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79R2366 ESH-D
By: McCall H.B. No. 386
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to participation in school district services and
activities by home-schooled students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 25.006 to read as follows:
Sec. 25.006. PART-TIME ENROLLMENT OF HOME-SCHOOLED
STUDENT. (a) A home-schooled child entitled under Section 25.001
to attend public school in a school district may enroll in public
school in the district as a part-time student if the district and
the child's parent or guardian agree in writing to the child's
enrollment.
(b) A student enrolled under this section may participate in
an academic class on the same basis as a regularly enrolled student.
(c) A school district may not charge a student enrolled
under this section tuition but shall charge the student all
applicable fees charged a regularly enrolled student.
SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 29.911 and 29.912 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.911. USE OF SCHOOL FACILITY FOR HOME-SCHOOLED
STUDENTS. (a) A school district may establish a laboratory or
other facility for home-schooled students that is not located on a
regular school campus.
(b) A school district may permit a home-schooled student
entitled under Section 25.001 to attend public school in the
district to use:
(1) a laboratory or other facility established under
Subsection (a); or
(2) a laboratory or other facility located on a
regular school campus.
(c) A school district may not charge a home-schooled student
tuition for use of a laboratory or other facility under this section
but shall charge the student a fee comparable to any fee charged a
regularly enrolled student for use of a similar facility.
(d) A school district may permit a regularly enrolled
student to use a laboratory or other facility established under
Subsection (a).
Sec. 29.912. ONLINE COURSE FOR HOME-SCHOOLED STUDENTS. (a)
A school district may offer an online course to home-schooled
students for academic credit.
(b) A school district may permit a home-schooled student
entitled under Section 25.001 to attend public school in the
district to participate in an online course offered under
Subsection (a).
(c) A school district may not charge a home-schooled student
tuition for participating in a course offered under Subsection (a)
but shall charge the student a fee comparable to any fee charged a
regularly enrolled student for participating in the course.
(d) A school district may permit a regularly enrolled
student to participate in an online course offered under Subsection
(a).
SECTION 3. Section 31.001, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 31.001. FREE TEXTBOOKS. (a) Textbooks selected for
use in the public schools shall be furnished without cost to the
students attending those schools.
(b) A school district may furnish textbooks without cost to
a home-schooled student who is entitled under Section 25.001 to
attend public school in the district. This chapter applies to
textbooks furnished to home-schooled students under this
subsection in the same manner as it applies to textbooks furnished
to students attending public schools.
SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 33, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 33.088 and 33.089 to read as follows:
Sec. 33.088. PARTICIPATION IN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
BY HOME-SCHOOLED STUDENTS. (a) A school district may permit a
home-schooled student entitled under Section 25.001 to attend
public school in the district to participate in a
district-sponsored extracurricular activity. If the district
charges regularly enrolled students a fee for participating in an
extracurricular activity, the district shall charge a
home-schooled student participating in that activity the same fee.
(b) Each home-schooled student entitled under Section
25.001 to attend public school is entitled to participate in an
extracurricular activity sponsored by the University
Interscholastic League on behalf of the school district the student
is entitled to attend under Section 25.001(b) if the board of
trustees of that district adopts a policy authorizing home-schooled
students to participate in league-sponsored activities.
(c) Except as provided by Section 33.089, Subsection (b)
does not exempt a home-schooled student from satisfying, as
provided by league rule, each eligibility requirement for
participating in a league-sponsored activity other than class
attendance requirements.
Sec. 33.089. APPLICATION OF ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS TO
HOME-SCHOOLED STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN EXTRACURRICULAR
ACTIVITIES. (a) In this section, "grade evaluation period" has the
meaning assigned by Section 33.081(c).
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), Sections
33.081(c)-(g) do not apply to a home-schooled student participating
as provided by Section 33.088 in an extracurricular activity
sponsored by a school district or the University Interscholastic
League.
(c) A home-schooled student participating in
extracurricular activities is subject to Sections 33.081(c)-(g) if
the student was a regularly enrolled student in a school district
and withdrew from school in the district and became a home-schooled
student:
(1) while the student was subject to a suspension
under Section 33.081(c); or
(2) during the last week of a grade evaluation period.
(d) For the grade evaluation period that follows the grade
evaluation period during which a home-schooled student to whom
Subsection (c) applies withdrew from public school, the student's
instructor must provide to the principal of the school to which the
student is assigned for participation in extracurricular
activities, at the time grades must be reported for students
enrolled in the school, an affidavit affirming that the student:
(1) is taking a number of grade-level courses
equivalent to the academic requirements for a full-time student at
the student's grade level enrolled in the school; and
(2) has grades for that reporting period that satisfy
grade requirements under Section 33.081(c) for participation in
extracurricular activities.
SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.035 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.035. ASSESSMENT OF HOME-SCHOOLED STUDENT
PROHIBITED. A school district may not administer an assessment
instrument under this chapter to a home-schooled student included
in the district's average daily attendance under Section 42.0051.
SECTION 6. Subchapter A, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 42.0051 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.0051. INCLUSION OF HOME-SCHOOLED STUDENTS IN
AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE. (a) The average daily attendance of a
school district includes each home-schooled student:
(1) who is entitled under Section 25.001 to attend
public school in the district; and
(2) who:
(A) attends a district school as a part-time
student as provided by Section 25.006;
(B) participates in an online course offered by
the district under Section 29.912;
(C) uses an off-campus laboratory or other
facility established by the district for home-schooled students as
provided by Section 29.911;
(D) receives textbooks from the district as
provided by Section 31.001(b); or
(E) participates in an extracurricular activity
sponsored or sanctioned by the school district or the University
Interscholastic League as a representative of a district school as
provided by Section 33.088.
(b) For each day of the minimum school year under Section
25.081(a) that a home-schooled student receives services or
textbooks or participates in a course or an extracurricular
activity as described by Subsection (a)(2), the school district is
entitled to include the student as a student in the district's
attendance for that day. The student's attendance shall be
included in proportion to the amount of time the student receives
services or textbooks or participates in a course or
extracurricular activity, as determined under rules adopted by the
commissioner.
SECTION 7. This Act applies beginning with the 2005-2006
school year.
SECTION 8. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, 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, 2005.
(b) Section 6 of this Act takes effect September 1, 2005.