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

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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

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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.