85R11708 PAM-F

By: Menéndez S.B. No. 1373

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the applicability of municipal zoning ordinances to certain open-enrollment charter schools.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 12.103, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (d), (e), and (f) to read as follows:

(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) and except as provided by Subsection (d), a campus of an open-enrollment charter school located in whole or in part in a municipality with a population of 20,000 or less is not subject to a municipal zoning ordinance governing public schools.

(d) Subsection (c) does not apply to a campus of an open-enrollment charter school located wholly or partly in a municipality adjacent to or surrounded by a municipality that:

(1) has a population of one million or more; and

(2) is primarily located in a county with a population of 1.5 million or more.

(e) A municipality exempt from the application of Subsection (c) under Subsection (d) may not impose a municipal zoning ordinance governing public schools on an open-enrollment charter school that:

(1) was located in the municipality on September 1, 2017; or

(2) was planned for a location in the municipality before September 1, 2017, provided that:

(A) one or more licenses, certificates, permits, approvals, or other forms of authorization by the municipality were required by law for the planned location; and

(B) a completed application for the initial authorization was filed with the municipality before September 1, 2017.

(f) For purposes of Subsection (e)(2)(B), a completed application is filed if the application includes all documents and other information designated as required by the municipality in a written notice to the applicant.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.