| TO: | Honorable Dan Patrick, Chair, Senate Committee on Education |
| FROM: | Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB742 by Strama (Relating to measures to evaluate and improve student participation and performance in public schools and open-enrollment charter schools, including a grant program for certain school districts to provide summer instruction primarily for students who are educationally disadvantaged.), As Engrossed |
The fiscal implications of the bill cannot be determined at this time because the bill does not specify a methodology for determining grant awards, and the number of districts that could qualify is too large to estimate the population that could potentially be served.
| Fiscal Year | Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds |
|---|---|
| 2014 | ($246,123) |
| 2015 | ($359,555) |
| 2016 | ($109,555) |
| 2017 | ($209,555) |
| 2018 | ($109,555) |
| Fiscal Year | Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1 |
|---|---|
| 2014 | ($246,123) |
| 2015 | ($359,555) |
| 2016 | ($109,555) |
| 2017 | ($209,555) |
| 2018 | ($109,555) |
| Fiscal Year | Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2013 |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 1.0 |
| 2015 | 1.0 |
| 2016 | 1.0 |
| 2017 | 1.0 |
| 2018 | 1.0 |
The bill would require the Commissioner of Education to prepare a report that compiles information submitted by school districts and open-enrollment charter schools related to the number of hours students spend on various activities.
The bill would create a grant program for districts to provide summer instruction to primarily educationally disadvantaged students. The program would be limited to not more than 10 school districts to use in providing instructional programs to students in prekindergarten through grade 8 during the period in which school is recessed for the summer.
The bill would require each participating district to submit a report to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on its participation in the program.
The bill would require TEA to contract with an evaluator to determine the effectiveness of the program.
The bill would require TEA to compare the performance of districts participating in the grant program created by the bill to districts which are not participating in the grant program.
TEA indicates that one full-time equivalent would be required to administer the program and provide technical assistance to applicants and grant applicants at a cost of $85,413 in fiscal year 2014 and $77,413 in subsequent years including salary, benefits, and other operating expenses.
TEA indicates that the evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the program would cost an estimated $250,000 in fiscal year 2015 and $100,000 in fiscal year 2017.
TEA indicates that the Public Education Information Management System would need to be updated to allow school districts to report data on the number of hours students spent on various activities at an estimated cost of $160,710 in fiscal year 2014 and $32,142 in subsequent fiscal years.
Based on information provided by TEA, 875 school districts and open-enrollment charter schools could qualify for the grant program by having more than 50 percent educationally disadvantaged students enrolled. Since the bill would provide each district with considerable flexibility in how the program would be implemented, including whether to provide the program on a full-day or half-day basis, and whether to make the program voluntary or mandatory for educationally disadvantaged students, the fiscal implications of the bill cannot be determined at this time.
| Source Agencies: | 701 Central Education Agency
|
| LBB Staff: | UP, JBi, JSc, AH
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