Bill Text: TX HB2209 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to establishing the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program and creating an allotment and outcomes bonus under the Foundation School Program to support the program.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)
Status: (Passed) 2023-06-02 - See remarks for effective date [HB2209 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB2209-Enrolled.html
H.B. No. 2209 |
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relating to establishing the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership | ||
(R-PEP) program and creating an allotment and outcomes bonus under | ||
the Foundation School Program to support the program. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 29.912 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 29.912. RURAL PATHWAY EXCELLENCE PARTNERSHIP (R-PEP) | ||
PROGRAM. (a) In this section, "program" means the Rural Pathway | ||
Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program. | ||
(b) The commissioner shall establish and administer the | ||
Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program to | ||
incentivize and support multidistrict, cross-sector, rural college | ||
and career pathway partnerships that expand opportunities for | ||
underserved students to succeed in school and life while promoting | ||
economic development in rural areas. | ||
(b-1) The commissioner shall ensure that agency employees | ||
assigned to administer the program have experience with or training | ||
in the procedures relating to a school district contracting to | ||
partner to operate a district campus under Section 11.174. | ||
(c) The program must enable an eligible school district that | ||
has fewer than 1,600 students in average daily attendance to | ||
partner with at least one other school district located within a | ||
distance of 100 miles to offer a broader array of robust college and | ||
career pathways. Each partnership must: | ||
(1) offer college and career pathways that align with | ||
regional labor market projections for high-wage, high-demand | ||
careers; and | ||
(2) be managed by a coordinating entity that: | ||
(A) has or will have at the time students are | ||
served under the partnership the capacity to effectively coordinate | ||
the partnership; | ||
(B) has entered into a performance agreement | ||
approved by the board of trustees of each partnering school | ||
district that confers on the coordinating entity the same authority | ||
with respect to pathways offered under the partnership provided to | ||
an entity that contracts to operate a district campus under Section | ||
11.174; | ||
(C) is an eligible entity as defined by Section | ||
12.101(a); and | ||
(D) has on the entity's governing board as either | ||
voting or ex officio members, or has on an advisory body, | ||
representatives of each partnering school district and members of | ||
regional higher education and workforce organizations. | ||
(d) The performance agreement described by Subsection | ||
(c)(2)(B) must: | ||
(1) include ambitious and measurable performance | ||
goals and progress measures tied to current college, career, and | ||
military readiness outcomes and longitudinal postsecondary | ||
completion and employment-related outcomes; | ||
(2) allocate responsibilities for accessing and | ||
managing progress and outcome information and annually publish that | ||
information on the Internet website of each partnering district and | ||
the coordinating entity; | ||
(3) authorize the coordinating entity to optimize the | ||
value of each college and career pathway offered through the | ||
partnership by: | ||
(A) determining scheduling; | ||
(B) adding or removing a pathway; | ||
(C) selecting and assigning pathway-specific | ||
personnel; | ||
(D) developing and exercising final approval of | ||
pathway budgets, which must include at least 80 percent of the state | ||
and local funding to which each partnering school district is | ||
entitled under Sections 48.106, 48.110, and 48.118; and | ||
(E) determining any other matter critical to the | ||
efficacy of the pathways; and | ||
(4) provide that any eligible student enrolled in a | ||
partnering school district may participate in a college or career | ||
pathway offered through the partnership. | ||
(e) An employee of a coordinating entity that manages a | ||
partnership under the program is eligible for membership in and | ||
benefits from the Teacher Retirement System of Texas if the | ||
employee would be eligible for membership and benefits by holding a | ||
similar position at a partnering school district. An employee is | ||
eligible for membership under this subsection if a partnership | ||
would be authorized to participate in the program, as determined by | ||
the commissioner, but for the maximum expenditure established in | ||
Section 48.118(f). | ||
(f) A student enrolled in a college or career pathway | ||
offered through a partnership under the program is not considered | ||
for accountability purposes under Chapter 39 to have dropped out of | ||
high school or failed to complete the curriculum requirements for | ||
high school graduation until the sixth anniversary of the student's | ||
first day in high school. | ||
(g) A school district proposing to enter into a performance | ||
agreement under this section shall notify the commissioner of the | ||
district's intent to enter into the agreement. The commissioner | ||
shall establish procedures for a district to notify the | ||
commissioner, including establishing the period within which | ||
notification is required before the school year in which the | ||
proposed agreement would take effect, and to provide any additional | ||
information required by the commissioner. | ||
(h) In authorizing partnerships to participate in the | ||
program, the commissioner shall give priority to partnerships in | ||
which participating districts contract with a coordinating entity | ||
that has at least two years' experience or employs an executive | ||
officer with at least two years' experience managing college and | ||
career pathways under a performance contract. | ||
(i) Not later than the 60th day after the date the | ||
commissioner receives notification of a proposed agreement and all | ||
other information required by the commissioner, the commissioner | ||
shall notify the school districts whether the proposed performance | ||
agreement is approved and the partnering districts are authorized | ||
for participation in the program. | ||
(j) The commissioner shall make grants available for use by | ||
a coordinating entity for a two-year period to assist with costs | ||
associated with the planning, development, establishment, or | ||
expansion, as applicable, of partnerships under the program using a | ||
portion of state funds allocated under Section 48.118 as well as | ||
money appropriated for that purpose, federal funds, and any other | ||
funds available. The commissioner may award a grant only to a | ||
coordinating entity that has entered into a performance agreement | ||
approved under Subsection (i) or, if in the planning stage, has | ||
entered into a memorandum of understanding to enter into a | ||
performance agreement, unless the source of funds does not permit a | ||
grant to the coordinating entity, in which case the grant shall be | ||
made to a participating school district acting as fiscal agent. | ||
Eligible use of grant funds shall include planning, development, | ||
establishment, or expansion of partnerships under the program. The | ||
commissioner may use not more than 15 percent of the money allocated | ||
for the grants to cover the cost of administering grants awarded | ||
under the program and to provide technical assistance and support | ||
to partnerships under the program. | ||
(k) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to | ||
implement this section, including rules establishing: | ||
(1) requirements of a performance agreement between | ||
participating districts and the coordinating entity; | ||
(2) the period during which a partnership under the | ||
program may operate after receiving commissioner approval and | ||
before a renewal of commissioner authorization is required; and | ||
(3) performance standards for a renewal of | ||
commissioner authorization to participate in the program. | ||
(l) This section does not prohibit an agreement between a | ||
school district and another entity for the provision of services at | ||
a district campus. | ||
(m) The commissioner may accept gifts, grants, and | ||
donations from any source, including private and nonprofit | ||
organizations, for the program. A private or nonprofit | ||
organization that contributes to the program may receive an award | ||
under Section 7.113. | ||
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 48, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 48.118 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 48.118. RURAL PATHWAY EXCELLENCE PARTNERSHIP (R-PEP) | ||
ALLOTMENT AND OUTCOMES BONUS. (a) For each full-time equivalent | ||
student in average daily attendance in grades 9 through 12 in a | ||
college or career pathway offered through a partnership under the | ||
Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program under Section | ||
29.912, a school district is entitled to an allotment equal to the | ||
basic allotment, or, if applicable, the sum of the basic allotment | ||
and the allotment under Section 48.101 to which the district is | ||
entitled, multiplied by: | ||
(1) 1.15 if the student is educationally | ||
disadvantaged; or | ||
(2) 1.11 if the student is not educationally | ||
disadvantaged. | ||
(b) Each year, the commissioner shall determine for each | ||
school district the minimum number of annual graduates of a college | ||
or career pathway described by Subsection (a) in each cohort | ||
described by Section 48.110(b) who would have to obtain not later | ||
than five years after high school graduation a postsecondary | ||
credential of value, as determined by the Texas Higher Education | ||
Coordinating Board based on analyses of wages and costs associated | ||
with the credential, including a degree, certificate, or other | ||
credential from credit and noncredit programs that equip students | ||
for continued learning and greater earnings in the state economy, | ||
in order for the district to qualify for an outcomes bonus under | ||
Subsection (c). | ||
(c) In addition to the allotment under Subsection (a), for | ||
each annual graduate in a cohort described by Subsection (b) who | ||
obtains a postsecondary credential of value in excess of the | ||
minimum number of students determined for the applicable district | ||
cohort under Subsection (b), a school district is entitled to an | ||
annual outcomes bonus of: | ||
(1) if the annual graduate is educationally | ||
disadvantaged, $1,500; | ||
(2) if the annual graduate is not educationally | ||
disadvantaged, $750; and | ||
(3) if the annual graduate is enrolled in a special | ||
education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, $1,500, | ||
regardless of whether the annual graduate is educationally | ||
disadvantaged. | ||
(d) A school district is entitled to an outcomes bonus under | ||
each subdivision in Subsection (c) for which an annual graduate | ||
qualifies. | ||
(e) A school district may receive funding for a student | ||
under this section and any other section for which the student | ||
qualifies. At least 80 percent of funds allocated under this | ||
section must be spent as provided in the budget adopted by the board | ||
of the coordinating entity. | ||
(f) The total amount of state funding for allotments and | ||
outcomes bonuses under this section may not exceed $5 million per | ||
year. If the total amount of allotments and outcomes bonuses to | ||
which school districts are entitled under this section exceeds the | ||
amount permitted under this subsection, the agency shall allocate | ||
state funding to districts under this section in the following | ||
order: | ||
(1) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school | ||
districts participating in partnerships prioritized under Section | ||
29.912(h) are eligible; | ||
(2) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school | ||
districts that entered into a memorandum of understanding or letter | ||
of commitment regarding a multidistrict pathway partnership, as | ||
defined by commissioner rule, before May 1, 2023, are eligible; | ||
(3) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school | ||
districts that have entered into a performance agreement under | ||
Section 29.912 with a coordinating entity that is an institution of | ||
higher education, as defined by Section 61.003, are eligible; | ||
(4) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school | ||
districts with the highest percentage of students who are | ||
educationally disadvantaged, in descending order, are eligible; | ||
and | ||
(5) outcomes bonuses under Subsection (c) for which | ||
school districts with the highest percentage of students who are | ||
educationally disadvantaged, in descending order, are eligible. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 29.912, Education Code, as added by this | ||
Act, applies beginning with the 2023-2024 school year. | ||
SECTION 4. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this | ||
section, 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. | ||
(b) Section 48.118, Education Code, as added by this Act, | ||
takes effect September 1, 2023. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.B. No. 2209 was passed by the House on April | ||
28, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 108, Nays 38, 1 present, not | ||
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. | ||
No. 2209 on May 15, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 120, Nays 23, | ||
1 present, not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.B. No. 2209 was passed by the Senate, with | ||
amendments, on May 11, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays | ||
2. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: __________________ | ||
Date | ||
__________________ | ||
Governor |