HBA-MSH H.B. 2861 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2861 By: Sadler Public Education 3/26/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law delineates the powers and duties of the boards of trustees (board) and superintendents of independent school districts. However, confusion still exists in some areas, especially in areas where the superintendent and board must collaborate. House Bill 2861 further delineates the roles and responsibilities of a board and superintendent and sets forth provisions relating to the conduct of board meetings. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 2861 amends the Education Code to prohibit a member of a board of trustees of an independent school district (board) from acting individually on behalf of the board. The bill authorizes a board to act only by a majority vote of the members present at a meeting at which a quorum of the board and the district's superintendent or the superintendent's designee are present (Section 11.051). The bill authorizes a board to hold only one regular meeting each month and authorizes the president of a board to call a special meeting with the approval of a majority of the members of the board and the superintendent. The bill requires that the minutes of a regular or special meeting of the board reflect each member's attendance at or failure to attend the meeting and provides that the minutes must be readily accessible to the public (Sec. 11.0621). A board is required to serve as the leader of and advocate for the children of the community, work with the community to make the best use of community resources, adopt a vision statement and comprehensive goals, monitor progress towards those goals, and establish performance goals. The bill requires the board to ensure that the district recognizes accomplishments, is accountable for achieving results, and takes action as necessary. The bill requires a board to adopt a policy to establish a district-level and campus-level planning and decision making process, publish an annual educational performance report, establish financial goals, adopt an annual budget for the district, adopt a tax rate each fiscal year, monitor district finances, ensure that district fiscal accounts are audited annually, and publish an end-of-year financial report for distribution to the community. The bill authorizes a board to issue bonds, levy an annual ad valorem tax, and employ a person to assess or collect the district's taxes. The bill authorizes a board to enter into contracts and delegate contractual responsibility to the superintendent as appropriate. The bill requires a board to conduct elections and to inform the superintendent of any personnel recommendation or complaint from the public requiring action by the superintendent (Sec. 11.1511). The bill requires the board and the superintendent to collaborate on certain issues, including periodic evaluation of the board and superintendent leadership, governance, and teamwork (Sec. 11.1512). The bill provides that the employment policy of a school district must provide that the board employs, evaluates, and if appropriate terminates the employment of the superintendent and that each district employee other than the superintendent is answerable to the superintendent. The bill prohibits a board from arbitrarily rejecting the recommendation of the superintendent regarding the selection of district personnel (Sec. 11.513). The bill includes among the duties of a superintendent, organization of education programs, administrative authority for the employment of district personnel, ensuring compliance with standards for the adequacy of school facilities, assuming responsibility for the termination or suspension of an employee, administering the budget, providing leadership for the improvement of student performance, consulting with the districtlevel committee, ensuring the adoption of a student code of conduct and disciplinary rules, submitting reports as required by law, rule, or regulation, and addressing any issue arising from any public recommendation or complaint concerning district personnel (Sec. 11.201). The bill requires that the minutes of the last regular meeting of a board held during a calendar year reflect whether each trustee has met or is delinquent in meeting the training required to be completed by the date of that meeting (Sec. 11.159). EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.