87R1595 CAE-F
 
  By: Goodwin H.B. No. 438
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the requirements for a request for the revision of a
  charter for an open-enrollment charter school.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 12.1101, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 12.1101.  NOTIFICATION OF CHARTER APPLICATION [OR
  ESTABLISHMENT OF CAMPUS].  The commissioner by rule shall adopt a
  procedure for providing notice to the following persons on receipt
  by the commissioner of an application for a charter for an
  open-enrollment charter school under Section 12.110 [or of notice
  of the establishment of a campus as authorized under Section
  12.101(b-4)]:
               (1)  the superintendent and the board of trustees of
  each school district from which the proposed open-enrollment
  charter school or campus is likely to draw students, as determined
  by the commissioner; and
               (2)  each member of the legislature that represents the
  geographic area to be served by the proposed school or campus, as
  determined by the commissioner.
         SECTION 2.  Section 12.114, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 12.114.  REVISION. (a) A revision of a charter of an
  open-enrollment charter school that is not an expansion revision
  may be made only with the approval of the commissioner. An
  expansion revision, as defined by commissioner rule, may be made
  only in the manner provided by this section.
         (b)  Not more than once during each biennium [each year], an
  open-enrollment charter school may request approval of an expansion
  amendment to:
               (1)  increase [to revise] the maximum allowable student
  enrollment described by the school's charter;
               (2)  add a new campus or site;
               (3)  extend the grade levels described by the school's
  charter; or
               (4)  expand the geographic boundaries described by the
  school's charter.
         (c)  A  [Not later than the 60th day after the date that a]
  charter holder shall submit [submits] to the commissioner a
  completed request for approval for an expansion amendment[, as
  defined by commissioner rule, including a new school amendment,]
  that identifies the zip code of any new campus or site and each
  school district from which the charter school intends to enroll
  additional students and that estimates, in the manner provided by
  commissioner rule, the additional cost to the state. The
  commissioner shall publicly post the request for approval for an
  expansion amendment not later than the 10th business day after the
  date the charter holder submits the request.
         (d)  The commissioner shall thoroughly review a request for
  approval for an expansion amendment and, for each expansion
  amendment the commissioner proposes to approve, report to the State
  Board of Education:
               (1)  whether during the five years preceding the date
  of the request the charter holder and open-enrollment charter
  school have complied with every financial, governing, educational,
  and operational standard adopted by the commissioner and specify in
  detail each element of noncompliance;
               (2)  whether the open-enrollment charter school serves
  the state average of students eligible to receive services under
  Subchapter A, Chapter 29, or students of limited English
  proficiency and whether each campus of the charter school serves
  and is staffed to serve a percentage of those students proportional
  to each school district campus within a three-mile radius of the
  campus;
               (3)  the potential revenue loss for each affected
  school district for the next 10 years under the proposed expansion;
  and
               (4)  the additional estimated cost to the state for the
  next 10 years under the proposed expansion amendment.
         (e)  Unless, before the 90th day after the date on which the
  State Board of Education receives the notice from the commissioner,
  a majority of the members of the board present and voting vote
  against the expansion amendment, the commissioner's proposal to
  approve the expansion amendment takes effect.
         (f)  The commissioner shall include in the agency's budget
  request submitted to the Legislative Budget Board and the budget
  division of the governor's office a specific item that details the
  additional cost to the state, as estimated under Subsection (d)(4),
  for each approved expansion amendment.
         (g)  The [the] commissioner shall provide to the charter
  holder written notice of approval or disapproval of an [the]
  amendment requested under this section.
         (h) [(d)]  A charter holder may submit a request for approval
  for an expansion amendment up to 18 months before the date on which
  the expansion will be effective.  A request for approval of an
  expansion amendment does not obligate the charter holder to
  complete the proposed expansion.
         SECTION 3.  Section 12.101(b-4), Education Code, is
  repealed.
         SECTION 4.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  a request for approval of a revision to the charter of an
  open-enrollment charter school submitted on or after the effective
  date of this Act.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.