83R11838 EAH-D

By: Patrick S.B. No. 1407

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the establishment of the recovery school district.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 39, Education Code, is amended by adding Subchapter E-1 to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER E-1. RECOVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Sec. 39.131. ESTABLISHMENT OF RECOVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT. The recovery school district is established to provide an appropriate education for students attending any public elementary or secondary school campus operated under the prior jurisdiction of an independent school district that has been transferred to the jurisdiction of the district under Section 39.107(e).

Sec. 39.1311. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "prior system" means the independent school district of which a school transferred to the recovery school district is a part.

Sec. 39.1312. ADMINISTRATION OF RECOVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT. (a) The commissioner may contract with qualified individuals, government providers, or nonprofit providers to administer the recovery school district.

(b) The recovery school district may provide for the supervision, management, and operation of a school placed under the district's jurisdiction and may receive, control, and spend the local, state, and federal funding attributable to that school with all the same authority as the prior system from which the school was transferred.

(c) The recovery school district may apply to the commissioner for a waiver of any rule that inhibits or hinders the district's ability to provide appropriate education for students. The commissioner may not waive a rule related to:

(1) civil rights;

(2) health and safety;

(3) open meetings requirements under Chapter 551, Government Code;

(4) public information requirements under Chapter 552, Government Code;

(5) criminal history record information under Chapter 22;

(6) instructional time under Section 25.082(a);

(7) possession of a weapon under Section 37.007;

(8) immunization under Section 38.001;

(9) assessment instruments administered under Section 39.023(a), (b), (c), or (l);

(10) special education services;

(11) due process for students;

(12) parental rights; or

(13) accountability provisions.

Sec. 39.1313. SUNSET PROVISION. The recovery school district is subject to Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence as provided by that chapter, the district is abolished September 1, 2025.

Sec. 39.132. FINANCIAL POWERS. (a) The recovery school district may:

(1) seek, spend, manage, and retain federal funding and grant funding in the same manner as an independent school district;

(2) spend, manage, and retain funding with the same authority as an independent school district; and

(3) maintain and manage fund balances.

(b) The recovery school district may not impose an ad valorem tax.

(c) Expenditures of funds are subject to the requirements of the Foundation School Program formulas that apply to a public school and are subject to audit in the same manner.

Sec. 39.1321. PROCUREMENT. The recovery school district has the same authority and autonomy afforded to an independent school district under state law regarding the procurement of:

(1) services, including personal, professional, consulting, and social services; and

(2) property.

Sec. 39.133. MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS FUNDING. (a) The legislature shall annually appropriate sufficient money to fund each school in the recovery school district in an amount equal to the school's average daily attendance multiplied by the state share per student as provided under the Foundation School Program for the independent school district in which the school is located. The appropriation shall be made to the agency for the district and may be expended by the agency only for the provision of services to students in the district.

(b) In addition to the appropriation required by Subsection (a), the independent school district that had jurisdiction of a school before the school's transfer to the recovery school district shall annually allocate and transfer to the recovery school district an amount of money equal to the number of students in average daily attendance at the school multiplied by the per student amount received by the independent school district from maintenance and operations taxes, less the costs of assessing and collecting the taxes.

(c) For each school transferred to the jurisdiction of the recovery school district, the commissioner shall reduce the amount of state funds otherwise to be allocated under the Foundation School Program to the independent school district from which the school was transferred by an amount equal to the amount provided under Subsection (a) for that school.

(d) All amounts to be appropriated or allocated and transferred under this section shall be estimated by the commissioner based on the most recent local revenue data and projected student counts available. Allocations to be transferred shall be adjusted during the year as necessary to reflect actual student counts and actual prior year local revenue collections.

(e) Except for administrative costs, money appropriated to the recovery school district that is attributable to the transfer of a school from a prior system and money allocated or transferred from the prior system to the district may be expended solely on the operation of schools transferred from the prior system to the jurisdiction of the district.

Sec. 39.134. PERSONNEL. (a) The recovery school district may employ necessary staff members.

(b) At the time of the transfer of a school to the recovery school district, the district shall determine whether a certified teacher with regular and direct responsibility for providing classroom instruction who is employed in the transferred school by the prior system shall be employed in the same or a comparable position by the district. If a person employed by the prior system in a transferred school is not chosen for employment by the recovery school district, the person shall remain in the employment of the prior system and, in that case, the prior system shall retain and reassign such person consistent with its contractual obligations or policies regarding the retention and reassignment of employees.

(c) Benefits and privileges of a person employed in a school by the recovery school district who was employed by the prior system at the time the school was transferred to the district's jurisdiction shall be the same as those required by law for employees of the prior system.

(d) A person employed by the recovery school district in a school who was employed by the prior system at the time the school was transferred to the district's jurisdiction, for the purposes of permanent status and the retention on return to employment in the prior system of any employment benefit or right that requires continuous service or that becomes vested based on years of service, or both, shall be granted an approved leave of absence from the prior system for the period the school is under the jurisdiction of the recovery school district in order to be employed by the district. The period any employee is on such leave shall be considered service time by the prior system at any time the employee returns to the prior system's employment. Such approved leave shall not require the prior system to provide for benefits during the time the employee on leave is employed by the recovery school district.

(e) The benefits and privileges of any person employed in a school by the recovery school district who was not employed by the prior system at the time the school was transferred to the jurisdiction of the district shall be determined at the time of such employment by the district in compliance with any requirement of any applicable contract or requirement of law.

SECTION 2. The heading to Section 39.107, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 39.107. RECONSTITUTION; TRANSFER TO RECOVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT [, REPURPOSING, ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT, AND CLOSURE].

SECTION 3. Section 39.107, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (c), (e), and (e-1) and adding Subsections (e-4), (e-5), (e-6), (e-7), and (e-8) to read as follows:

(c) A campus subject to Subsection (a) shall implement the updated targeted improvement plan as approved by the commissioner. [The commissioner may appoint a monitor, conservator, management team, or board of managers to the district to ensure and oversee district-level support to low-performing campuses and the implementation of the updated targeted improvement plan. In making appointments under this subsection, the commissioner shall consider individuals who have demonstrated success in managing campuses with student populations similar to the campus at which the individual appointed will serve.]

(e) If a campus is considered to have an unacceptable performance rating for the school year [three consecutive school years] after the campus is reconstituted under Subsection (a), the commissioner, subject to Subsection (e-1) [or (e-2)], shall transfer the campus to the jurisdiction of the recovery school district established under Subchapter E-1 [order:

[(1) repurposing of the campus under this section;

[(2) alternative management of the campus under this section; or

[(3) closure of the campus].

(e-1) The commissioner may waive the requirement to transfer a campus [enter an order] under Subsection (e) for not more than one school year if the commissioner determines that, on the basis of significant improvement in student performance over the preceding two school years, the campus is likely to be assigned an acceptable performance rating for the following school year.

(e-4) A campus transferred to the jurisdiction of the recovery school district must remain under that district's jurisdiction for at least three school years. Following each school year, the commissioner shall, as provided by Section 39.108, review the school's progress toward meeting academic standards. After the second school year in which the campus is under the jurisdiction of the recovery school district, the commissioner shall develop a transition plan to return the campus to the jurisdiction of the district from which the campus was transferred if the commissioner finds that the campus:

(1) has met the requirements for acceptable performance under Section 39.054; or

(2) in each year in which the campus has been under the jurisdiction of the recovery school district, has made significant progress, as determined by commissioner rule, toward meeting the requirements for acceptable performance and is likely to be assigned an acceptable performance rating for the following school year.

(e-5) After the third year in which a campus under the jurisdiction of the recovery school district meets the requirements of Subsection (e-4)(1) or (2), the commissioner shall implement the transition plan developed under Subsection (e-4).

(e-6) The commissioner must return the campus to the jurisdiction of the district from which the campus was transferred if the campus meets the requirements of Subsection (e-4)(1) or (2) for five consecutive years.

(e-7) Notwithstanding Subsection (e), if an open-enrollment charter school during the first five years of operation is considered to have an unacceptable performance rating for two consecutive school years after the campus is reconstituted under Subsection (a), the commissioner, subject to Subsection (e-1), shall transfer the campus to the jurisdiction of the recovery school district established under Subchapter E-1.

(e-8) Notwithstanding this section or any other provision of law, the commissioner may return a campus to the jurisdiction of the district from which the campus was transferred at an earlier time determined by the commissioner.

SECTION 4. Sections 39.110 and 39.115, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

Sec. 39.110. COSTS PAID BY DISTRICT. The costs of providing a [monitor, conservator, management team,] campus intervention team, technical assistance team, [managing entity,] or service provider under this subchapter shall be paid by the district. If the district fails or refuses to pay the costs in a timely manner, the commissioner may:

(1) pay the costs using amounts withheld from any funds to which the district is otherwise entitled; or

(2) recover the amount of the costs in the manner provided for recovery of an overallocation of state funds under Section 42.258.

Sec. 39.115. CAMPUS NAME CHANGE PROHIBITED. In [reconstituting, repurposing, or] imposing any [other] intervention or sanction on a campus under this subchapter, the commissioner may not require that the name of the campus be changed.

SECTION 5. Section 39.152(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A school district or open-enrollment charter school that intends to challenge a decision by the commissioner under this chapter to transfer jurisdiction of a campus to the recovery school district [close the district or a district campus or the charter school or to pursue alternative management of a district campus or the charter school] must appeal the decision under the procedures provided for a contested case under Chapter 2001, Government Code.

SECTION 6. The following provisions of the Education Code are repealed:

(1) Sections 39.107(d), (e-2), (e-3), (f), (g), (h), (j), (k), (l), (m), (n), (o), (p), and (r); and

(2) Sections 39.111 and 39.112.

SECTION 7. The commissioner of education shall ensure that the recovery school district, as established under Subchapter E-1, Chapter 39, Education Code, as added by this Act, is prepared to begin operations with the 2014-2015 school year. For the 2013-2014 school year, the commissioner may impose any sanction under Section 39.107, Education Code, as that section existed before amendment by this Act. Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, any campus that meets the criteria for transfer to the jurisdiction of the recovery school district under Section 39.107(e), Education Code, as amended by this Act, shall be transferred to the district's jurisdiction.

SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.