78R1617 CAS-D

By:  Zaffirini                                                    S.B. No. 546



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to governance of the Texas School for the Deaf.                      
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Sections 30.052(a) and (b), Education Code, are 
amended to read as follows:
	(a)  The Texas School for the Deaf is governed by an 
11-member [a nine-member] board appointed by the governor in 
accordance with this section and confirmed by the senate.  A person 
may not serve simultaneously on the school's governing board and 
the board of the Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. 
Except as provided by Subdivision (4), each [Each] member of the 
board must be a person who is experienced in working with persons 
who are deaf or hard of hearing, a person who is the parent of a 
person who is deaf, or a person who is deaf.    The board, at least 
six [five] of whom must be deaf, consists of:
		(1)  at least one person who is an alumnus of the Texas 
School for the Deaf;
		(2)  at least three persons who are parents of a deaf 
person;  [and]
		(3)  at least three persons who are experienced in 
working with deaf persons; and
		(4)  two members of the public.                                        
	(b)  Members of the board serve for terms of six years, with 
the terms of three or four members expiring on January 31 of each 
odd-numbered year.
	SECTION 2.  Not later than January 31, 2004, the governor 
shall appoint two members of the public to the governing board of 
the Texas School for the Deaf as provided by Section 30.052(a), 
Education Code, as amended by this Act.   Notwithstanding Section 
30.052(b), Education Code, as amended by this Act, the governor 
shall designate one of those persons to serve a term expiring 
January 31, 2009, and one of those persons to serve a term expiring 
January 31, 2007.
	SECTION 3.  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.