BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	H.B. 109
86R1912 MEW-D	By: Martinez (Hinojosa)
	Education
	5/4/2019
	Engrossed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

Interested parties note that Memorial Day is one of the most important holidays that Americans celebrate and contend that the men and women who died while serving in the armed forces deserve more recognition. Acknowledging this need, the Texas Legislature recently prohibited student instruction on Memorial Day in traditional public schools.

H.B. 109 seeks to honor these men and women by extending that prohibition to open-enrollment charter schools. 

H.B. 109 amends current law relating to the operation of open-enrollment charter schools on Memorial Day.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 25.081(f), Education Code, as added by Chapter 1144 (H.B. 441), Acts of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, as follows:

(f) Prohibits a school district or open-enrollment charter school, rather than a school district, from providing student instruction on Memorial Day. Requires the commissioner of education (commissioner), if a school district or open‑enrollment charter school, rather than a school district, would be required to provide student instruction on Memorial Day to compensate for minutes of instruction lost because of school closures caused by disaster, flood, extreme weather conditions, fuel curtailment, or another calamity, to approve the instruction of students for fewer than the number of minutes required under Subsection (a) (relating to the requiring each school district to operate for at least 75,600 minutes, with certain exceptions).

SECTION 2. Makes application of this Act prospective to the 2019�2020 school year.

SECTION 3. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2019.