78R5386 KKA-D
By: Hochberg H.B. No. 1384
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the purchase of attendance credits under the public
school finance system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 41.091 and 41.092, Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 41.091. AGREEMENT. (a) A school district with a
wealth per student that exceeds the equalized wealth level may
execute an agreement with another school district [the
commissioner] to purchase attendance credits in an amount
sufficient, in combination with any other actions taken under this
chapter, to reduce the purchasing school district's wealth per
student to a level that is equal to or less than the equalized
wealth level.
(b) An agreement under this section is not effective unless
the commissioner certifies that, after all actions taken under this
chapter, the wealth per student of each school district involved
will be equal to or less than the equalized wealth level.
(c) The agency shall develop a standard contract to be used
by a school district in purchasing attendance credits under this
section.
Sec. 41.092. TREATMENT OF CREDIT. (a) For [each credit
purchased, the weighted average daily attendance of the purchasing
school district is increased by one student in weighted average
daily attendance for] purposes of determining whether the
purchasing school district or the school district from which
credits are purchased exceeds the equalized wealth level:
(1) the weighted average daily attendance of the
purchasing district is increased by one student in weighted average
daily attendance for each credit purchased; and
(2) the weighted average daily attendance of the
district from which the credits are purchased is decreased by one
student in weighted average daily attendance for each credit sold.
(b) A credit is not used in determining the [a school
district's] scholastic population, average daily attendance, or
weighted average daily attendance for purposes of Chapter 42 or 43
of the purchasing school district or the school district from which
the credit is purchased.
SECTION 2. Section 41.093(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The cost of each credit is an amount equal to the greater
of:
(1) the amount of the purchasing school district's
maintenance and operations tax revenue per student in weighted
average daily attendance for the school year for which the contract
is executed; or
(2) the amount of the statewide district average of
maintenance and operations tax revenue per student in weighted
average daily attendance for the school year preceding the school
year for which the contract is executed.
SECTION 3. Section 41.096(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or
against the proposition: "Authorizing the board of trustees of
________ School District to purchase attendance credits [from the
state] with local tax revenues."
SECTION 4. Section 41.098, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 41.098. EARLY AGREEMENT CREDIT. A district that
enters into [submits] a signed agreement under this subchapter [to
the commissioner] before September 1 of the school year for which
the agreement is made may reduce the total amount required to be
paid for attendance credits under Section 41.093 by the lesser of
four percent or $80 per credit purchased.
SECTION 5. Section 41.099(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Sections 41.002(e), [41.094,] 41.097, and 41.098 apply
only to a district that:
(1) executes an agreement to purchase all attendance
credits necessary to reduce the district's wealth per student to
the equalized wealth level;
(2) executes an agreement to purchase attendance
credits and an agreement under Subchapter E to contract for the
education of nonresident students who transfer to and are educated
in the district but who are not charged tuition; or
(3) executes an agreement under Subchapter E to
contract for the education of nonresident students:
(A) to an extent that does not provide more than
10 percent of the reduction in wealth per student required for the
district to achieve a wealth per student that is equal to or less
than the equalized wealth level; and
(B) under which all revenue paid by the district
to other districts, in excess of the reduction in state aid that
results from counting the weighted average daily attendance of the
students served in the contracting district, is required to be used
for funding a consortium of at least three districts in a county
with a population of less than 40,000 that is formed to support a
technology initiative.
SECTION 6. Section 41.094, Education Code, is repealed.
SECTION 7. (a) The amendment of Subchapter D, Chapter 41,
Education Code, by this Act does not affect the authority or duties
of the commissioner of education or a school district in relation to
an agreement executed in accordance with that subchapter as it
existed before amendment by this Act, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The amendment of Subchapter D, Chapter 41, Education
Code, by this Act does not affect the authority of a school district
to execute agreements based on voter approval obtained in
accordance with Section 41.096, Education Code, as it existed
before amendment by this Act. A school district with voter approval
to execute agreements for the purchase of attendance credits from
the state may execute agreements for the purchase of attendance
credits from another school district in accordance with Subchapter
D, Chapter 41, Education Code, as amended by this Act, without
seeking additional voter approval.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.