78R2843 ESH-D

By:  Olivo                                                        H.B. No. 336


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the requirements for a high school diploma. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Sections 28.025(a), (c), and (d), Education Code, as amended by Chapters 187 and 834, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, are amended and reenacted to read as follows: (a) The State Board of Education by rule shall determine curriculum requirements for the minimum, recommended, and advanced high school programs that are consistent with the required curriculum under Section 28.002. (c) A person may receive a diploma if the person is eligible for a diploma under Section 28.0251. In other cases, a [A] student may graduate and receive a diploma only if: (1) the student successfully completes the curriculum requirements identified by the State Board of Education under Subsection (a) and: (A) complies with Section 39.025(a); or (B) meets the alternative graduation criteria prescribed under Section 28.0252; or (2) the student successfully completes an individualized education program developed under Section 29.005. (d) A school district may issue a certificate of coursework completion to a student who successfully completes the curriculum requirements identified by the State Board of Education under Subsection (a) but who fails to comply with Section 39.025(a) or the alternative graduation criteria under Section 28.0252. A school district may allow a student who receives a certificate to participate in a graduation ceremony with students receiving high school diplomas. SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 28, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 28.0252 to read as follows: Sec. 28.0252. ALTERNATIVE GRADUATION CRITERIA. (a) The commissioner by rule shall prescribe alternative graduation criteria that a student may meet to graduate and receive a diploma without complying with Section 39.025(a). The alternative graduation criteria must be compensatory criteria. The alternative graduation criteria must include a student's: (1) grade point average beginning in grade 9; (2) current class ranking; (3) performance on the individual assessment instruments specified in Section 39.025(a); (4) combined scores, using only the student's highest scores, on the assessment instruments specified in Section 39.025(a); and (5) overall academic performance beginning in grade 9, as evaluated by two or more of the student's teachers. (b) A committee composed of the student's high school principal or the principal's designee and two certified teachers in the student's school district who teach at the high school level shall determine whether a student who has not complied with Section 39.025(a) has met the alternative graduation criteria prescribed under Subsection (a). The commissioner shall adopt rules relating to the selection and operation of a committee under this subsection, including the method by which the committee must notify the student and the student's high school registrar, or the person performing the duties of a registrar, of the committee's decision. (c) A committee established under Subsection (b) shall determine whether a student who has not complied with Section 39.025(a) has met the alternative graduation criteria prescribed under Subsection (a): (1) following the first administration to the student of the assessment instruments specified in Section 39.025(a); (2) on written request of the student's parent or guardian, not more than one time in each school year following the school year in which the assessment instruments specified in Section 39.025(a) are first administered to the student; and (3) when the principal of the student's high school, or the principal's designee, determines that the student is within one month of completing each requirement for a high school diploma other than compliance with Section 39.025(a). SECTION 3. (a) Section 28.025, Education Code, as amended by this Act, and Section 28.0252, Education Code, as added by this Act, apply beginning with the 2004-2005 school year. (b) Not later than June 1, 2004, the commissioner of education shall adopt rules as required by Sections 28.0252(a) and (b), Education Code, as added by this Act. SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.