82R5655 CAS-D

By: Miles H.B. No. 1216

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to required attendance at a dropout prevention seminar by a student older than the age of compulsory school attendance who intends to drop out of school.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 25.0851 to read as follows:

Sec. 25.0851. REQUIRED ATTENDANCE AT DROPOUT PREVENTION SEMINAR. (a) This section does not apply to a student who, under Section 25.086, is exempt from the requirements of compulsory school attendance.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 25.085, a student who has reached the student's 18th birthday but who is under 21 years of age remains subject to the requirements of compulsory school attendance until the student attends a dropout prevention seminar provided by the school district in which the student attends school. The student must attend the full seminar.

(c) A seminar under Subsection (b) must:

(1) be offered:

(A) at each high school in a school district;

(B) for at least four hours; and

(C) outside of the regular school day; and

(2) satisfy guidelines established by commissioner rule.

(d) A seminar under this section may include lectures offered or discussions led by members of the local business community whose businesses employ high school or college graduates or by students who have dropped out of and returned to school.

(e) A student to whom Section 25.085(f) applies may not discontinue attending school before the end of a school year by complying with this section.

(f) Notwithstanding Section 11.158(b), the board of trustees of a school district may charge a student a fee to attend a seminar under this section. The amount of the fee may not exceed $45. The district shall refund the amount of the fee to a student who graduates from the high school at which the student attends the seminar.

(g) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary for the administration of this section.

SECTION 2. Section 25.0851, Education Code, as added by this Act, does not apply to a student who dropped out of public school before the 2011-2012 school year.

SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012 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, 2011.