Bill Text: TX SB1660 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Comm Sub


Bill Title: Relating to the minutes of operation required for public school districts, charter schools, and other education programs and to calculating the average daily attendance for certain education programs.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-05-26 - Senate appoints conferees-reported [SB1660 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-SB1660-Comm_Sub.html
  85R21690 MK-F
 
  By: Taylor of Galveston S.B. No. 1660
 
  (King of Hemphill)
 
  Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1660:  No.
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the minutes of operation required for public school
  districts, charter schools, and other education programs and to
  calculating the average daily attendance for certain education
  programs.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 25.081, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 25.081.  OPERATION OF SCHOOLS. (a)  Except as
  authorized under Subsection (b) of this section, Section 25.084, or
  Section 29.0821, for each school year each school district must
  operate [so that the district provides] for at least 75,600
  minutes, including time allocated for [of] instruction,
  [including] intermissions, and recesses[,] for students.
         (b)  The commissioner may approve the operation of schools
  [instruction of students] for fewer than the number of minutes
  required under Subsection (a) if disaster, flood, extreme weather
  conditions, fuel curtailment, or another calamity causes the
  closing of schools.
         (c)  If the commissioner does not approve reduced operation 
  [instruction] time under Subsection (b), a school district may add
  additional minutes to the end of the district's normal school hours
  as necessary to compensate for minutes [of instruction] lost due to
  school closures caused by disaster, flood, extreme weather
  conditions, fuel curtailment, or another calamity.
         (d)  The commissioner may adopt rules to implement this
  section, including rules:
               (1)  for the application, on the basis of the minimum
  minutes of operation [instruction] required by Subsection (a), of
  any provision of this title that refers to a minimum number of days
  of instruction under this section;
               (2)  to determine the minutes of operation that are
  equivalent to a day of instruction;
               (3)  defining instructional time, which may include
  time allocated for recess and for serving breakfast or lunch to
  students; and
               (4)  establishing the minimum number of minutes of
  instruction required for a full-day and a half-day program to meet
  the time requirements under Subsection (a).
         (e)  A school district or education program is exempt from
  the minimum minutes of operation requirement if the district's or
  program's average daily attendance is calculated under Section
  42.005(j).  The commissioner may establish the alternative minimum
  minutes of operation required for a district or program that is
  subject to Section 42.005(j).  The commissioner's determination
  under this subsection is final and may not be appealed [For purposes
  of this code, a reference to a day of instruction means 420 minutes
  of instruction].
         (f)  The commissioner may proportionally reduce the amount
  of funding a district receives under Chapter 41, 42, or 46 and the
  average daily attendance calculation for the district if the
  district operates on a calendar that provides fewer minutes of
  operation than required under Subsection (a).
         SECTION 2.  The heading to Section 25.082, Education Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 25.082.  [SCHOOL DAY;] PLEDGES OF ALLEGIANCE; MINUTE OF
  SILENCE.
         SECTION 3.  Section 29.0822(c), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (c)  Except in the case of a course designed for a student
  described by Subsection (a)(3), a course offered in a program under
  this section must provide for at least the same number of
  instructional hours as required for a course offered in a program
  that meets the required minimum number of minutes of operation
  [instructional days] under Section 25.081 [and the required length
  of school day under Section 25.082].
         SECTION 4.  Section 29.087(j), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (j)  For purposes of funding under Chapters 41, 42, and 46, a
  student attending a program authorized by this section may be
  counted in attendance only for the actual number of hours each
  school day the student attends the program, in accordance with
  Section [Sections] 25.081 [and 25.082].
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter E, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 29.162 to read as follows:
         Sec. 29.162.  DETERMINATION OF FULL-DAY AND HALF-DAY.  The
  commissioner may adopt rules for this subchapter establishing
  full-day and half-day minutes of operation requirements as provided
  by Section 25.081.
         SECTION 6.  Section 30A.104(a), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  A course offered through the state virtual school
  network must:
               (1)  be in a specific subject that is part of the
  required curriculum under Section 28.002(a);
               (2)  be aligned with the essential knowledge and skills
  identified under Section 28.002(c) for a grade level at or above
  grade level three; and
               (3)  be the equivalent in instructional rigor and scope
  to a course that is provided in a traditional classroom setting
  during[:
                     [(A)]  a semester of 90 instructional days[; and
                     [(B)     a school day that meets the minimum length
  of a school day required under Section 25.082].
         SECTION 7.  Section 37.008(a), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  Each school district shall provide a disciplinary
  alternative education program that:
               (1)  is provided in a setting other than a student's
  regular classroom;
               (2)  is located on or off of a regular school campus;
               (3)  provides for the students who are assigned to the
  disciplinary alternative education program to be separated from
  students who are not assigned to the program;
               (4)  focuses on English language arts, mathematics,
  science, history, and self-discipline;
               (5)  provides for students' educational and behavioral
  needs;
               (6)  provides supervision and counseling; and
               (7)  employs only teachers who meet all certification
  requirements established under Subchapter B, Chapter 21[; and
               [(8)     provides not less than the minimum amount of
  instructional time per day required by Section 25.082(a)].
         SECTION 8.  Section 42.005, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (i), (j), (k), (l),
  and (m) to read as follows:
         (a)  In this chapter, average daily attendance is:
               (1)  the quotient of the sum of attendance for each day
  of the minimum number of days of instruction as described under
  Section 25.081(a) divided by the minimum number of days of
  instruction;
               (2)  for a district that operates under a flexible year
  program under Section 29.0821, the quotient of the sum of
  attendance for each actual day of instruction as permitted by
  Section 29.0821(b)(1) divided by the number of actual days of
  instruction as permitted by Section 29.0821(b)(1); [or]
               (3)  for a district that operates under a flexible
  school day program under Section 29.0822, the average daily
  attendance as calculated by the commissioner in accordance with
  Sections 29.0822(d) and (d-1); or
               (4)  for a district that operates a half-day program,
  one-half of the average daily attendance calculated under
  Subdivision (1).
         (i)  A district that operates a half-day prekindergarten
  program is eligible to receive the half-day average daily
  attendance calculation under Subsection (a)(4) if the district's
  prekindergarten program provides at least 32,400 minutes of
  instruction to students.
         (j)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the commissioner may
  calculate the average daily attendance of a district using an
  alternative minimum amount of minutes of operation for:
               (1)  a dropout recovery school or program; and
               (2)  a school program offered at a residential or
  correctional facility.
         (k)  The commissioner may determine the qualifications to be
  considered a dropout recovery school for the purposes of Subsection
  (j).  The qualifications selected by the commissioner may differ
  from the qualifications required for a dropout recovery school
  under Sections 12.137 and 39.0548.
         (l)  On application from an open-enrollment charter school
  or a charter school operating under Subchapter E, Chapter 12, the
  commissioner shall calculate the average daily attendance for the
  school using an alternative minimum amount of minutes of operation
  if:
               (1)  during the 2014-2015 school year, the school was
  eligible to earn a full average daily attendance calculation under
  the applicable law governing the school during that school year;
  and
               (2)  the school provides at least the same amount of
  instruction to students as the school provided during the 2014-2015
  school year and is no longer eligible to earn the full average daily
  attendance during the current school year.
         (m)  To assist school districts in implementing this section
  as amended by H.B. 2442, Acts of the 85th Legislature, Regular
  Session, 2017, or similar legislation, the commissioner may waive a
  requirement of this section or adopt rules to implement this
  section.  This subsection expires September 1, 2018.
         SECTION 9.  Section 25.082(a), Education Code, is repealed.
         SECTION 10.  This Act applies beginning with the 2018-2019
  school year.
         SECTION 11.  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, 2017.
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