Bill Text: TX HB3748 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to the coordination of educational support services for and information regarding students who are currently or were formerly placed in foster care.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2015-06-17 - Effective immediately [HB3748 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HB3748-Enrolled.html
H.B. No. 3748 |
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relating to the coordination of educational support services for | ||
and information regarding students who are currently or were | ||
formerly placed in foster care. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 25.007(b), Education Code, as amended by | ||
Chapters 688 (H.B. 2619) and 1354 (S.B. 1404), Acts of the 83rd | ||
Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, is reenacted and amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(b) In recognition of the challenges faced by students in | ||
substitute care, the agency shall assist the transition of | ||
substitute care students from one school to another by: | ||
(1) ensuring that school records for a student in | ||
substitute care are transferred to the student's new school not | ||
later than the 10th working day after the date the student begins | ||
enrollment at the school; | ||
(2) developing systems to ease transition of a student | ||
in substitute care during the first two weeks of enrollment at a new | ||
school; | ||
(3) developing procedures for awarding credit, | ||
including partial credit if appropriate, for course work, including | ||
electives, completed by a student in substitute care while enrolled | ||
at another school; | ||
(4) promoting practices that facilitate access by a | ||
student in substitute care to extracurricular programs, summer | ||
programs, credit transfer services, electronic courses provided | ||
under Chapter 30A, and after-school tutoring programs at nominal or | ||
no cost; | ||
(5) establishing procedures to lessen the adverse | ||
impact of the movement of a student in substitute care to a new | ||
school; | ||
(6) entering into a memorandum of understanding with | ||
the Department of Family and Protective Services regarding the | ||
exchange of information as appropriate to facilitate the transition | ||
of students in substitute care from one school to another; | ||
(7) encouraging school districts and open-enrollment | ||
charter schools to provide services for a student in substitute | ||
care in transition when applying for admission to postsecondary | ||
study and when seeking sources of funding for postsecondary study; | ||
(8) requiring school districts, campuses, and | ||
open-enrollment charter schools to accept a referral for special | ||
education services made for a student in substitute care by a school | ||
previously attended by the student; | ||
(9) requiring school districts to provide notice to | ||
the child's educational decision-maker and caseworker regarding | ||
events that may significantly impact the education of a child, | ||
including: | ||
(A) requests or referrals for an evaluation under | ||
Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794), or | ||
special education under Section 29.003; | ||
(B) admission, review, and dismissal committee | ||
meetings; | ||
(C) manifestation determination reviews required | ||
by Section 37.004(b); | ||
(D) any disciplinary actions under Chapter 37 for | ||
which parental notice is required; | ||
(E) citations issued for Class C misdemeanor | ||
offenses on school property or at school-sponsored activities; | ||
(F) reports of restraint and seclusion required | ||
by Section 37.0021; and | ||
(G) use of corporal punishment as provided by | ||
Section 37.0011; [ |
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(10) developing procedures for allowing a student in | ||
substitute care who was previously enrolled in a course required | ||
for graduation the opportunity, to the extent practicable, to | ||
complete the course, at no cost to the student, before the beginning | ||
of the next school year; | ||
(11) ensuring that a student in substitute care who is | ||
not likely to receive a high school diploma before the fifth school | ||
year following the student's enrollment in grade nine, as | ||
determined by the district, has the student's course credit accrual | ||
and personal graduation plan reviewed; [ |
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(12) ensuring that a student in substitute care who is | ||
in grade 11 or 12 be provided information regarding tuition and fee | ||
exemptions under Section 54.366 for dual-credit or other courses | ||
provided by a public institution of higher education for which a | ||
high school student may earn joint high school and college credit; | ||
(13) designating at least one agency employee to act | ||
as a liaison officer regarding educational issues related to | ||
students in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and | ||
Protective Services; and | ||
(14) [ |
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by the agency. | ||
SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 51.9356 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 51.9356. DESIGNATION OF LIAISON OFFICER TO ASSIST | ||
STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. (a) In this section, | ||
"institution of higher education" has the meaning assigned by | ||
Section 61.003. | ||
(b) Each institution of higher education shall designate at | ||
least one employee of the institution to act as a liaison officer | ||
for current and incoming students at the institution who were | ||
formerly in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and | ||
Protective Services. The liaison officer shall provide to those | ||
students information regarding support services and other | ||
resources available to the students at the institution and any | ||
other relevant information to assist the students. | ||
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Sections 61.0908 and 61.0909 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 61.0908. DESIGNATION OF LIAISON OFFICER TO ASSIST | ||
STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. The board shall designate at | ||
least one employee of the board to act as a liaison officer for | ||
current and incoming students at institutions of higher education | ||
who were formerly in the conservatorship of the Department of | ||
Family and Protective Services. The liaison officer shall assist | ||
in coordinating college readiness and student success efforts | ||
relating to those students. | ||
Sec. 61.0909. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REGARDING | ||
EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. (a) | ||
In this section, "department" means the Department of Family and | ||
Protective Services. | ||
(b) The board and the department shall enter into a | ||
memorandum of understanding regarding the exchange of information | ||
as appropriate to facilitate the department's evaluation of | ||
educational outcomes of students at institutions of higher | ||
education who were formerly in the conservatorship of the | ||
department. The memorandum of understanding must require: | ||
(1) the department to provide the board each year with | ||
demographic information regarding individual students enrolled at | ||
institutions of higher education who were formerly in the | ||
conservatorship of the department following an adversarial hearing | ||
under Section 262.201, Family Code; and | ||
(2) the board, in a manner consistent with federal | ||
law, to provide the department with aggregate information | ||
regarding educational outcomes of students for whom the board | ||
received demographic information under Subdivision (1). | ||
(c) For purposes of Subsection (b)(2), information | ||
regarding educational outcomes includes information relating to | ||
student academic achievement, graduation rates, attendance, and | ||
other educational outcomes as determined by the board and the | ||
department. | ||
(d) The department may authorize the board to provide | ||
education research centers established under Section 1.005 with | ||
demographic information regarding individual students received by | ||
the board in accordance with Subsection (b)(1), as appropriate to | ||
allow the centers to perform additional analysis regarding | ||
educational outcomes of students in foster care. Any use of | ||
information regarding individual students provided to a center | ||
under this subsection must be approved by the department. | ||
(e) Nothing in this section may be construed to: | ||
(1) require the board or the department to collect or | ||
maintain additional information regarding students formerly in the | ||
conservatorship of the department; or | ||
(2) allow the release of information regarding an | ||
individual student in a manner not permitted under the Family | ||
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section | ||
1232g) or another state or federal law. | ||
SECTION 4. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board | ||
and the Department of Family and Protective Services shall enter | ||
into the memorandum of understanding required by Section 61.0909, | ||
Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1, | ||
2016. | ||
SECTION 5. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails | ||
over another Act of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, | ||
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted | ||
codes. | ||
SECTION 6. 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, 2015. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.B. No. 3748 was passed by the House on May 8, | ||
2015, by the following vote: Yeas 139, Nays 3, 2 present, not | ||
voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.B. No. 3748 was passed by the Senate on May | ||
26, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: _____________________ | ||
Date | ||
_____________________ | ||
Governor |