Bill Text: TX HB2539 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to training requirements for a member of the board of trustees of an independent school district.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-04-22 - Withdrawn from schedule [HB2539 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB2539-Introduced.html

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84R11251 CAE-D
By: González H.B. No. 2539

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to training requirements for a member of the board of
trustees of an independent school district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 11.159, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read
as follows:
(b) A trustee must complete the [any] training required by
the State Board of Education. The required training must prepare
the trustees to:
(1) adopt a vision statement and comprehensive goals
for the district and monitor progress toward those goals;
(2) establish rigorous academic performance goals for
the district and monitor progress toward those goals;
(3) establish fiscal performance goals for the
district and monitor progress toward those goals;
(4) review and evaluate data regarding the performance
of the district; and
(5) understand the role of a trustee and the
superintendent in the operation of the school district, including
the role of the trustee regarding personnel decisions for the
school district.
(c) The trustee must complete the hours of training required
by the State Board of Education for each year of service. The
period for completing required training for the first year of
service begins on the date the trustee took office. Each subsequent
period for completing required training begins on the anniversary
of the date the trustee took office. The minutes of the last
regular meeting of the board of trustees held during a calendar year
must reflect whether each trustee has met or is delinquent in
meeting the training required to be completed as of the date of the
meeting. A trustee who is delinquent in meeting the required
training may not vote, deliberate, or be counted as a trustee in
attendance at a meeting of the board until the trustee completes the
required training.
(d) If, on the 30th day before the first date a person may
file an application to be a candidate for a place on the board, a
trustee serving a term for the position for which an election is to
be held is not current on completing the training required by this
section, the board shall publish notice of the trustee's failure to
complete the required training in a newspaper of general
circulation in the district and on the Internet website of the
district.
SECTION 2. Section 39.052(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) In determining the accreditation status of a school
district, the commissioner:
(1) shall evaluate and consider:
(A) performance on student achievement
indicators described by Section 39.053(c); and
(B) performance under the financial
accountability rating system developed under Subchapter D; and
(2) may evaluate and consider:
(A) the district's compliance with statutory
requirements and requirements imposed by rule of the commissioner
or State Board of Education under specific statutory authority that
relate to:
(i) reporting data through the Public
Education Information Management System (PEIMS) or other reports
required by state or federal law or court order;
(ii) the high school graduation
requirements under Section 28.025; or
(iii) an item listed under Sections
7.056(e)(3)(C)-(I) that applies to the district;
(B) the effectiveness of the district's programs
for special populations; [and]
(C) the effectiveness of the district's career
and technology program; and
(D) the compliance of the board of trustees of
the school district in completing the training required under
Section 11.159.
SECTION 3. Section 39.057(e), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) Regardless of whether the commissioner lowers the
school district's accreditation status or a district's or campus's
performance rating under Subsection (d), the commissioner may take
action under Sections 39.102(a)(2) [39.102(a)(1)] through (9)
[(8)] or Section 39.103 if the commissioner determines that the
action is necessary to improve any area of a district's or campus's
performance, including the district's financial accounting
practices.
SECTION 4. Section 39.102(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) If a school district does not satisfy the accreditation
criteria under Section 39.052, the academic performance standards
under Section 39.053 or 39.054, or any financial accountability
standard as determined by commissioner rule, the commissioner shall
take any of the following actions to the extent the commissioner
determines necessary:
(1) require the board of trustees to participate in
training as determined to be appropriate by the commissioner;
(2) issue public notice of the deficiency to the board
of trustees;
(3) [(2)] order a hearing conducted by the board of
trustees of the district for the purpose of notifying the public of
the insufficient performance, the improvements in performance
expected by the agency, and the interventions and sanctions that
may be imposed under this section if the performance does not
improve;
(4) [(3)] order the preparation of a student
achievement improvement plan that addresses each student
achievement indicator under Section 39.053(c) for which the
district's performance is insufficient, the submission of the plan
to the commissioner for approval, and implementation of the plan;
(5) [(4)] order a hearing to be held before the
commissioner or the commissioner's designee at which the president
of the board of trustees of the district and the superintendent
shall appear and explain the district's low performance, lack of
improvement, and plans for improvement;
(6) [(5)] arrange an on-site investigation of the
district;
(7) [(6)] appoint an agency monitor to participate in
and report to the agency on the activities of the board of trustees
or the superintendent;
(8) [(7)] appoint a conservator to oversee the
operations of the district;
(9) [(8)] appoint a management team to direct the
operations of the district in areas of insufficient performance or
require the district to obtain certain services under a contract
with another person;
(10) [(9)] if a district has a current accreditation
status of accredited-warned or accredited-probation, fails to
satisfy any standard under Section 39.054(e), or fails to satisfy
financial accountability standards as determined by commissioner
rule, appoint a board of managers to exercise the powers and duties
of the board of trustees;
(11) [(10)] if for two consecutive school years,
including the current school year, a district has received an
accreditation status of accredited-warned or accredited-probation,
has failed to satisfy any standard under Section 39.054(e), or has
failed to satisfy financial accountability standards as determined
by commissioner rule, revoke the district's accreditation and:
(A) order closure of the district and annex the
district to one or more adjoining districts under Section 13.054;
or
(B) in the case of a home-rule school district or
open-enrollment charter school, order closure of all programs
operated under the district's or school's charter; or
(12) [(11)] if a district has failed to satisfy any
standard under Section 39.054(e) due to the district's dropout
rates, impose sanctions designed to improve high school completion
rates, including:
(A) ordering the development of a dropout
prevention plan for approval by the commissioner;
(B) restructuring the district or appropriate
school campuses to improve identification of and service to
students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by
Section 29.081;
(C) ordering lower student-to-counselor ratios
on school campuses with high dropout rates; and
(D) ordering the use of any other intervention
strategy effective in reducing dropout rates, including mentor
programs and flexible class scheduling.
SECTION 5. Section 39.111(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) A conservator or management team, if directed by the
commissioner, shall prepare a plan for the implementation of action
under Section 39.102(a)(10) [39.102(a)(9)] or (11) [(10)]. The
conservator or management team:
(1) may direct an action to be taken by the principal
of a campus, the superintendent of the district, or the board of
trustees of the district;
(2) may approve or disapprove any action of the
principal of a campus, the superintendent of the district, or the
board of trustees of the district;
(3) may not take any action concerning a district
election, including ordering or canceling an election or altering
the date of or the polling places for an election;
(4) may not change the number of or method of selecting
the board of trustees;
(5) may not set a tax rate for the district; and
(6) may not adopt a budget for the district that
provides for spending a different amount, exclusive of required
debt service, from that previously adopted by the board of
trustees.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.