SRC-AMY S.B. 683 78(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.B. 683
78R5674 CAS-DBy: Shapiro
Education
3/19/2003
As Filed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Currently, Texas law requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to oversee
an annual audit of dropout records, mandated to be performed by an
external financial auditor who is a certified public accountant (CPA).
This audit is performed at the school district's expense.  Some school
districts are concerned that the April 23rd deadline, coinciding with
income tax filing season, will hamper their ability to schedule auditors.
School district officials also have expressed concern about the financial
burden of having to use a CPA to perform the audits.  As proposed, S.B.
683 moves the submission date to May 23 and removes the requirement that
the auditor be a CPA. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to
a state officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Sections 39.055(a), (d), and (e), Education Code, as
follows: 

(a) Requires the board of trustees of each school district to have a
person, who has successfully completed Texas Education Agency (TEA)
approved training, to audit the district's dropout records at the
district's expense.  Deletes text specifying that the person be a
registered or certified accountant and that TEA provide the training.
Redesignates Subsection (3) as Subsection (2). 

(d) Requires the district to submit a copy of the report and any other
required statement no later than the 150th day, rather than the 90th day,
after the last day permissible for resubmission of information required
under Section 42.006 (Public Education Information Management System). 

(e) Deletes text referring to any violation of sound accounting practices.

SECTION 2.  Effective date:  September 1, 2003.