82R6407 KKA-D

By: Patrick S.B. No. 443

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to measures intended to provide flexibility and cost savings to school districts.

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

SECTION 1. Section 21.058, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsections (c-1) and (e) to read as follows:

(a) The procedures described by Subsection (b) apply [This section applies] only:

(1) to conviction of a felony offense under Title 5, Penal Code, or an offense on conviction of which a defendant is required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure; and

(2) if the victim of the offense is under 18 years of age.

(c) A school district or open-enrollment charter school that receives notice under Subsection (b) of the revocation of a certificate issued under this subchapter or otherwise becomes aware that a person employed by the district or school who holds a certificate under this subchapter has been convicted of a felony not described by Subsection (a) shall:

(1) immediately remove the person [whose certificate has been revoked] from campus or from an administrative office, as applicable, to prevent the person from having any contact with a student, if the person's certificate was revoked under Subsection (b); [and]

(2) if the person is employed under a probationary, continuing, or term contract under this chapter and was convicted of a felony:

(A) suspend the person without pay;

(B) provide the person with written notice that the person's contract is void in accordance with Subsection (c-1); and

(C) as soon as practicable, terminate the person's employment; and

(3) if the person is not subject to action under Subdivision (2) [as soon as practicable], terminate the employment of the person as soon as practicable in accordance with the person's contract and with this subchapter.

(c-1) A person's probationary, continuing, or term contract under this chapter is void if the employee is convicted of a felony.

(e) Action taken by a school district under Subsection (c)(2) is not subject to appeal under this chapter, and the notice and hearing requirements of this chapter do not apply to the action.

SECTION 2. Section 25.112(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Except as otherwise authorized by this section, a school district may not enroll more than a district-wide average of 21 [22] students in [a] kindergarten, first, second, third, and [or] fourth grade classes [class]. That limitation does not apply during:

(1) any 12-week period of the school year selected by the district, in the case of a district whose average daily attendance is adjusted under Section 42.005(c); or

(2) the last 12 weeks of any school year in the case of any other district.

SECTION 3. Section 28.0211, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (a-2), (d), (e), and (f) and adding Subsections (a-4) and (c-1) to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-4), (b), or (e), a student may not be promoted to:

(1) the sixth grade program to which the student would otherwise be assigned if the student does not perform satisfactorily on the fifth grade mathematics and reading assessment instruments under Section 39.023; or

(2) the ninth grade program to which the student would otherwise be assigned if the student does not perform satisfactorily on the eighth grade mathematics and reading assessment instruments under Section 39.023.

(a-2) A student who fails to perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a) and who is promoted to the next grade level must complete accelerated instruction required under Subsection (a-1) before placement in the next grade level. A student who fails to complete required accelerated instruction, other than a student described by Subsection (a-4), may not be promoted.

(a-4) Subsection (a)(2) does not apply to an eighth grade student who has completed and received a passing final grade for mathematics or English language arts course work:

(1) that the student has taken for credit toward high school graduation; and

(2) that is relevant to the eighth grade mathematics or reading assessment instrument, as applicable, under Section 39.023, on which the student has failed to perform satisfactorily.

(c-1) Accelerated instruction required under Subsection (c) after a student fails to perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument a third time is not required to commence until the beginning of the next school year.

(d) In addition to providing accelerated instruction to a student under Subsection (c), the district shall notify the student's parent or guardian of:

(1) the student's failure to perform satisfactorily on the assessment instrument;

(2) the accelerated instruction program to which the student is assigned; and

(3) except in the case of a student described by Subsection (a-4), the possibility that the student might be retained at the same grade level for the next school year.

(e) A student, other than a student described by Subsection (a-4), who, after at least three attempts, fails to perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a) shall be retained at the same grade level for the next school year in accordance with Subsection (a). The student's parent or guardian may appeal the student's retention by submitting a request to the grade placement committee established under Subsection (c). The school district shall give the parent or guardian written notice of the opportunity to appeal. The grade placement committee may decide in favor of a student's promotion only if the committee concludes, using standards adopted by the board of trustees, that if promoted and given accelerated instruction, the student is likely to perform at grade level. A student may not be promoted on the basis of the grade placement committee's decision unless that decision is unanimous. The commissioner by rule shall establish a time line for making the placement determination. This subsection does not create a property interest in promotion. The decision of the grade placement committee is final and may not be appealed.

(f) A school district shall provide to a student who, after three attempts, has failed to perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a) accelerated instruction commencing at the beginning of [during] the next school year as prescribed by an educational plan developed for the student by the student's grade placement committee established under Subsection (c). The district shall provide that accelerated instruction regardless of whether the student has been promoted or retained. The educational plan must be designed to enable the student to perform at the appropriate grade level by the conclusion of the school year. During the school year, the student shall be monitored to ensure that the student is progressing in accordance with the plan. The district shall administer to the student the assessment instrument for the grade level in which the student is placed at the time the district regularly administers the assessment instruments for that school year.

SECTION 4. Sections 29.060(a) and (e), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) A [Each] school district may [that is required to offer a bilingual education or special language program shall] offer a voluntary program for children of limited English proficiency who will be eligible for admission to kindergarten or the first grade at the beginning of the next school year. A school that operates on a system permitted by this code other than a semester system shall, if the district elects to offer a voluntary program under this section, offer 120 hours of instruction on a schedule the board of trustees of the district establishes. A school that operates on a semester system shall, if the district elects to offer a voluntary program under this section, offer the program:

(1) during the period school is recessed for the summer; and

(2) for one-half day for eight weeks or on a similar schedule approved by the board of trustees.

(e) The programs [required or] authorized by this section may not be a substitute for programs required to be provided during the regular school year.

SECTION 5. Sections 39.232(a) and (d), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a school campus or district that is rated as recognized or exemplary under Subchapter G is exempt from requirements and prohibitions imposed under this code including rules adopted under this code.

(d) The commissioner may exempt a [an exemplary] school campus that is rated as recognized or exemplary under Subchapter G from elementary class size limits under this section if the school campus submits to the commissioner a written plan showing steps that will be taken to ensure that the exemption from the class size limits will not be harmful to the academic achievement of the students on the school campus. The commissioner shall review achievement levels annually. The exemption remains in effect until the commissioner determines that achievement levels of the campus have declined.

SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012 school year.

SECTION 7. 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.