Amend CSHB 21 (house committee report) as follows:

(1)  On page 1, line 4, strike "Section 11.158(a), Education Code, is" and substitute "Sections 11.158(a) and (h), Education Code, are".

(2)  On page 2, line 22, after the semicolon, insert "or".

(3)  On page 2, strike lines 23-27, and substitute the following:

(14)  [a reasonable fee for transportation of a student who lives within two miles of the school the student attends to and from that school, except that the board may not charge a fee for transportation for which the school district receives funds under Section 42.155(d);

(4)  On page 3, line 1, strike "(15)" and substitute "[(15)]".

(5)  On page 3, between lines 11 and 12, insert the following:

(h)  For a fee charged under Subsection (a)(14) [(a)(15)], the school district must provide a written form to be signed by the student's legal guardian stating that this fee would not create a financial hardship or discourage the student from attending the program. The school district may only assess the fee if the student returns the signed form.

SECTION 2.  Sections 25.092(b) and (f), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b)  The board of trustees of each school district shall appoint one or more attendance committees to hear petitions for class credit or a final grade by students who are in attendance fewer than the number of days required under Subsection (a) and have not earned class credit or a final grade under Subsection (a-1).  Classroom teachers shall comprise a majority of the membership of the committee.  A committee may give class credit or a final grade to a student because of extenuating circumstances.  Each board of trustees shall establish guidelines to determine what constitutes extenuating circumstances and shall adopt policies establishing alternative ways for students to make up work or regain credit or a final grade lost because of absences.  The alternative ways must include at least one option that does not require a student to pay a fee authorized under Section 11.158(a)(14) [11.158(a)(15)].  A certified public school employee may not be assigned additional instructional duties as a result of this section outside of the regular workday unless the employee is compensated for the duties at a reasonable rate of pay.

(f)  The availability of the option developed under Subsection (b) must be substantially the same as the availability of the educational program developed under Section 11.158(a)(14) [11.158(a)(15)].

(6)  Renumber existing SECTIONS of the bill accordingly.