Honorable Jimmie Don Aycock, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3970 by Keffer (Relating to an optional bad weather policy for public schools.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would allow the board of trustees of each school district that exceeds a seven-hour day by at least one half hour daily for the full academic year to adopt a policy to credit the additional time to the 180-day academic year. The excess time could be accumulated to add up to a maximum of 10 days each year for days missed due to dangerous or extreme weather. School districts would be required to notify the Commissioner of Education in writing when they credited each day. The days credited in accordance with these provisions must be included in the quotient for calculating average daily attendance (ADA).
The Texas Education Agency estimates there would be a minimal cost associated with implementing the provisions of the bill.
Local Government Impact
School districts that elect to extend school days to allow for extra time to be counted for purposes of make-up days may be required to update vendor or locally developed Student Information Systems (SISs). There may be other adjustments required to annual data reporting to the TEA. It is assumed that most administrative costs to update local SISs would be voluntary for districts electing to change the length of the school day.