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S.B. No. 976
AN ACT
relating to high school completion and the creation of certain
college education pilot programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 11, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 11.255 to read as follows:
Sec. 11.255. DROPOUT PREVENTION REVIEW. (a) Each
district-level planning and decision-making committee and each
campus-level planning and decision-making committee for a junior,
middle, or high school campus shall analyze information related to
dropout prevention, including:
(1) the results of the audit of dropout records
required by Section 39.055;
(2) campus information related to graduation rates,
dropout rates, high school equivalency certificate rates, and the
percentage of students who remain in high school more than four
years after entering grade level 9;
(3) the number of students who enter a high school
equivalency certificate program and:
(A) do not complete the program;
(B) complete the program but do not take the high
school equivalency examination; or
(C) complete the program and take the high school
equivalency examination but do not obtain a high school equivalency
certificate;
(4) for students enrolled in grade levels 9 and 10,
information related to academic credit hours earned, retention
rates, and placements in alternative education programs and
expulsions under Chapter 37; and
(5) the results of an evaluation of each school-based
dropout prevention program in the district.
(b) Each district-level planning and decision-making
committee and each campus-level planning and decision-making
committee shall use the information reviewed under this section in
developing district or campus improvement plans under this
subchapter.
SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.908 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.908. MIDDLE COLLEGE EDUCATION PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) The commissioner shall establish and administer a middle
college education pilot program for students who are at risk of
dropping out of school or who wish to accelerate high school
completion. For purposes of this section, "student at risk of
dropping out of school" has the meaning assigned by Section 29.081.
(b) The program must:
(1) provide for a course of study that enables a
participating student to combine high school courses and
college-level courses during grade levels 11 and 12;
(2) allow a participating student to complete high
school and receive at least a high school diploma and associate
degree at the time of graduation;
(3) include articulation agreements under Subchapter
T, Chapter 61, with colleges, universities, and technical schools
in this state to provide a participating student access to
postsecondary educational and training opportunities on the campus
of the college, university, or technical school; and
(4) provide a participating student flexibility in
class scheduling and academic mentoring.
(c) A student participating in the program is entitled to
the benefits of the Foundation School Program in proportion to the
amount of time spent by the student on high school courses, in
accordance with rules adopted by the commissioner. The
commissioner may accept gifts, grants, and donations from any
source, including private and nonprofit organizations, to pay any
costs of the program not covered by the student's Foundation School
Program benefits.
(d) The commissioner shall consult the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board in establishing and administering the
program.
SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 39.131, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) If a district does not satisfy the accreditation
criteria, the commissioner shall take any of the following actions,
listed in order of severity, to the extent the commissioner
determines necessary:
(1) issue public notice of the deficiency to the board
of trustees;
(2) order a hearing conducted by the board of trustees
of the district for the purpose of notifying the public of the
unacceptable performance, the improvements in performance expected
by the agency, and the sanctions that may be imposed under this
section if the performance does not improve;
(3) order the preparation of a student achievement
improvement plan that addresses each academic excellence indicator
for which the district's performance is unacceptable, the
submission of the plan to the commissioner for approval, and
implementation of the plan;
(4) order a hearing to be held before the commissioner
or the commissioner's designee at which the president of the board
of trustees of the district and the superintendent shall appear and
explain the district's low performance, lack of improvement, and
plans for improvement;
(5) arrange an on-site investigation of the district;
(6) appoint an agency monitor to participate in and
report to the agency on the activities of the board of trustees or
the superintendent;
(7) appoint a master to oversee the operations of the
district;
(8) appoint a management team to direct the operations
of the district in areas of unacceptable performance or require the
district to obtain certain services under a contract with another
person;
(9) if a district has been rated as academically
unacceptable for a period of one year or more, appoint a board of
managers to exercise the powers and duties of the board of trustees;
[or]
(10) if a district has been rated as academically
unacceptable for a period of two years or more:
(A) annex the district to one or more adjoining
districts under Section 13.054; or
(B) in the case of a home-rule school district or
open-enrollment charter school, order closure of all programs
operated under the district's or school's charter; or
(11) if a district has been rated as academically
unacceptable for a period of two years or more due to the district's
dropout rates, impose sanctions designed to improve high school
completion rates, including:
(A) ordering the development of a dropout
prevention plan for approval by the commissioner;
(B) restructuring the district or appropriate
school campuses to improve identification of and service to
students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by
Section 29.081;
(C) ordering lower student-to-counselor ratios
on school campuses with high dropout rates; and
(D) ordering the use of any other intervention
strategy effective in reducing dropout rates, including mentor
programs and flexible class scheduling.
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 130, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 130.0012 to read as follows:
Sec. 130.0012. PILOT PROJECT: BACCALAUREATE DEGREE
PROGRAMS. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
establish a pilot project to examine the feasibility and
effectiveness of authorizing public junior colleges to offer
baccalaureate degree programs in the fields of applied science and
applied technology. Participation in the pilot project does not
otherwise alter the role and mission of a public junior college.
(b) The coordinating board shall operate the pilot project
at three public junior colleges, as determined by the coordinating
board.
(c) A public junior college participating in the pilot
project must meet all applicable accreditation requirements of the
Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools.
(d) A public junior college participating in the pilot
project may not offer more than five baccalaureate degree programs
under the project at any time. The degree programs are subject to
the continuing approval of the coordinating board. In determining
what baccalaureate degree programs are to be offered, the junior
college and the coordinating board shall consider:
(1) the need for the degree programs in the region
served by the junior college;
(2) how those degree programs would complement the
other programs and course offerings of the junior college;
(3) whether those degree programs would unnecessarily
duplicate the degree programs offered by other institutions of
higher education; and
(4) the ability of the junior college to support the
program and the adequacy of the junior college's facilities,
faculty, administration, libraries, and other resources.
(e) Each public junior college that offers a baccalaureate
degree program under the pilot project must enter into an
articulation agreement with one or more general academic teaching
institutions to ensure that students enrolled in the degree program
have an opportunity to complete the degree if the public junior
college ceases to offer the degree program. The coordinating board
may require a general academic teaching institution that offers a
comparable degree program to enter into an articulation agreement
with the public junior college as provided by this subsection.
(f) In its recommendations to the legislature relating to
state funding for public junior colleges, the coordinating board
shall recommend that a public junior college receive substantially
the same state support for junior-level and senior-level courses
offered under the pilot project as that provided to a general
academic teaching institution for substantially similar courses.
In determining the contact hours attributable to students enrolled
in a junior-level or senior-level course offered under the pilot
project used to determine a public junior college's proportionate
share of state appropriations under Section 130.003, the
coordinating board shall weigh those contact hours as necessary to
provide the junior college the appropriate level of state support
to the extent state funds for those courses are included in the
appropriations. This subsection does not prohibit the legislature
from directly appropriating state funds to support junior-level and
senior-level courses offered under the pilot project.
(g) Each public junior college participating in the pilot
project shall prepare a biennial report on the operation and
effectiveness of the junior college's baccalaureate degree
programs offered under the project and shall deliver a copy of the
report to the coordinating board in the form and at the time
determined by the coordinating board.
(h) Not later than January 1, 2009, the coordinating board
shall prepare a progress report on the pilot project. Not later
than January 1, 2011, the coordinating board shall prepare a report
on the effectiveness of the pilot project, including any
recommendations for legislative action regarding the offering of
baccalaureate degree programs by public junior colleges. The
coordinating board shall deliver a copy of each report to the
governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
representatives, and the chair of the standing committee of each
house of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher
education.
(i) Unless the authority to continue offering the
baccalaureate degree programs is continued by the legislature, a
public junior college may not:
(1) enroll a new student in a baccalaureate degree
program under the pilot project after the 2011 fall semester;
(2) offer junior-level or senior-level courses for
those degree programs after the 2015 fall semester, unless the
coordinating board authorizes the college to offer those courses;
or
(3) award a baccalaureate degree under the pilot
project after the 2015 fall semester, unless the coordinating board
approves the awarding of the degree.
(j) The coordinating board shall prescribe procedures to
ensure that each public junior college that offers a degree program
under the pilot project informs each student who enrolls in the
degree program of:
(1) the nature of the pilot project, including the
limited duration of the project; and
(2) the articulation agreement entered into under
Subsection (e) for the student's degree program.
(k) This section expires January 1, 2020.
SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
(b) Sections 1 and 3 of this Act apply beginning with the
2004-2005 school year.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 976 passed the Senate on
April 7, 2003, by a viva-voce vote; May 29, 2003, Senate refused to
concur in House amendments and requested appointment of Conference
Committee; May 30, 2003, House granted request of the Senate;
June 1, 2003, Senate adopted Conference Committee Report by a
viva-voce vote.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 976 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 25, 2003, by a non-record vote; May 30, 2003,
House granted request of the Senate for appointment of Conference
Committee; June 1, 2003, House adopted Conference Committee Report
by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor