| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to measures to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 |
|
|
pandemic on public schools during the 2020-2021 school year, |
|
|
including the administration of public school assessment |
|
|
instruments and the temporary suspension of certain accountability |
|
|
determinations, the requirement to use those assessment |
|
|
instruments as a criterion for promotion or graduation, and the |
|
|
calculation of average daily attendance. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 39.0239 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 39.0239. ADMINISTRATION OF ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS AND |
|
|
TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF CERTAIN ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES DURING |
|
|
2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR. (a) Due to the effects of the coronavirus |
|
|
disease (COVID-19) pandemic on public education in this state, the |
|
|
commissioner shall apply to the United States Department of |
|
|
Education for a statewide waiver of the requirement under the Every |
|
|
Student Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.) to administer |
|
|
assessment instruments for the 2020-2021 school year. |
|
|
(b) If the United States Department of Education grants a |
|
|
waiver requested under Subsection (a) before the administration of |
|
|
the assessment instruments as required under Section 39.023 for the |
|
|
2020-2021 school year, the assessment instruments may not be |
|
|
administered for that school year. |
|
|
(c) If the United States Department of Education fails to |
|
|
grant a waiver requested under Subsection (a), the assessment |
|
|
instruments shall be administered as required under Section 39.023 |
|
|
for the 2020-2021 school year, but, notwithstanding any other law, |
|
|
the commissioner may not consider the results of the assessment |
|
|
instruments for purposes of: |
|
|
(1) evaluating school district or campus performance |
|
|
under this chapter for the affected district for that school year, |
|
|
including in determining: |
|
|
(A) the accreditation status of a district under |
|
|
Section 39.051; |
|
|
(B) the performance rating to assign to the |
|
|
district or the district's campuses under Section 39.054; or |
|
|
(C) whether to impose any intervention or |
|
|
sanction authorized by Chapter 39A after that school year on the |
|
|
district or the district's campuses; or |
|
|
(2) determining a student's qualification for |
|
|
promotion or graduation. |
|
|
(d) This section expires September 1, 2023. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 48.005, Education Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subsection (d-1) to read as follows: |
|
|
(d-1) For the 2020-2021 school year, the commissioner shall |
|
|
adjust the average daily attendance of a school district or |
|
|
open-enrollment charter school in which the coronavirus disease |
|
|
(COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant effect on the district's |
|
|
or school's average daily attendance. The adjustment must be |
|
|
sufficient to ensure that the district or school receives funding |
|
|
comparable to the funding that the district or school would have |
|
|
received if the decline in average daily attendance reasonably |
|
|
attributable to the pandemic had not occurred. This subsection |
|
|
applies only to a school district or open-enrollment charter school |
|
|
offering in-person instruction for that school year in accordance |
|
|
with commissioner rule. This subsection expires September 1, 2023. |
|
|
SECTION 3. 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. |