86R12304 KJE-D

By: Fallon S.B. No. 2201

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to local goals for public education and governance of local school districts.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 11, Education Code, is amended by adding Sections 11.0595 and 11.0596 to read as follows:

Sec. 11.0595. TERM LIMITS. The board of trustees of an independent school district by resolution may:

(1) limit the number of terms that trustees may serve, subject to Section 11.0596, if applicable; or

(2) remove a limit on the number of terms that trustees may serve other than a limit prescribed by Section 11.0596, if applicable.

Sec. 11.0596. TERM LIMITS FOR TRUSTEES OF CERTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICTS. (a) This section applies only to a school district with an enrollment of 20,000 or more students.

(b) A trustee of a school district to which this section applies may serve for a maximum of, as applicable:

(1) three three-year terms; or

(2) two four-year terms.

SECTION 2. Section 11.252(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Each school district shall have a district improvement plan that is developed, evaluated, and revised annually, in accordance with district policy, by the superintendent with the assistance of the district-level committee established under Section 11.251. The purpose of the district improvement plan is to guide district and campus staff in the improvement of student performance for all student groups in order to attain state standards in respect to the achievement indicators adopted under Section 39.053(c). The district improvement plan must be aligned with the student outcomes plans developed under Section 11.2522 and include provisions for:

(1) a comprehensive needs assessment addressing district student performance on the achievement indicators, and other appropriate measures of performance, that are disaggregated by all student groups served by the district, including categories of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sex, and populations served by special programs, including students in special education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 29;

(2) measurable district performance objectives for all appropriate achievement indicators for all student populations, including students in special education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, and other measures of student performance that may be identified through the comprehensive needs assessment;

(3) strategies for improvement of student performance that include:

(A) instructional methods for addressing the needs of student groups not achieving their full potential;

(B) methods for addressing the needs of students for special programs, including:

(i) suicide prevention programs, in accordance with Subchapter O-1, Chapter 161, Health and Safety Code, which includes a parental or guardian notification procedure;

(ii) conflict resolution programs;

(iii) violence prevention programs; and

(iv) dyslexia treatment programs;

(C) dropout reduction;

(D) integration of technology in instructional and administrative programs;

(E) discipline management;

(F) staff development for professional staff of the district;

(G) career education to assist students in developing the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary for a broad range of career opportunities; and

(H) accelerated education;

(4) strategies for providing to middle school, junior high school, and high school students, those students' teachers and school counselors, and those students' parents information about:

(A) higher education admissions and financial aid opportunities;

(B) the TEXAS grant program and the Teach for Texas grant program established under Chapter 56;

(C) the need for students to make informed curriculum choices to be prepared for success beyond high school; and

(D) sources of information on higher education admissions and financial aid;

(5) resources needed to implement identified strategies;

(6) staff responsible for ensuring the accomplishment of each strategy;

(7) timelines for ongoing monitoring of the implementation of each improvement strategy;

(8) formative evaluation criteria for determining periodically whether strategies are resulting in intended improvement of student performance; and

(9) the policy under Section 38.0041 addressing sexual abuse and other maltreatment of children.

SECTION 3. Subchapter F, Chapter 11, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 11.2522 to read as follows:

Sec. 11.2522. STUDENT OUTCOMES PLANS. (a) In addition to the district improvement plan developed under Section 11.252, each school district shall develop one-year, three-year, and five-year plans for improving student outcomes in reading, mathematics, and any other area identified by the district.

(b) Each plan developed under Subsection (a) must identify student achievement goals for the district and each campus in the district for each of the following demographic categories:

(1) household income;

(2) native language;

(3) ethnicity;

(4) gender; and

(5) any other demographic category identified by the commissioner.

(c) Not later than September 1 of each year, each school district shall submit to the agency and post on the district's Internet website a report assessing the progress of the district and each campus in the district toward achieving the goals identified in the district's plans developed under Subsection (a).

(d) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.

SECTION 4. Section 11.253(d), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(d) Each campus improvement plan must be aligned with the student outcomes plans developed under Section 11.2522 and:

(1) assess the academic achievement for each student in the school using the achievement indicator system as described by Section 39.053;

(2) set the campus performance objectives based on the achievement indicator system, including objectives for special needs populations, including students in special education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 29;

(3) identify how the campus goals will be met for each student;

(4) determine the resources needed to implement the plan;

(5) identify staff needed to implement the plan;

(6) set timelines for reaching the goals;

(7) measure progress toward the performance objectives periodically to ensure that the plan is resulting in academic improvement;

(8) include goals and methods for violence prevention and intervention on campus;

(9) provide for a program to encourage parental involvement at the campus; and

(10) if the campus is an elementary, middle, or junior high school, set goals and objectives for the coordinated health program at the campus based on:

(A) student fitness assessment data, including any data from research-based assessments such as the school health index assessment and planning tool created by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;

(B) student academic performance data;

(C) student attendance rates;

(D) the percentage of students who are educationally disadvantaged;

(E) the use and success of any method to ensure that students participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity as required by Section 28.002(l); and

(F) any other indicator recommended by the local school health advisory council.

SECTION 5. Section 12.104(b), Education Code, as amended by Chapters 324 (S.B. 1488), 522 (S.B. 179), and 735 (S.B. 1153), Acts of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(b) An open-enrollment charter school is subject to:

(1) a provision of this title establishing a criminal offense; and

(2) a prohibition, restriction, or requirement, as applicable, imposed by this title or a rule adopted under this title, relating to:

(A) the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) to the extent necessary to monitor compliance with this subchapter as determined by the commissioner;

(B) criminal history records under Subchapter C, Chapter 22;

(C) reading instruments and accelerated reading instruction programs under Section 28.006;

(D) accelerated instruction under Section 28.0211;

(E) high school graduation requirements under Section 28.025;

(F) special education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 29;

(G) bilingual education under Subchapter B, Chapter 29;

(H) prekindergarten programs under Subchapter E or E-1, Chapter 29;

(I) extracurricular activities under Section 33.081;

(J) discipline management practices or behavior management techniques under Section 37.0021;

(K) health and safety under Chapter 38;

(L) public school accountability under Subchapters B, C, D, F, G, and J, Chapter 39, and Chapter 39A;

(M) the requirement under Section 21.006 to report an educator's misconduct;

(N) intensive programs of instruction under Section 28.0213;

(O) the right of a school employee to report a crime, as provided by Section 37.148; [and]

(P) bullying prevention policies and procedures under Section 37.0832;

(Q) the right of a school under Section 37.0052 to place a student who has engaged in certain bullying behavior in a disciplinary alternative education program or to expel the student; [and]

(R) the right under Section 37.0151 to report to local law enforcement certain conduct constituting assault or harassment;

(S) [(P)] a parent's right to information regarding the provision of assistance for learning difficulties to the parent's child as provided by Sections 26.004(b)(11) and 26.0081(c) and (d); and

(T) the student outcomes plans under Section 11.2522.

SECTION 6. A term of office that begins before the effective date of this Act is not counted in determining whether a trustee is eligible to serve on the board of trustees of a school district under Section 11.0596, Education Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 7. Sections 11.252, 11.253, and 12.104, Education Code, as amended by this Act, and Section 11.2522, Education Code, as added by this Act, apply beginning with the 2019-2020 school year.

SECTION 8. Not later than September 1, 2020, each school district shall submit and post on the district's Internet website the initial report required under Section 11.2522, Education Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 9. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over another Act of the 86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted codes.

SECTION 10. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2019.