BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3622

By: Landgraf

Public Education

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that many of the students who drop out of school are not disengaged because they've given up on learning, but because traditional models have given up on them and that without flexible, responsive educational options, Texas is leaving behind thousands of young persons who want to finish school. The bill author has further informed the committee that the way Texas calculates average daily attendance (ADA) creates artificial funding barriers for programs designed to serve these exact students. C.S.H.B. 3622 seeks to revise the ADA funding mechanism to better reflect how students in dropout recovery programs attend and learn.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3622 amends the Education Code to prohibit the commissioner of education, in calculating average daily attendance (ADA) for students served under a flexible school day program, from limiting the number of hours of instruction that may be accumulated by a student in a particular reporting period, except that the total number of hours of instruction accumulated by a student for a school year may not exceed the equivalent of one student in ADA with a 100 percent attendance rate for that school year.

C.S.H.B. 3622 revises the dropout recovery school and residential placement facility allotment by doing the following:

· increasing the allotment amount from $275 to $500 for each qualifying student in ADA; and

· expanding the allotment to include each student in ADA who is provided services by a private or public community-based dropout recovery education program or education management organization that provides alternative education programs for students at risk of dropping out of school while the student is enrolled at the district or school campus in whose attendance zone or geographic area served the student resides.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3622 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

Both the introduced and substitute prohibit the commissioner of education from taking certain actions in calculating ADA for students served under a flexible school day program. However, the introduced prohibited the commissioner from limiting the ADA resulting from the accumulations of hours of instruction in a particular reporting period, if the annual ADA accumulated for a school year does not exceed the equivalent of one student in ADA with a perfect attendance rate, whereas the substitute does not. Instead, the substitute prohibits the commissioner from limiting the number of hours of instruction that may be accumulated by a student in a particular reporting period, except that the total number of hours of instruction accumulated by a student for a school year may not exceed the equivalent of one student in ADA with a 100 percent attendance rate for that school year. The substitute omits a provision from the introduced that required the commissioner to only apply a limitation on ADA resulting from the accumulations of hours of instruction on an annual basis.

With respect to the provision in both versions expanding the allotment to include each student in ADA who is provided services by a private or public community-based dropout recovery education program or education management organization, the substitute replaces that the provision applies while the student is enrolled in their designated district campus of residence, as in the introduced, with that the provision applies while the student is enrolled at the district or school campus in whose attendance zone or geographical area served the student resides.