84R2420 AAF-D
 
  By: Farney H.B. No. 3748
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the coordination of educational support services for
  and information regarding students who are currently or were
  formerly placed in foster care.
         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 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;
               (13)  designating at least one agency employee to act
  as a liaison officer regarding educational issues related to
  students in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and
  Protective Services; and
               (14) [(10)]  providing other assistance as identified
  by the agency.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 51.9356 to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.9356.  DESIGNATION OF LIAISON OFFICER TO ASSIST
  STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. (a) In this section,
  "institution of higher education" has the meaning assigned by
  Section 61.003. 
         (b)  Each institution of higher education shall designate at
  least one employee of the institution to act as a liaison officer
  for current and incoming students at the institution who were
  formerly in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and
  Protective Services. The liaison officer shall provide to those
  students information regarding support services and other
  resources available to the students at the institution and any
  other relevant information to assist the students.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Sections 61.0908 and 61.0909 to read as follows:
         Sec. 61.0908.  DESIGNATION OF LIAISON OFFICER TO ASSIST
  STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. The board shall designate at
  least one employee of the board to act as a liaison officer for
  current and incoming students at institutions of higher education
  who were formerly in the conservatorship of the Department of
  Family and Protective Services. The liaison officer shall assist
  in coordinating college readiness and student success efforts
  relating to those students.
         Sec. 61.0909.  MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REGARDING
  EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. (a)
  In this section, "department" means the Department of Family and
  Protective Services.
         (b) The board and the department shall enter into a
  memorandum of understanding regarding the exchange of information
  as appropriate to facilitate the department's evaluation of
  educational outcomes of students at institutions of higher
  education who were formerly in the conservatorship of the
  department. The memorandum of understanding must require:
               (1)  the department to provide the board each year with
  demographic information regarding individual students enrolled at
  institutions of higher education who were formerly in the
  conservatorship of the department following an adversarial hearing
  under Section 262.201, Family Code; and
               (2)  the board, in a manner consistent with federal
  law, to provide the department with aggregate information
  regarding educational outcomes of students for whom the board
  received demographic information under Subdivision (1).
         (c)  For purposes of Subsection (b)(2), information
  regarding educational outcomes includes information relating to
  student academic achievement, graduation rates, attendance, and
  other educational outcomes as determined by the board and the
  department.
         (d)  The department may authorize the board to provide
  education research centers established under Section 1.005 with
  demographic information regarding individual students received by
  the board in accordance with Subsection (b)(1), as appropriate to
  allow the centers to perform additional analysis regarding
  educational outcomes of students in foster care. Any use of
  information regarding individual students provided to a center
  under this subsection must be approved by the department.
         (e)  Nothing in this section may be construed to:
               (1)  require the board or the department to collect or
  maintain additional information regarding students formerly in the
  conservatorship of the department; or
               (2)  allow the release of information regarding an
  individual student in a manner not permitted under the Family
  Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section
  1232g) or another state or federal law.
         SECTION 4.  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
  and the Department of Family and Protective Services shall enter
  into the memorandum of understanding required by Section 61.0909,
  Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1,
  2016.
         SECTION 5.  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 6.  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, 2015.