BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 279 |
By: Simmons |
Public Education |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Parents of a special needs child face many challenges, especially regarding the child's education. Interested parties note that special education services and techniques vary between schools and school districts, and many families are forced to move so that a child in the family can receive the best possible education and special education services. The parties contend that a family should not have to move to achieve those goals and that, often, the school a parent would prefer that the child attend is close to the family's home, within the same school district, or in a neighboring school district or county.
Currently, only students attending certain underperforming schools are eligible under the public education grant program to receive a grant or to attend another public school in the district in which the student resides. C.S.H.B. 279 seeks to expand eligibility for the program.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 279 amends the Education Code to extend eligibility under the public education grant program for a student to receive a public education grant or attend another public school in the district in which the student resides to a student who is in kindergarten through grade 12 and eligible to participate in a school district's special education program and who is the subject of an individualized education program. The bill specifies that a student who establishes eligibility in such a manner remains eligible until the earlier of the date the student graduates from high school or the student's 22nd birthday.
C.S.H.B. 279 includes students who are eligible under the bill's provisions for the grant program among those to whom a school district is required to give priority if the district has more acceptable grant program applicants for attendance than available positions. The bill requires the school district such a student attends, if the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee determines based on the student's individualized education program that the student requires transportation and the student attends another public school in the district in which the student resides or in a district adjacent to that district, to provide the student transportation free of charge in the manner provided under the student's individualized education program. The bill requires the school district in which such a student resides, if the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee determines based on the student's individualized education program that the student does not require transportation and if the student attends a school in another district under the grant program, to provide the student transportation free of charge to and from the school the student would otherwise attend. The bill requires a school district, in accordance with commissioner of education rule, to notify the parent of each student in the district eligible under the bill's provisions for the grant program of the student's eligibility as soon as possible after the student establishes eligibility. The bill applies beginning with the 2015–2016 school year.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 279 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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