88S30095 AMF-F
 
  By: Gervin-Hawkins H.B. No. 46
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the inclusion of chronically absent students as
  students at risk of dropping out of school and the collection and
  reporting of data regarding those students.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 29.081(d), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (d)  For purposes of this section, "student at risk of
  dropping out of school" includes each student who:
               (1)  is under 26 years of age and who:
                     (A)  except as provided by Subsection (h) or if
  retained for prekindergarten under Section 28.02124, was not
  advanced from one grade level to the next for one or more school
  years;
                     (B)  if the student is in grade 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or
  12, did not maintain an average equivalent to 70 on a scale of 100 in
  two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum during a semester
  in the preceding or current school year or is not maintaining such
  an average in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum in
  the current semester;
                     (C)  did not perform satisfactorily on an
  assessment instrument administered to the student under Subchapter
  B, Chapter 39, and who has not in the previous or current school
  year subsequently performed on that instrument or another
  appropriate instrument at a level equal to at least 110 percent of
  the level of satisfactory performance on that instrument;
                     (D)  if the student is in prekindergarten,
  kindergarten, or grade 1, 2, or 3, did not perform satisfactorily on
  a readiness test or assessment instrument administered during the
  current school year;
                     (E)  is pregnant or is a parent;
                     (F)  has been placed in an alternative education
  program in accordance with Section 37.006 during the preceding or
  current school year;
                     (G)  has been expelled in accordance with Section
  37.007 during the preceding or current school year;
                     (H)  is currently on parole, probation, deferred
  prosecution, or other conditional release;
                     (I)  was previously reported through the Public
  Education Information Management System (PEIMS) to have dropped out
  of school;
                     (J)  is an emergent bilingual student, as defined
  by Section 29.052;
                     (K)  is in the custody or care of the Department of
  Family and Protective Services or has, during the current school
  year, been referred to the department by a school official, officer
  of the juvenile court, or law enforcement official;
                     (L)  is homeless;
                     (M)  resided in the preceding school year or
  resides in the current school year in a residential placement
  facility in the district, including a detention facility, substance
  abuse treatment facility, emergency shelter, psychiatric hospital,
  halfway house, cottage home operation, specialized child-care
  home, or general residential operation;
                     (N)  has been incarcerated or has a parent or
  guardian who has been incarcerated, within the lifetime of the
  student, in a penal institution as defined by Section 1.07, Penal
  Code; [or]
                     (O)  is enrolled in a school district or
  open-enrollment charter school, or a campus of a school district or
  open-enrollment charter school, that is designated as a dropout
  recovery school under Section 39.0548; or
                     (P)  is a chronically absent student, as defined
  by Section 48.009; or
               (2)  regardless of the student's age, participates in
  an adult education program provided under the adult high school
  charter school program under Subchapter G, Chapter 12.
         SECTION 2.  Section 48.009, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (c-1) to
  read as follows:
         (a)  In this section:
               (1)  "Chronically absent student" means a student who
  is absent from school for more than 10 percent of the minutes of
  school operation time allocated under Section 25.081 for
  instruction within: 
                     (A)  a school year; or
                     (B)  a six-week grade reporting period.
               (2)  "Full-time [, "full-time] equivalent school
  counselor" means 40 hours of counseling services a week.
         (b)  The commissioner by rule shall require each school
  district and open-enrollment charter school to report through the
  Public Education Information Management System information
  regarding:
               (1)  the number of students enrolled in the district or
  school who are identified as having dyslexia;
               (2)  the availability of school counselors, including
  the number of full-time equivalent school counselors, at each
  campus;
               (3)  the availability of expanded learning
  opportunities as described by Section 33.252 at each campus;
               (4)  the total number of students, other than students
  described by Subdivision (5), enrolled in the district or school
  with whom the district or school, as applicable, used intervention
  strategies, as that term is defined by Section 26.004, at any time
  during the year for which the report is made;
               (5)  the total number of students enrolled in the
  district or school to whom the district or school provided aids,
  accommodations, or services under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act
  of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794), at any time during the year for
  which the report is made;
               (6)  disaggregated by campus and grade, the number of:
                     (A)  children who are required to attend school
  under Section 25.085, are not exempted under Section 25.086, and
  fail to attend school without excuse for 10 or more days or parts of
  days within a six-month period in the same school year;
                     (B)  students for whom the district initiates a
  truancy prevention measure under Section 25.0915(a-4); and
                     (C)  parents of students against whom an
  attendance officer or other appropriate school official has filed a
  complaint under Section 25.093; [and]
               (7)  the number of students who are enrolled in a high
  school equivalency program, a dropout recovery school, or an adult
  education program provided under a high school diploma and industry
  certification charter school program provided by the district or
  school and who:
                     (A)  are at least 18 years of age and under 26
  years of age;
                     (B)  have not previously been reported to the
  agency as dropouts; and
                     (C)  enroll in the program at the district or
  school after not attending school for a period of at least nine
  months; and
               (8)  the total number of chronically absent students
  enrolled at each campus in the district or school disaggregated by
  students' race, ethnicity, and status as:
                     (A)  students enrolled in a special education
  program;
                     (B)  students identified as having dyslexia;
                     (C)  educationally disadvantaged students; and
                     (D)  emergent bilingual students, as defined by
  Section 29.052.
         (c-1)  The agency shall annually aggregate and make publicly
  available the data on student chronic absenteeism collected under
  Subsection (b)(8).  The data must:
               (1)  be shown at the campus and district aggregate
  levels; and
               (2)  include the percentage of chronically absent
  students in each demographic category listed under Subsection
  (b)(8).
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
  last day of the legislative session.