By: Bivins S.B. No. 1366
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eligibility under the Early High School Graduation
Scholarship program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 56.203, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 56.203. ELIGIBLE PERSON. (a) To be eligible for the
Early High School Graduation Scholarship program, a person must:
(1) have the written approval of at least one of the
person's parents or a person standing in parental relation to the
person;
(2) have successfully completed the recommended or
advanced high school program established under Section 28.025
[requirements for a public high school diploma] in not more than 36
consecutive months and graduated or be eligible for graduation from
a Texas public high school;
(3) have attended high school in this state only; and
(4) be a Texas resident as defined by Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board rule.
(b) A person who does not satisfy the curriculum
requirements of Subsection (a)(2) is considered to have satisfied
those requirements if the high school from which the person
graduated indicates on the person's transcript that the person was
unable to complete the appropriate curriculum within the time
prescribed by that subsection solely because necessary courses were
unavailable to the person at the appropriate times in the person's
high school career as a result of course scheduling, lack of
enrollment capacity, or another cause not within the person's
control.
SECTION 2. Section 28.025, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (g) and (g-1) to read as follows:
(g) If a student, other than a student permitted to take
courses under the minimum high school program as provided by
Subsection (b), is unable to complete the recommended or advanced
high school program solely because necessary courses were
unavailable to the student at the appropriate times in the
student's high school career as a result of course scheduling, lack
of enrollment capacity, or another cause not within the student's
control, the school district shall indicate that fact on the
student's transcript form described by Subsection (e).
(g-1) Subsection (g) applies to students entering grade
nine during or after the 2003-2004 school year. This subsection
expires January 1, 2004.
SECTION 3. Section 56.203, Education Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a person who enters grade nine during or
after the 2003-2004 school year. A person who enters grade nine
before the 2003-2004 school year is governed by Section 56.203,
Education Code, as it existed before amendment by this Act, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.