Amend HB 4064 (senate committee printing) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ____. Section 11.1511, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The board may require a school district's chief business official or curriculum director or a person holding an equivalent position to appear at an executive session of the board or to testify at a public hearing held by the board. A superintendent may not interfere with an appearance or testimony required by the board under this subsection.
SECTION ____. Section 11.1512, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsections (c-1) and (g) to read as follows:
(c-1) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, a district shall provide a member of the board of trustees with information, documents, and records requested under Subsection (c) not later than the 20th business day after the date the district receives the request. The district may take a reasonable additional period of time, not to exceed the 30th business day after the date the district receives the request, to respond to a request if compliance by the 20th business day would be unduly burdensome given the amount, age, or location of the requested information. The district shall inform the trustee of the reason for the delay in providing the requested information and the date by which the information will be provided.
(g) A district shall create a policy on visits to a district campus or other facility by a member of the board of trustees of the district.
SECTION ____. Subchapter D, Chapter 11, Education Code, is amended by adding Sections 11.1515 and 11.1516 to read as follows:
Sec. 11.1515. OVERSIGHT OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT. The board of trustees of an independent school district or the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school shall provide oversight regarding student academic achievement and strategic leadership for maximizing student performance.
Sec. 11.1516. DISTRICT DATA ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT. (a) On request by the board of trustees of an independent school district, the agency shall create an Internet website that members of the board may use to review campus and district academic achievement data. The website must also be made available to campuses in a similar manner that access is provided to the board.
(b) The Internet website must:
(1) include district information, disaggregated by campus, grade, sex, race, academic quarter or semester, as applicable, and school year, regarding the following:
(A) student academic achievement and growth;
(B) teacher and student attendance; and
(C) student discipline records; and
(2) be updated at least once each quarter of the school year.
(c) The commissioner shall provide information that permits a board member to compare the district's academic performance with the academic performance of other districts of similar size and racial and economic demographics.
(d) A district must provide requested information to the commissioner for the creation of an Internet website under this section.
(e) Confidential information received by the commissioner under this section from a district remains confidential. The commissioner shall design the Internet website to ensure that:
(1) public information is made available to the public; and
(2) information submitted by districts noted as confidential is not made available to the public.
(f) A request for public information under this section shall be submitted to the district that provides the agency with the information. The agency may not release information submitted by a district that is noted as confidential information.
(g) The agency may contract with a private entity as necessary to implement this section.
(h) The commissioner may adopt rules for the implementation of this section.
SECTION ____. Section 11.159, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
(b) A trustee must complete any training required by the State Board of Education. The minutes of the last regular meeting of the board of trustees held before an election of trustees [during a calendar year] must reflect whether each trustee has met or is deficient [delinquent] in meeting the training required for the trustee [to be completed] as of the first anniversary of the date of the trustee's election or appointment [date of the meeting]. If the minutes reflect that a trustee is deficient, the district shall post the minutes on the district's Internet website within 10 business days of the meeting and maintain the posting until the trustee meets the requirements.
(c) The State Board of Education shall require a trustee to complete at least three hours of training every two years on evaluating student academic performance. The training must be research-based and designed to support the oversight role of the board of trustees under Section 11.1515. A candidate for trustee may complete the training up to one year before the candidate is elected. A new trustee shall complete the training within 120 days after the date of the trustee's election or appointment. A returning trustee shall complete the training by the second anniversary of the completion of the trustee's previous training.
(d) A trustee or candidate for trustee may complete training required under Subsection (c) at a regional education service center or through another authorized provider. A provider must certify the completion of the training by a trustee or candidate.
SECTION ____. Subchapter D, Chapter 11, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 11.182 to read as follows:
Sec. 11.182. BOARD IMPROVEMENT AND EVALUATION TOOL. (a) The commissioner shall develop a board of trustees improvement and evaluation tool. The evaluation tool must be research-based and designed to assist a school district in improving board oversight and academic achievement.
(b) A board of trustees may determine whether to use the evaluation tool, except as required by Section 39.102(a).
SECTION ____. Section 39.102(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) If a school district does not satisfy the accreditation criteria under Section 39.052, the academic performance standards under Section 39.053 or 39.054, or any financial accountability standard as determined by commissioner rule, or if considered appropriate by the commissioner on the basis of a special accreditation investigation under Section 39.057, the commissioner shall take any of the following actions to the extent the commissioner determines necessary:
(1) issue public notice of the deficiency to the board of trustees;
(2) order a hearing conducted by the board of trustees of the district for the purpose of notifying the public of the insufficient performance, the improvements in performance expected by the agency, and the interventions and sanctions that may be imposed under this section if the performance does not improve;
(3) order the preparation of a student achievement improvement plan that addresses each academic achievement indicator under Section 39.053(c) for which the district's performance is insufficient, the submission of the plan to the commissioner for approval, and implementation of the plan;
(4) order a hearing to be held before the commissioner or the commissioner's designee at which the president of the board of trustees of the district and the superintendent shall appear and explain the district's low performance, lack of improvement, and plans for improvement;
(5) arrange a monitoring review of the district;
(6) appoint an agency monitor to participate in and report to the agency on the activities of the board of trustees or the superintendent;
(7) appoint a conservator to oversee the operations of the district;
(8) appoint a management team to direct the operations of the district in areas of insufficient performance or require the district to obtain certain services under a contract with another person;
(9) if a district has a current accreditation status of accredited-warned or accredited-probation, fails to satisfy any standard under Section 39.054(e), or fails to satisfy financial accountability standards as determined by commissioner rule, appoint a board of managers to exercise the powers and duties of the board of trustees;
(10) if for two consecutive school years, including the current school year, a district has received an accreditation status of accredited-warned or accredited-probation, has failed to satisfy any standard under Section 39.054(e), or has failed to satisfy financial accountability standards as determined by commissioner rule, revoke the district's accreditation and:
(A) order closure of the district and annex the district to one or more adjoining districts under Section 13.054; or
(B) in the case of a home-rule school district or open-enrollment charter school, order closure of all programs operated under the district's or school's charter; [or]
(11) if a district has failed to satisfy any standard under Section 39.054(e) due to the district's dropout rates, impose sanctions designed to improve high school completion rates, including:
(A) ordering the development of a dropout prevention plan for approval by the commissioner;
(B) restructuring the district or appropriate school campuses to improve identification of and service to students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by Section 29.081;
(C) ordering lower student-to-counselor ratios on school campuses with high dropout rates; and
(D) ordering the use of any other intervention strategy effective in reducing dropout rates, including mentor programs and flexible class scheduling; or
(12) order the use of the board improvement and evaluation tool as provided by Section 11.182.
SECTION ____. Section 39.107(b-1), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b-1) A campus turnaround plan must include:
(1) a detailed description of the academic programs to be offered at the campus, including instructional methods, length of school day and school year, academic credit and promotion criteria, and programs to serve special student populations;
(2) the term of the charter, if a district charter is to be granted for the campus under Section 12.0522;
(3) written comments from the campus-level committee established under Section 11.251, if applicable, parents, and teachers at the campus; [and]
(4) a detailed description of the budget, staffing, and financial resources required to implement the plan, including any supplemental resources to be provided by the district or other identified sources; and
(5) a detailed description for developing and supporting the oversight of academic achievement and student performance by the board of trustees under Section 11.1515.
SECTION ____. A person serving on the board of trustees of a school district on the effective date of this Act must complete the training required by Section 11.159(c), Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than September 1, 2018.