82R5396 GCB-F

By: Elkins H.B. No. 2188

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to using Foundation School Program funding to implement the Texas School Ready Program at certain providers of private prekindergarten programs.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 29, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 29.1535 to read as follows:

Sec. 29.1535. TEXAS SCHOOL READY PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM. (a) In this section:

(1) "Private provider" means a provider of a private prekindergarten program that complies with the applicable child-care licensing standards adopted by the Department of Family and Protective Services under Section 42.042, Human Resources Code.

(2) "Texas School Ready Program" means a program implemented and administered by the Children's Learning Institute of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston that links instructional practices necessary to prepare a student for kindergarten with the achievement of scores that show the student has acquired reading and social skills that have prepared the student to enter kindergarten.

(b) A school district required or authorized under Section 29.153 to offer a prekindergarten program shall enter into a contract with the Children's Learning Institute and a private provider if:

(1) the Children's Learning Institute certifies to the district that the Texas School Ready Program will be implemented and administered at the private provider if the contract is executed; and

(2) the private provider certifies to the district that a child eligible to attend free prekindergarten in the district under Section 29.153(b) is a student at the private provider and will be enrolled in the Texas School Ready Program.

(c) A school district that enters into a contract with the Children's Learning Institute and a private provider must agree under the contract to pay:

(1) during the first year of the contract:

(A) the cost to initially implement the Texas School Ready Program at the private provider, if the program has not previously been implemented; or

(B) the cost to administer the Texas School Ready Program at the private provider, if the program has previously been implemented; and

(2) during the subsequent years of the contract, the cost per year to administer the Texas School Ready Program at the private provider.

(d) The amount required to be paid by a school district under Subsection (c) for each contract during any year may not exceed the amount determined by the following formula:

G = EC x AFA

where:

(1) "G" is the greatest amount required to be paid;

(2) "EC" is the number of children eligible to attend free prekindergarten in the district under Section 29.153(b) who are enrolled in the Texas School Ready Program offered by the private provider during that year; and

(3) "AFA" is the average total funding amount for each prekindergarten student in the district during the preceding school year for maintenance and operations, including state and local funding, but excluding money from the available school fund, or, if the district did not operate a prekindergarten program during the preceding school year, an amount determined by the commissioner.

(e) Each eligible child certified to the school district under Subsection (b):

(1) is included in determining the average daily attendance under Section 42.005 of the district in which the student would otherwise attend school; and

(2) is considered to be enrolled in a prekindergarten class under Section 29.153 for purposes of Section 42.003(b).

(f) The commissioner by rule shall establish:

(1) the method for a private provider, in conjunction with the Children's Learning Institute, to apply to a school district for a contract;

(2) standards for a fair admissions policy of a Texas School Ready Program that a private provider must meet to be eligible for a contract with a district, including standards that:

(A) may give preference to a sibling of an enrolled student or to a child who resides in the same household as an enrolled student;

(B) prohibit refusal to enroll a child on the basis of the child's race, national origin, ethnic background, religion, or disability; and

(C) provide for a random method of selecting eligible students if a program has more applicants than available positions; and

(3) any additional requirements applicable to a contract between a private provider and a district, as determined by the commissioner.

(g) The agency shall contract with the Children's Learning Institute for the institute to provide technical assistance to a private provider in meeting the requirements necessary to be eligible to enter into a contract with a school district.

(h) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to administer this section.

SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2012, the commissioner of education shall adopt rules necessary to implement Section 29.1535, Education Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 3. Section 29.1535, Education Code, as added by this Act, applies beginning with the 2012-2013 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.