88R12567 ANG-F

By: Bowers H.B. No. 5086

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to an application for a charter for an open-enrollment charter school and to the expansion of 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 12.101(b-4), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b-4) Notwithstanding Section 12.114 and subject to Section 12.1131, approval of the commissioner under Section 12.114 [that section] is not required for establishment of a new open-enrollment charter school campus if the requirements of this subsection are satisfied. A charter holder having an accreditation status of accredited and at least 50 percent of its student population in grades assessed under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, or at least 50 percent of the students in the grades assessed having been enrolled in the school for at least three school years may establish one or more new campuses under an existing charter held by the charter holder if:

(1) the charter holder is currently evaluated under the standard accountability procedures for evaluation under Chapter 39 and received a district rating in the highest or second highest performance rating category under Subchapter C, Chapter 39, for three of the last five years with at least 75 percent of the campuses rated under the charter also receiving a rating in the highest or second highest performance rating category and with no campus with a rating in the lowest performance rating category in the most recent ratings;

(2) the charter holder provides written notice to the commissioner of the establishment of any campus under this subsection in the time, manner, and form provided by rule of the commissioner; and

(3) not later than the 60th day after the date the charter holder provides written notice under Subdivision (2), the commissioner does not provide written notice to the charter holder that the commissioner has determined that the charter holder does not satisfy the requirements of this section.

SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 12.1131 to read as follows:

Sec. 12.1131. SPECIFIC LOCATION OR ATTENDANCE ZONE INFORMATION REQUIRED. The commissioner may not approve an application for a charter for an open-enrollment charter school under Section 12.110, allow a charter holder to establish a new open-enrollment charter school campus as authorized under Section 12.101(b-4), or approve a request for a revision of a charter for an open-enrollment charter school under Section 12.114 for the addition of a new campus or site, the relocation of an existing campus or site, or the expansion of the geographical area or grade levels served by the open-enrollment charter school unless:

(1) the application for the charter, notice of the establishment of the campus, or request for revision of the charter, as applicable, proposes a specific location or attendance zone for each proposed campus; and

(2) the proposed location or attendance zone of each proposed campus is not located in the attendance zone of a school district campus that:

(A) serves similar grade levels as the charter school campus; and

(B) received an overall performance rating of A or B for the preceding school year.

SECTION 3. Section 12.1131, Education Code, as added by this Act, applies only to an application for a charter for an open-enrollment charter school, a notice of the establishment of an open-enrollment charter school campus, or a request for approval for a revision of a charter, as applicable, submitted on or after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 4. 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, 2023.