Bill Text: TX SB14 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Relating to empowering the parents of students to petition for the reconstitution, repurposing, alternative management, or closure of low-performing public school campuses.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 3)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-05-19 - Left pending in committee [SB14 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-SB14-Engrossed.html

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By: Taylor of Galveston S.B. No. 14
Bettencourt, Creighton

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to empowering the parents of students to petition for the
reconstitution, repurposing, alternative management, or closure of
low-performing public school campuses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 39.107(a) and (e), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) After a campus has been identified as unacceptable for
two consecutive school years, the commissioner shall order the
reconstitution of the campus, subject to Section 39.1071.
(e) If a campus is considered to have an unacceptable
performance rating for three consecutive school years after the
campus is reconstituted under Subsection (a), the commissioner,
subject to Subsection (e-1) or Section 39.1071 [(e-2)], shall
order:
(1) repurposing of the campus under this section;
(2) alternative management of the campus under this
section; or
(3) closure of the campus.
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 39.1071, 39.1072, and 39.1073 to read as
follows:
Sec. 39.1071. PETITION BY PARENTS FOR RECONSTITUTION,
REPURPOSING, ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT, OR CLOSURE. (a) Unless the
commissioner has ordered the closure of the campus under Section
39.107, the parents of students enrolled at a campus with an
unacceptable performance rating under Section 39.054 for three
consecutive school years may, at any time, submit a petition to the
commissioner requesting that the commissioner order one of the
following actions authorized by Section 39.107:
(1) reconstitution of the campus;
(2) repurposing of the campus;
(3) alternative management of the campus; or
(4) closure of the campus.
(b) A petition that seeks alternative management of a campus
under Subsection (a)(3) may specify the process to be used in
selecting the organization or team to assume management of the
campus. If the petition specifies a process to be used, the
commissioner is required to use the specified process and comply
with the requirements prescribed by Section 39.1073. If the
petition does not specify a process to be used, the organization or
team must be selected by the parents of students enrolled at the
campus. To the extent this subsection conflicts with another
provision of this subchapter, this subsection prevails.
(c) A petition must:
(1) be in a form developed by the commissioner;
(2) be made available to all parents of students
enrolled at the campus;
(3) include state accountability data on the status of
the campus, including the performance rating of the campus for each
year; and
(4) include detailed information on the options
available for the campus, including a copy of the proposed options
listed under Subsection (a).
(d) If the petition is signed by the parents of a majority of
the students enrolled at the campus, as determined under Subsection
(e), the commissioner shall order the specific action requested by
the petition. If the petition requests:
(1) reconstitution or repurposing of the campus, the
commissioner shall consider input from the lead petitioner and the
parents of students enrolled at the campus in implementing the
order;
(2) alternative management of the campus, the
commissioner shall order alternative management of the campus by
the organization or team selected as described by Subsection (b);
or
(3) closure of the campus, the commissioner shall
order closure of the campus for the following school year.
(e) The percentage of parents signing a petition shall be
calculated based on the total number of students enrolled at the
campus, applying the following rules:
(1) the signature of only one parent of a student is
required;
(2) a student may not be counted more than once,
regardless of whether more than one parent signs the petition on
behalf of the student; and
(3) the signature of a parent shall be counted on
behalf of each child of the parent who is enrolled at the campus,
unless otherwise indicated in the petition.
(f) The petition may designate as a lead petitioner one or
more parents of one or more students enrolled at the campus. The
parent or parents shall be chosen annually by the parents of
students enrolled at the campus.
(g) The commissioner shall review the signatures on a
petition to verify that the petition is signed by the parents of a
majority of the students enrolled at the campus. In verifying that
the petition is signed by the parents of a majority of the students
enrolled at the campus, the commissioner may consult with any
person necessary to make the verification, including the board of
trustees for the district in which the campus is located, the
principal of the campus, the lead petitioner, or any designated
lead petitioner representative.
(h) Not later than the 30th day after receipt of the
petition or additional signatures under Subsection (j), the
commissioner shall notify, in writing, the board of trustees for
the district in which the campus is located, the principal of the
campus, the lead petitioner, any designated lead petitioner
representative, and any other person who has requested notice in
writing of the commissioner's determination regarding whether the
number of signatures on the petition is sufficient to compel the
action sought in the petition. Additionally, the commissioner's
written notice must:
(1) state the number of students the commissioner has
determined are enrolled at the campus;
(2) state the number of signatures the commissioner
counted when determining whether the necessary majority was
attained; and
(3) list the signatures that were not counted toward
determining whether the necessary majority was attained and the
reason each disqualified signature was not counted.
(i) In verifying signatures, the commissioner may not
disregard a signature if the clear intent of the person providing
the signature was to support the petition.
(j) If the commissioner determines that a petition is not
signed by the parents of a majority of the students enrolled at the
campus, the parents may, not later than the 45th day after the date
of the commissioner's written notice under Subsection (h), submit
additional signatures in support of the petition.
(k) If additional signatures are submitted to the
commissioner under Subsection (j), the commissioner shall review
and verify the additional signatures in accordance with Subsections
(e), (g), and (h).
(l) If the commissioner determines that the petition is not
signed by the parents of a majority of the students enrolled at the
campus, the commissioner's determination is final and may not be
appealed.
(m) A student who resides in the campus's assigned
attendance zone, as that zone existed during the school year
immediately preceding implementation of an order under this
section, and who is otherwise eligible to attend the campus may:
(1) enroll in the campus during each school year that
the student would otherwise be eligible to attend the campus; or
(2) transfer and enroll in another campus in the
district during each school year that the student would otherwise
be eligible to attend the campus.
(n) Notwithstanding Subsection (m), the board of trustees
of a school district may assign or transfer a student between school
facilities or classrooms in accordance with Chapter 37.
(o) A person may not use school district or campus resources
to support or oppose a petition under this section, except that
school district or campus resources may be used to comply with a
public information request under Chapter 552, Government Code.
(p) A person may not coerce or bribe a parent to sign or
decline to sign a petition under this section.
(q) An operator of a charter school is prohibited from
funding a parent petition campaign conducted under this section.
(r) For purposes of this section, "parent" includes a
student's parent, a student's legal guardian, a person with legal
authority to act in place of a student's parent or legal guardian,
or the student, if the student is 18 years of age or older, but does
not include a parent whose parental rights have been terminated or
whose rights to make decisions concerning a student's education
have been limited.
(s) The commissioner may adopt rules necessary to implement
this section.
Sec. 39.1072. PERFORMANCE UPDATES FOLLOWING PETITION BY
PARENTS FOR RECONSTITUTION, REPURPOSING, ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT,
OR CLOSURE. Following the submission of a petition for the
reconstitution, repurposing, alternative management, or closure of
a campus by the parents of students enrolled at the campus under
Section 39.1071, the commissioner shall provide quarterly updates
on the performance of the campus to parents of students enrolled at
the campus.
Sec. 39.1073. SELECTION OF ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT
FOLLOWING PETITION BY PARENTS. (a) In this section, "management
company" has the meaning assigned by Section 12.1012.
(b) If the commissioner selects a charter holder as the
organization or team to assume alternative management of a campus
in accordance with a process specified in a petition for
alternative management submitted by parents under Section 39.1071,
the commissioner shall give preference to proposals submitted by
charter holders who do not use the services of a management company
to operate the charter holder's open-enrollment charter schools and
who submit information demonstrating a record of success with
respect to each item listed under Section 39.107(k). The
commissioner may only consider proposals from charter holders that
use the services of a management company if the commissioner does
not receive proposals from charter holders that do not use the
services of a management company and that submit information
demonstrating a record of success with respect to each item listed
under Section 39.107(k).
(c) If the commissioner selects a charter school to assume
alternative management of a campus in accordance with a process
specified in a petition for alternative management submitted by
parents under Section 39.1071, laws and rules applicable to
open-enrollment charter schools under Subchapter D, Chapter 12,
including laws and rules related to public information, open
meetings, nepotism, conflict of interest, and other protections of
public funds and public trust, shall apply to the campus.
SECTION 3. Sections 39.107(e-2) and (e-3), Education Code,
are repealed.
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2016-2017
school year, except that parents of students enrolled at a school
campus that has been identified as unacceptable for three or more
consecutive years as of the effective date of this Act may submit a
petition under Section 39.1071, Education Code, as added by this
Act, beginning on the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 5. 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.