BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	C.S.S.B. 2080
	By: Taylor, Larry
	Education
	4/12/2017
	Committee Report (Substituted)

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

School districts and charter schools that serve students with disabilities who reside in residential facilities (RFs) are required to submit a report to the Texas Education Agency called an RF tracker report. An RF is a facility that provides 24-hour care to students who reside there for detention, treatment, foster care, or any non-educational purpose. Students are often in RFs because it is safer than their home environment. These reports are time consuming and schools either have to hire additional staff to complete the report or pull existing staff from student support services to compile the report.

However, as most of the information required for the report is already available in the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS), interested parties hold that the process can be streamlined and made more cost-effective by adding a new PEIMS code for students with disabilities who reside in RFs. S.B. 2080 requires school districts to include how many of their students have disabilities and are required to be tracked by the residential facility monitoring system in their PEIMS reports. The code would automatically pull the information requested for the RF tracker report and save schools time and money. If enacted, S.B. 2080 will apply beginning in the 2017 school year. (Original Author�s / Sponsor�s Statement of Intent)

C.S.S.B. 2080 amends current law relating to a requirement that school districts and open-enrollment charter schools report certain information regarding children with disabilities who reside in residential facilities.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

Rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the commissioner of education in SECTION 1 (Section 29.012, Education Code) of this bill.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 29.012, Education Code, by adding Subsection (c-1) to require the commissioner of education, by rule, to require each school district and open-enrollment charter school to include in the district's or school's Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) report the number of children with disabilities residing in a residential facility who  are required to be tracked by the Residential Facility Monitoring (RFM) System and receive educational services from the district or school.

SECTION 2. Provides that this Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018 school year.

SECTION 3. Provides that this Act takes effect only if a specific appropriation for the implementation of the Act is provided in a general appropriations act of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017.

SECTION 4. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2017.