BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 109

By: Martinez

Public Education

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

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.

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

H.B. 109 amends the Education Code to prohibit an open-enrollment charter school from providing student instruction on Memorial Day. The bill requires the commissioner of education to approve the instruction of students for fewer than the minimum number of minutes school districts are required to operate each school year if a charter school 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. The bill applies beginning with the 2019-2020 school year.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2019.