Bill Text: TX SB443 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to measures intended to provide flexibility and cost savings to school districts.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-08 - Left pending in committee [SB443 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB443-Introduced.html

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82R6407 KKA-D
By: Patrick S.B. No. 443

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to measures intended to provide flexibility and cost
savings to school districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.058, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsections (c-1) and
(e) to read as follows:
(a) The procedures described by Subsection (b) apply [This
section applies] only:
(1) to conviction of a felony offense under Title 5,
Penal Code, or an offense on conviction of which a defendant is
required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of
Criminal Procedure; and
(2) if the victim of the offense is under 18 years of
age.
(c) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
that receives notice under Subsection (b) of the revocation of a
certificate issued under this subchapter or otherwise becomes aware
that a person employed by the district or school who holds a
certificate under this subchapter has been convicted of a felony
not described by Subsection (a) shall:
(1) immediately remove the person [whose certificate
has been revoked] from campus or from an administrative office, as
applicable, to prevent the person from having any contact with a
student, if the person's certificate was revoked under Subsection
(b); [and]
(2) if the person is employed under a probationary,
continuing, or term contract under this chapter and was convicted
of a felony:
(A) suspend the person without pay;
(B) provide the person with written notice that
the person's contract is void in accordance with Subsection (c-1);
and
(C) as soon as practicable, terminate the
person's employment; and
(3) if the person is not subject to action under
Subdivision (2) [as soon as practicable], terminate the employment
of the person as soon as practicable in accordance with the person's
contract and with this subchapter.
(c-1) A person's probationary, continuing, or term contract
under this chapter is void if the employee is convicted of a felony.
(e) Action taken by a school district under Subsection
(c)(2) is not subject to appeal under this chapter, and the notice
and hearing requirements of this chapter do not apply to the action.
SECTION 2. Section 25.112(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise authorized by this section, a school
district may not enroll more than a district-wide average of 21
[22] students in [a] kindergarten, first, second, third, and [or]
fourth grade classes [class]. That limitation does not apply
during:
(1) any 12-week period of the school year selected by
the district, in the case of a district whose average daily
attendance is adjusted under Section 42.005(c); or
(2) the last 12 weeks of any school year in the case of
any other district.
SECTION 3. Section 28.0211, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (a-2), (d), (e), and (f) and adding
Subsections (a-4) and (c-1) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-4), (b), or (e), a
student may not be promoted to:
(1) the sixth grade program to which the student would
otherwise be assigned if the student does not perform
satisfactorily on the fifth grade mathematics and reading
assessment instruments under Section 39.023; or
(2) the ninth grade program to which the student would
otherwise be assigned if the student does not perform
satisfactorily on the eighth grade mathematics and reading
assessment instruments under Section 39.023.
(a-2) A student who fails to perform satisfactorily on an
assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a) and who is
promoted to the next grade level must complete accelerated
instruction required under Subsection (a-1) before placement in the
next grade level. A student who fails to complete required
accelerated instruction, other than a student described by
Subsection (a-4), may not be promoted.
(a-4) Subsection (a)(2) does not apply to an eighth grade
student who has completed and received a passing final grade for
mathematics or English language arts course work:
(1) that the student has taken for credit toward high
school graduation; and
(2) that is relevant to the eighth grade mathematics
or reading assessment instrument, as applicable, under Section
39.023, on which the student has failed to perform satisfactorily.
(c-1) Accelerated instruction required under Subsection (c)
after a student fails to perform satisfactorily on an assessment
instrument a third time is not required to commence until the
beginning of the next school year.
(d) In addition to providing accelerated instruction to a
student under Subsection (c), the district shall notify the
student's parent or guardian of:
(1) the student's failure to perform satisfactorily on
the assessment instrument;
(2) the accelerated instruction program to which the
student is assigned; and
(3) except in the case of a student described by
Subsection (a-4), the possibility that the student might be
retained at the same grade level for the next school year.
(e) A student, other than a student described by Subsection
(a-4), who, after at least three attempts, fails to perform
satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under
Subsection (a) shall be retained at the same grade level for the
next school year in accordance with Subsection (a). The student's
parent or guardian may appeal the student's retention by submitting
a request to the grade placement committee established under
Subsection (c). The school district shall give the parent or
guardian written notice of the opportunity to appeal. The grade
placement committee may decide in favor of a student's promotion
only if the committee concludes, using standards adopted by the
board of trustees, that if promoted and given accelerated
instruction, the student is likely to perform at grade level. A
student may not be promoted on the basis of the grade placement
committee's decision unless that decision is unanimous. The
commissioner by rule shall establish a time line for making the
placement determination. This subsection does not create a
property interest in promotion. The decision of the grade
placement committee is final and may not be appealed.
(f) A school district shall provide to a student who, after
three attempts, has failed to perform satisfactorily on an
assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a) accelerated
instruction commencing at the beginning of [during] the next school
year as prescribed by an educational plan developed for the student
by the student's grade placement committee established under
Subsection (c). The district shall provide that accelerated
instruction regardless of whether the student has been promoted or
retained. The educational plan must be designed to enable the
student to perform at the appropriate grade level by the conclusion
of the school year. During the school year, the student shall be
monitored to ensure that the student is progressing in accordance
with the plan. The district shall administer to the student the
assessment instrument for the grade level in which the student is
placed at the time the district regularly administers the
assessment instruments for that school year.
SECTION 4. Sections 29.060(a) and (e), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A [Each] school district may [that is required to offer
a bilingual education or special language program shall] offer a
voluntary program for children of limited English proficiency who
will be eligible for admission to kindergarten or the first grade at
the beginning of the next school year. A school that operates on a
system permitted by this code other than a semester system shall, if
the district elects to offer a voluntary program under this
section, offer 120 hours of instruction on a schedule the board of
trustees of the district establishes. A school that operates on a
semester system shall, if the district elects to offer a voluntary
program under this section, offer the program:
(1) during the period school is recessed for the
summer; and
(2) for one-half day for eight weeks or on a similar
schedule approved by the board of trustees.
(e) The programs [required or] authorized by this section
may not be a substitute for programs required to be provided during
the regular school year.
SECTION 5. Sections 39.232(a) and (d), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a school campus or
district that is rated as recognized or exemplary under Subchapter
G is exempt from requirements and prohibitions imposed under this
code including rules adopted under this code.
(d) The commissioner may exempt a [an exemplary] school
campus that is rated as recognized or exemplary under Subchapter G
from elementary class size limits under this section if the school
campus submits to the commissioner a written plan showing steps
that will be taken to ensure that the exemption from the class size
limits will not be harmful to the academic achievement of the
students on the school campus. The commissioner shall review
achievement levels annually. The exemption remains in effect until
the commissioner determines that achievement levels of the campus
have declined.
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012
school year.
SECTION 7. 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, 2011.