By:  Van de Putte                                     S.B. No. 1446
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to severance payments to superintendents of independent
 1-3     school districts.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subsection (c), Section 11.201, Education Code,
 1-6     is amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (c)  For purposes of this subsection, "severance payment"
 1-8     means any amount paid by the board of trustees of an independent
 1-9     school district to or in behalf of a superintendent on early
1-10     termination of the superintendent's contract that exceeds the
1-11     amount earned by the superintendent under the contract as of the
1-12     date of termination, including any amount that exceeds the amount
1-13     of earned standard salary and benefits that is paid as a condition
1-14     of early termination of the contract.  The [A] board of trustees
1-15     [of an independent school district] that makes a severance payment
1-16     to a superintendent shall report the terms of the severance payment
1-17     to the commissioner.  The commissioner shall reduce the district's
1-18     Foundation School Program funds [for the school year following the
1-19     school year in which the first payment is made] by any amount that
1-20     the amount of the severance payment to the superintendent exceeds
1-21     an amount equal to one year's salary and benefits under the
1-22     superintendent's terminated contract [an amount equal to the
1-23     severance payment made by the board of trustees to the
1-24     superintendent].  The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to
1-25     administer this subsection.
 2-1           SECTION 2.  Subsection (c), Section 11.201, Education Code,
 2-2     as amended by this Act, applies only to a severance payment made by
 2-3     the board of trustees of an independent school district to a
 2-4     superintendent under an agreement entered into on or after the
 2-5     effective date of this Act.  A severance payment made by the board
 2-6     of trustees to a superintendent under an agreement entered into
 2-7     before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
 2-8     effect at the time the agreement was made, and that law is
 2-9     continued in effect for that purpose.
2-10           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.