87S20588 KJE-D
 
  By: Dominguez H.B. No. 178
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the methods by which students may be admitted to public
  schools or transfer within a school district and the disclosure of
  information regarding public school admission methods.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  The heading to Section 12.117, Education Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 12.117.  ADMISSION AND ENROLLMENT.
         SECTION 2.  Section 12.117, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (a-3),
  and (b-1) to read as follows:
         (a)  For admission and enrollment to an open-enrollment
  charter school, the governing body of the school shall:
               (1)  require the applicant to complete and submit the
  common admission application form described by Section 12.1173 not
  later than a reasonable deadline the school establishes; and
               (2)  on receipt of more acceptable applications for
  admission under this section than available positions in a grade
  level or campus [the school]:
                     (A)  fill the available positions by lottery; or
                     (B)  subject to Subsection (b), fill the available
  positions in the order in which applications received before the
  application deadline were received.
         (a-1)  An open-enrollment charter school that fills
  available positions by lottery under Subsection (a)(2)(A) may use a
  weighted lottery that assigns weights to applicants so that an
  applicant's probability of admission increases if the applicant
  satisfies criteria selected by the school. The school may increase
  an applicant's probability of admission if the applicant is:
               (1)  eligible to participate in a special education
  program under Section 29.003; or
               (2)  an emergent bilingual student, as defined by
  Section 29.052.
         (a-2)  The commissioner shall adopt rules regarding the
  implementation of a weighted lottery under Subsection (a-1),
  including rules that:
               (1)  establish the information an open-enrollment
  charter school may request an applicant to provide that is limited
  in scope to only the information necessary for the school to
  implement the lottery; and
               (2)  ensure compliance with:
                     (A)  federal law regarding the confidentiality of
  student medical or educational information, including the Health
  Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C.
  Section 1320d et seq.) and the Family Educational Rights and
  Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g); and
                     (B)  any state law relating to the privacy of
  student information.
         (a-3)  An open-enrollment charter school that uses a
  weighted lottery under Subsection (a-1) shall:
               (1)  include in the school's admission and enrollment
  policy the information requested under Subsection (a-2)(1) that the
  school uses for the lottery;
               (2)  provide notice of the information requested of an
  applicant under Subsection (a-2)(1) only if the school receives
  more acceptable applications for admission than available
  positions in the school;
               (3)  clearly mark all information requested under
  Subdivision (2) as optional; and
               (4)  use any information provided by an applicant under
  Subdivision (2) only to determine if the applicant's probability of
  admission will increase in accordance with Subsection (a-1).
         (b-1)  An open-enrollment charter school shall make publicly
  available and post in a prominent and appropriate location on the
  school's public Internet website, if the school maintains a public
  Internet website, notice of the school's admission and enrollment
  policy, including:
               (1)  the method by which the school fills available
  positions in the school, including whether the school uses:
                     (A)  a lottery; or
                     (B)  a weighted lottery; and
               (2)  if the school fills available positions by
  weighted lottery under Subsection (a-1), the weights assigned to
  applicants under that subsection.
         SECTION 3.  Section 25.001, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsections (k) and (l) to read as follows:
         (k)  If a school district elects to admit students not
  described by Subsection (b) into the district's schools by lottery,
  the district may use a weighted lottery that assigns weights to
  applicants so that an applicant's probability of admission
  increases if the applicant satisfies criteria selected by the
  district. The district may increase an applicant's probability of
  admission if the applicant is:
               (1)  eligible to participate in a special education
  program under Section 29.003; or
               (2)  an emergent bilingual student, as defined by
  Section 29.052.
         (l)  If a school district elects to admit students not
  described by Subsection (b) into the district's schools, the
  district shall make publicly available and post in a prominent and
  appropriate location on the district's public Internet website, if
  the district maintains a public Internet website, notice of:
               (1)  the method by which the district admits those
  students; and
               (2)  if the district uses a weighted lottery to admit
  those students under Subsection (k), the weights assigned to
  applicants for the lottery.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter B, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 25.0311 to read as follows:
         Sec. 25.0311.  TRANSFER WITHIN DISTRICT BY LOTTERY. If the
  board of trustees of a school district elects to allow a student
  enrolled in the district to transfer from the student's assigned
  campus to another campus in the district by lottery, the board may
  use a weighted lottery that assigns weights to applicants so that an
  applicant's probability of receiving the transfer increases if the
  applicant is:
               (1)  eligible to participate in the school's special
  education program under Section 29.003; or
               (2)  an emergent bilingual student, as defined by
  Section 29.052.
         SECTION 5.  This Act applies beginning with the 2022-2023
  school year.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
  last day of the legislative session.