By Bivins S.B. No. 1472
76R9087 BDH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the age at which a student may take the high school
1-3 equivalency examination and the age of compulsory attendance in
1-4 public school.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 7.111(a), Education Code, is amended to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 (a) The board shall provide for the administration of high
1-9 school equivalency examinations. A person who does not have a high
1-10 school diploma may take the examination in accordance with rules
1-11 adopted by the board if the person is:
1-12 (1) over 17 years of age; or[:]
1-13 (2) [(1) is] 16 years of age or older and:
1-14 (A) is enrolled in a Job Corps training program
1-15 under the Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. Section 1501 et
1-16 seq.), and its subsequent amendments; or [and]
1-17 (B) [(2)] a public agency providing supervision
1-18 of the person or having custody of the person under a court order
1-19 recommends that the person take the examination.
1-20 SECTION 2. Section 25.086(a), Education Code, is amended to
1-21 read as follows:
1-22 (a) A child is exempt from the requirements of compulsory
1-23 school attendance if the child:
1-24 (1) attends a private or parochial school that
2-1 includes in its course a study of good citizenship;
2-2 (2) is eligible to participate in a school district's
2-3 special education program under Section 29.003 and cannot be
2-4 appropriately served by the resident district;
2-5 (3) has a physical or mental condition of a temporary
2-6 and remediable nature that makes the child's attendance infeasible
2-7 and holds a certificate from a qualified physician specifying the
2-8 temporary condition, indicating the treatment prescribed to remedy
2-9 the temporary condition, and covering the anticipated period of the
2-10 child's absence from school for the purpose of receiving and
2-11 recuperating from that remedial treatment;
2-12 (4) is expelled in accordance with the requirements of
2-13 law in a school district that does not participate in a mandatory
2-14 juvenile justice alternative education program under Section
2-15 37.011;
2-16 (5) is at least 17 years of age and:
2-17 (A) is attending a course of instruction to
2-18 prepare for the high school equivalency examination, and:
2-19 (i) has the permission of the child's
2-20 parent or guardian to attend the course;
2-21 (ii) is required by court order to attend
2-22 the course;
2-23 (iii) has established a residence separate
2-24 and apart from the child's parent, guardian, or other person having
2-25 lawful control of the child; or
2-26 (iv) is homeless as defined by 42 U.S.C.
2-27 Section 11302; or
3-1 (B) has received a high school diploma or high
3-2 school equivalency certificate;
3-3 (6) is at least 16 years of age and:
3-4 (A) is enrolled in a Job Corps training program
3-5 under the Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. Section 1501 et
3-6 seq.), and its subsequent amendments; or
3-7 (B) is attending a course of instruction to
3-8 prepare for the high school equivalency examination, if the child
3-9 is recommended to take the course of instruction by a public agency
3-10 that has supervision or custody of the child under a court order;
3-11 (7) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Mathematics
3-12 and Science;
3-13 (8) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Leadership in
3-14 the Humanities; or
3-15 (9) is specifically exempted under another law.
3-16 SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 1999-2000
3-17 school year.
3-18 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-23 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-24 passage, and it is so enacted.