79R4935 KKA-D
By: King of Parker H.B. No. 1111
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to admission to open-enrollment charter schools that
specialize in performing arts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.111(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Each charter granted under this subchapter must:
(1) describe the educational program to be offered,
which must include the required curriculum as provided by Section
28.002;
(2) specify the period for which the charter or any
charter renewal is valid;
(3) provide that continuation or renewal of the
charter is contingent on acceptable student performance on
assessment instruments adopted under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, and
on compliance with any accountability provision specified by the
charter, by a deadline or at intervals specified by the charter;
(4) establish the level of student performance that is
considered acceptable for purposes of Subdivision (3);
(5) specify any basis, in addition to a basis
specified by this subchapter, on which the charter may be placed on
probation or revoked or on which renewal of the charter may be
denied;
(6) prohibit discrimination in admission policy on the
basis of sex, national origin, ethnicity, religion, disability,
academic, artistic, or athletic ability, or the district the child
would otherwise attend in accordance with this code, although the
charter may:
(A) provide for the exclusion of a student who
has a documented history of a criminal offense, a juvenile court
adjudication, or discipline problems under Subchapter A, Chapter
37; and
(B) provide for an admission policy that requires
a student to demonstrate artistic ability if the school specializes
in performing arts;
(7) specify the grade levels to be offered;
(8) describe the governing structure of the program,
including:
(A) the officer positions designated;
(B) the manner in which officers are selected and
removed from office;
(C) the manner in which members of the governing
body of the school are selected and removed from office;
(D) the manner in which vacancies on that
governing body are filled;
(E) the term for which members of that governing
body serve; and
(F) whether the terms are to be staggered;
(9) specify the powers or duties of the governing body
of the school that the governing body may delegate to an officer;
(10) specify the manner in which the school will
distribute to parents information related to the qualifications of
each professional employee of the program, including any
professional or educational degree held by each employee, a
statement of any certification under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, held
by each employee, and any relevant experience of each employee;
(11) describe the process by which the person
providing the program will adopt an annual budget;
(12) describe the manner in which an annual audit of
the financial and programmatic operations of the program is to be
conducted, including the manner in which the person providing the
program will provide information necessary for the school district
in which the program is located to participate, as required by this
code or by State Board of Education rule, in the Public Education
Information Management System (PEIMS);
(13) describe the facilities to be used;
(14) describe the geographical area served by the
program; and
(15) specify any type of enrollment criteria to be
used.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 12.1171 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.1171. ADMISSION TO OPEN-ENROLLMENT CHARTER SCHOOLS
SPECIALIZING IN PERFORMING ARTS. (a) Notwithstanding Section
12.117, the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school
that specializes in one or more performing arts may:
(1) require an applicant to audition for admission to
the school or advancement to the next grade level; and
(2) if the number of applicants who perform
satisfactorily in an audition exceeds the number of available
positions in the school at the appropriate grade level, fill the
available positions using one lottery for male applicants and one
lottery for female applicants so that the number of males admitted
and the number of females admitted are equal.
(b) In admitting students under this section, an
open-enrollment charter school may not discriminate on the basis of
a student's national origin, ethnicity, or religion.
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2005-2006
school year.
SECTION 4. 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.