87R260 MEW-D
 
  By: Hinojosa H.B. No. 97
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the admission policy of an open-enrollment charter
  school.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 12.111, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
  follows:
         (a)  Each charter granted under this subchapter must:
               (1)  describe the educational program to be offered,
  which must include the required curriculum as provided by Section
  28.002;
               (2)  provide that continuation of the charter is
  contingent on the status of the charter as determined under Section
  12.1141 or 12.115 or under Chapter 39A;
               (3)  specify the academic, operational, and financial
  performance expectations by which a school operating under the
  charter will be evaluated, which must include applicable elements
  of the performance frameworks adopted under Section 12.1181;
               (4)  specify:
                     (A)  any basis, in addition to a basis specified
  by this subchapter or Chapter 39A, on which the charter may be
  revoked, renewal of the charter may be denied, or the charter may be
  allowed to expire; and
                     (B)  the standards for evaluation of a school
  operating under the charter for purposes of charter renewal, denial
  of renewal, expiration, revocation, or other intervention in
  accordance with Section 12.1141 or 12.115 or Chapter 39A, as
  applicable;
               (5)  prohibit discrimination in admission policy on the
  basis of sex, national origin, ethnicity, religion, disability,
  discipline history, academic, artistic, or athletic ability, or the
  district the child would otherwise attend in accordance with this
  code, although the charter may:
                     (A)  provide for the exclusion of a student who is
  currently:
                           (i)  placed in a disciplinary alternative
  education program or a juvenile justice alternative education
  program; or
                           (ii)  subject to an order of expulsion from a
  school district or open-enrollment charter school [has a documented
  history of a criminal offense, a juvenile court adjudication, or
  discipline problems under Subchapter A, Chapter 37]; and
                     (B)  provide for an admission policy that requires
  a student to demonstrate artistic ability if the school specializes
  in performing arts;
               (6)  specify the grade levels to be offered;
               (7)  describe the governing structure of the program,
  including:
                     (A)  the officer positions designated;
                     (B)  the manner in which officers are selected and
  removed from office;
                     (C)  the manner in which members of the governing
  body of the school are selected and removed from office;
                     (D)  the manner in which vacancies on that
  governing body are filled;
                     (E)  the term for which members of that governing
  body serve; and
                     (F)  whether the terms are to be staggered;
               (8)  specify the powers or duties of the governing body
  of the school that the governing body may delegate to an officer;
               (9)  specify the manner in which the school will
  distribute to parents information related to the qualifications of
  each professional employee of the program, including any
  professional or educational degree held by each employee, a
  statement of any certification under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, held
  by each employee, and any relevant experience of each employee;
               (10)  describe the process by which the person
  providing the program will adopt an annual budget;
               (11)  describe the manner in which an annual audit of
  the financial and programmatic operations of the program is to be
  conducted, including the manner in which the person providing the
  program will provide information necessary for the school district
  in which the program is located to participate, as required by this
  code or by commissioner rule, in the Public Education Information
  Management System (PEIMS);
               (12)  describe the facilities to be used;
               (13)  describe the geographical area served by the
  program;
               (14)  specify any type of enrollment criteria to be
  used;
               (15)  provide information, as determined by the
  commissioner, relating to any management company that will provide
  management services to a school operating under the charter; and
               (16)  specify that the governing body of an
  open-enrollment charter school accepts and may not delegate
  ultimate responsibility for the school, including the school's
  academic performance and financial and operational viability, and
  is responsible for overseeing any management company providing
  management services for the school and for holding the management
  company accountable for the school's performance.
         (a-1)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(5), a charter granted
  under this subchapter may provide for the exclusion of a student
  from an open-enrollment charter school campus that includes a
  child-care facility based on the student's conviction for a
  criminal offense that would preclude the student from being
  admitted to a school district campus that includes a child-care
  facility.
         SECTION 2.  Section 12.117, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
         (a-1)  Any communication with the applicant or with the
  school in which the applicant is currently enrolled may not include
  a request for information regarding the applicant's discipline
  history except for a disciplinary action described by Section
  12.111(a)(5)(A) or a notice of disciplinary action under Section
  37.022.
         SECTION 3.  Section 12.1173(b), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (b)  The form adopted under this section may not:
               (1)  advertise or otherwise promote any person or
  open-enrollment charter school; [or]
               (2)  solicit money, goods, or services from an
  applicant; or
               (3)  include a request for information regarding the
  applicant's discipline history except for a disciplinary action
  described by Section 12.111(a)(5)(A) or a notice of disciplinary
  action under Section 37.022.
         SECTION 4.  This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022
  school year.
         SECTION 5.  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, 2021.