81R10894 KKA-D

By: Rose H.B. No. 2446

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to eligibility for public school prekindergarten classes of children residing with a grandparent.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 29.153, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:

(b) A child is eligible for enrollment in a prekindergarten class under this section if the child is at least three years of age and:

(1) is unable to speak and comprehend the English language;

(2) is educationally disadvantaged;

(3) is a homeless child, as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 11434a, regardless of the residence of the child, of either parent of the child, or of the child's guardian or other person having lawful control of the child;

(4) is the child of an active duty member of the armed forces of the United States, including the state military forces or a reserve component of the armed forces, who is ordered to active duty by proper authority;

(5) is the child of a member of the armed forces of the United States, including the state military forces or a reserve component of the armed forces, who was injured or killed while serving on active duty; [or]

(6) is or ever has been in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services following an adversary hearing held as provided by Section 262.201, Family Code; or

(7) a grandparent of the child has primary responsibility for the care of the child, and the grandparent is at least 45 years of age.

(b-1) For purposes of Subsection (b)(7), a grandparent is considered to have primary responsibility for the care of a child if:

(1) the child resides with the grandparent in a household that does not include a parent of the child; and

(2) the grandparent with whom the child resides:

(A) is the child's guardian or permanent managing conservator;

(B) is named in a power of attorney as a person authorized to make decisions regarding the child;

(C) is identified in a letter from the Department of Family and Protective Services as the person in whose care the child has been placed, provided the letter is printed on department letterhead;

(D) has possession of the child's birth certificate; or

(E) claimed the child as a dependent on the grandparent's most recent federal income tax return.

SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2009-2010 school year.

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, 2009.