By: Naishtat (Senate Sponsor - West) H.B. No. 1804
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 2015;
  April 28, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Health
  and Human Services; May 22, 2015, reported favorably by the
  following vote:  Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 22, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to notice by campuses and open-enrollment charter schools
  about events that may significantly impact the education of certain
  foster children.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 25.007(b), Education Code, as amended by
  Chapters 688 (H.B. 2619) and 1354 (S.B. 1404), Acts of the 83rd
  Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, is reenacted and amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  In recognition of the challenges faced by students in
  substitute care, the agency shall assist the transition of
  substitute care students from one school to another by:
               (1)  ensuring that school records for a student in
  substitute care are transferred to the student's new school not
  later than the 10th working day after the date the student begins
  enrollment at the school;
               (2)  developing systems to ease transition of a student
  in substitute care during the first two weeks of enrollment at a new
  school;
               (3)  developing procedures for awarding credit,
  including partial credit if appropriate, for course work, including
  electives, completed by a student in substitute care while enrolled
  at another school;
               (4)  promoting practices that facilitate access by a
  student in substitute care to extracurricular programs, summer
  programs, credit transfer services, electronic courses provided
  under Chapter 30A, and after-school tutoring programs at nominal or
  no cost;
               (5)  establishing procedures to lessen the adverse
  impact of the movement of a student in substitute care to a new
  school;
               (6)  entering into a memorandum of understanding with
  the Department of Family and Protective Services regarding the
  exchange of information as appropriate to facilitate the transition
  of students in substitute care from one school to another;
               (7)  encouraging school districts and open-enrollment
  charter schools to provide services for a student in substitute
  care in transition when applying for admission to postsecondary
  study and when seeking sources of funding for postsecondary study;
               (8)  requiring school districts, campuses, and
  open-enrollment charter schools to accept a referral for special
  education services made for a student in substitute care by a school
  previously attended by the student;
               (9)  requiring school districts, campuses, and
  open-enrollment charter schools to provide notice to the child's
  educational decision-maker and caseworker regarding events that
  may significantly impact the education of a child, including:
                     (A)  requests or referrals for an evaluation under
  Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794), or
  special education under Section 29.003;
                     (B)  admission, review, and dismissal committee
  meetings;
                     (C)  manifestation determination reviews required
  by Section 37.004(b);
                     (D)  any disciplinary actions under Chapter 37 for
  which parental notice is required;
                     (E)  citations issued for Class C misdemeanor
  offenses on school property or at school-sponsored activities;
                     (F)  reports of restraint and seclusion required
  by Section 37.0021; and
                     (G)  use of corporal punishment as provided by
  Section 37.0011; [and]
               (10)  developing procedures for allowing a student in
  substitute care who was previously enrolled in a course required
  for graduation the opportunity, to the extent practicable, to
  complete the course, at no cost to the student, before the beginning
  of the next school year;
               (11)  ensuring that a student in substitute care who is
  not likely to receive a high school diploma before the fifth school
  year following the student's enrollment in grade nine, as
  determined by the district, has the student's course credit accrual
  and personal graduation plan reviewed; [and]
               (12)  ensuring that a student in substitute care who is
  in grade 11 or 12 be provided information regarding tuition and fee
  exemptions under Section 54.366 for dual-credit or other courses
  provided by a public institution of higher education for which a
  high school student may earn joint high school and college credit;
  and
               (13) [(10)]  providing other assistance as identified
  by the agency.
         SECTION 2.  Section 25.007(b), Education Code, as amended by
  this Act, applies beginning with the 2015-2016 school year.
         SECTION 3.  To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
  over another Act of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015,
  relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
  codes.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
 
  * * * * *