| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to revision of open-enrollment charter school charters to |
|
|
add charter schools under certain circumstances. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 12.1141 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 12.1141. REVISION: ADDING SCHOOLS UNDER CERTAIN |
|
|
CIRCUMSTANCES. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the |
|
|
commissioner may not deny approval for a charter holder to add one |
|
|
or more additional open-enrollment charter schools under an |
|
|
existing open-enrollment charter granted to the charter holder if: |
|
|
(1) the charter holder meets all criteria established |
|
|
by rule for adding a charter school under an existing charter other |
|
|
than criteria for performance based on dropout and completion rates |
|
|
of one or more existing charter schools under the charter and those |
|
|
criteria would be met if: |
|
|
(A) a student enrolled at a charter school for 45 |
|
|
or fewer school days were not considered a dropout; and |
|
|
(B) a student who graduates from a charter school |
|
|
before or during the student's sixth year of high school were |
|
|
considered a high school graduate; and |
|
|
(2) each additional charter school: |
|
|
(A) will serve only high school students; and |
|
|
(B) will be in the geographical area described |
|
|
for the charter under Section 12.111(a)(14). |
|
|
(b) The commissioner may, in accordance with commissioner |
|
|
rule, limit the number of additional charter schools approved under |
|
|
Subsection (a) or limit the enrollment of an additional charter |
|
|
school as necessary to conform to the capacity limits of the charter |
|
|
holder or the demand for services in the geographical area, as |
|
|
determined by the commissioner, but may not limit the enrollment of |
|
|
an additional charter school to less than the number of students |
|
|
currently enrolled at the high school level at a charter school |
|
|
operated by the charter holder that focuses on dropout recovery. |
|
|
SECTION 2. 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. |