as follows:
1-13           (b)  If a campus performance is below any standard under
1-14     Section 39.073(b), the campus is considered a low-performing campus
1-15     and the commissioner may take any of the following actions, listed
1-16     in order of severity, to the extent the commissioner determines
1-17     necessary:
1-18                 (1)  issue public notice of the deficiency to the board
1-19     of trustees;
1-20                 (2)  order a hearing conducted by the board of trustees
1-21     at the campus for the purpose of notifying the public of the
1-22     unacceptable performance, the improvements in performance expected
1-23     by the agency, and the sanctions that may be imposed under this
1-24     section if the performance does not improve within a designated
1-25     period of time and of soliciting public comment on the initial
1-26     steps being taken to improve performance;
1-27                 (3)  order the preparation of a student achievement
1-28     improvement plan that addresses each academic excellence indicator
1-29     for which the campus's performance is unacceptable, the submission
1-30     of the plan to the commissioner for approval, and implementation of
1-31     the plan;
1-32                 (4)  order a hearing to be held before the commissioner
1-33     or the commissioner's designee at which the president of the board
1-34     of trustees, the superintendent, and the campus principal shall
1-35     appear and explain the campus's low performance, lack of
1-36     improvement, and plans for improvement;
1-37                 (5)  appoint a special campus intervention team to:
1-38                       (A)  conduct a comprehensive on-site evaluation
1-39     of each low-performing campus to determine the cause for the
1-40     campus's low performance and lack of progress;
1-41                       (B)  recommend actions, including reallocation of
1-42     resources and technical assistance, changes in school procedures or
1-43     operations, staff development for instructional and administrative
1-44     staff, intervention for individual administrators or teachers,
1-45     waivers from state statute or rule, or other actions the team
1-46     considers appropriate;
1-47                       (C)  assist in the development of a campus plan
1-48     for student achievement; and
1-49                       (D)  assist the commissioner in monitoring the
1-50     progress of the campus in implementing the campus plan for
1-51     improvement of student achievement;
1-52                 (6)  if a campus has been a low-performing campus for a
1-53     period of one year or more, appoint a board of managers composed of
1-54     residents of the district to exercise the powers and duties of the
1-55     board of trustees of the district in relation to the campus; or
1-56                 (7)  if a campus has been a low-performing campus for a
1-57     period of two years or more, order closure of the school program on
1-58     the campus or order that some or all of the educators employed on
1-59     the school campus for at least the two preceding years be
1-60     reassigned to other campuses or other appropriate positions in the
1-61     school district.
1-62           SECTION 2.  This Act applies beginning with the 1999-2000
1-63     school year.
1-64           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-1     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-2     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 2-3     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 2-4     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
 2-5     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
 2-6     passage, and it is so enacted.
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