Honorable Jimmie Don Aycock, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB731 by Lucio III (Relating to participation of certain school districts in the three-year high school diploma plan pilot program.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill's provisions would expand the three-year high school diploma plan pilot program to include the following independent school districts (ISDs) in Cameron County: Brownsville ISD, Harlingen CISD, La Feria ISD, Los Fresnos CISD, Point Isabel ISD, Rio Hondo ISD, San Benito CISD, Santa Maria ISD, Santa Rosa ISD, and South Texas ISD.
Based on the analysis of the Texas Education Agency, the bill would not have significant fiscal implications for the Foundation School Program (FSP), as the funding paid for the additional prekindergarten students would be offset by the savings resulting from not paying for an additional year of high school attendance for students graduating under the three-year plan.
TEA anticipates any additional work resulting from the passage of the bill could be reasonably absorbed within current resources.
Local Government Impact
ISDs in Cameron County could choose to develop and implement a three-year high school diploma plan, with the approval of the commissioner. These ISDs would likely incur costs to develop the curriculum for a three-year diploma plan. However, the costs would be voluntary. For every student that graduated under the three-year plan in the preceding year, ISDs would receive full-day pre-kindergarten funding for two pre-kindergarten students.