BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 1152

By: Menéndez

Public Education

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

According to interested parties, providing for an excused absence from school attendance for students engaging in the process to enlist in a branch of the United States armed services or the Texas National Guard would be beneficial. S.B. 1152 seeks to allow excused absences for that purpose.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 1152 amends the Education Code to require a public school district to excuse a student who is 17 years of age or older from attending school to pursue enlistment in a branch of the United States armed services or the Texas National Guard, provided that the district may not excuse for this purpose more than four days of school during the period the student is enrolled in high school and the district verifies the student's activities related to pursuing enlistment. The bill requires each school district to adopt procedures for such verification and to adopt, not later than
October 1, 2017, a policy for such verification. The bill includes an excused absence for pursuit of military enlistment among the excused absences for which a student may not be penalized and which must be counted as if the student attended school for purposes of calculating the average daily attendance and among the excused absences for which a student is required to be allowed reasonable time to make up missed school work. The bill applies beginning with the 2017-2018 school year.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2017.