Bill Text: TX SB681 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Comm Sub

Texas Senate Bill 681 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relating to a pilot program for a three-year high school diploma plan and cost-neutral expansion of full-day prekindergarten programs.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-05-09 - Not again placed on intent calendar [SB681 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-SB681-Comm_Sub.html



	By: West	S.B. No. 681
	(In the Senate - Filed February 20, 2013; February 25, 2013,
	read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
	May 2, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
	Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 2, 2013,
	sent to printer.)

	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 681	By: West


	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT

	relating to a pilot program for a three-year high school diploma
	plan and cost-neutral expansion of full-day prekindergarten
	programs.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 28.0255 to read as follows:
	Sec. 28.0255. PILOT PROGRAM: THREE-YEAR HIGH SCHOOL
	DIPLOMA PLAN. (a) In this section, "certificate program," "public
	junior college," "public state college," and "public technical
	institute" have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003.
	(b) This section applies only to a school district:
	(1) with an enrollment of more than 150,000 students
	that is located primarily in a county that:
	(A) has a population of 2.2 million or more; and
	(B) is adjacent to a county with a population of
	more than 600,000; or
	(2) located in a county that borders the United
	Mexican States and the Gulf of Mexico.
	(c) A school district to which this section applies may
	develop and implement a pilot program for students who wish to
	obtain a high school diploma after completion of three years of
	secondary school attendance as an alternative to the traditional
	four-year period of attendance. The program must:
	(1) be designed to serve the educational needs of
	students who do not anticipate immediate enrollment in a four-year
	college or university after graduation from high school; and
	(2) include partnerships between the school district
	and public junior colleges, public technical institutes, public
	state colleges, and any other public postsecondary institutions in
	this state offering academic or technical education or vocational
	training under a certificate program or an associate degree program
	to facilitate the prompt enrollment of students in those
	institutions after high school graduation under the program.
	(d) Participation by a student in the program must be
	voluntary, with approval of the student's parent. A student who
	agrees to participate in the program may, on request, discontinue
	participation and resume taking courses under a high school program
	based on a traditional four-year period of attendance.
	(e) Notwithstanding Section 28.025, the school district
	shall specify the curriculum requirements for receiving a high
	school diploma under the program. The curriculum requirements must
	ensure that a student who graduates under the program possesses
	sufficient knowledge and skills in English language arts and
	mathematics to be capable of performing successfully in public
	junior college-level courses.
	(f) The school district shall submit the proposed
	curriculum requirements to the State Board of Education for comment
	and the commissioner for approval. The district may not implement
	the program before obtaining the commissioner's approval of the
	proposed curriculum requirements.
	(g) A student is entitled to a high school diploma if the
	student:
	(1) successfully complies with the curriculum
	requirements specified under Subsection (e); and
	(2) performs satisfactorily, as determined by the
	commissioner under Subsection (h), on end-of-course assessment
	instruments listed under Section 39.023(c) for courses in which the
	student was enrolled.
	(h) For purposes of Subsection (g)(2), the commissioner
	shall determine the level of satisfactory performance on applicable
	end-of-course assessment instruments administered to a student.
	(i) The school district shall report the academic
	achievement record of students who have completed the program on a
	transcript that clearly identifies the program and distinguishes
	the program from the other high school programs based on a
	traditional four-year period of attendance.
	(j) A student who has received a diploma under the program
	is exempt from the compulsory school attendance requirements under
	Section 25.085.
	(k) To the extent this section conflicts with any other
	provision of this code or rule adopted under this code, this section
	prevails.
	(l) This section expires September 1, 2023.
	SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 42.2526 to read as follows:
	Sec. 42.2526. ADJUSTMENT FOR DISTRICT OPERATING PILOT
	PROGRAM. (a) This section applies only to a school district
	operating a pilot program authorized by Section 28.0255.
	(b) Beginning with the first school year that follows the
	first school year in which students receive high school diplomas
	under the pilot program authorized by Section 28.0255 and
	continuing for every subsequent school year that the district
	operates the pilot program, the commissioner shall provide funding
	for the district's prekindergarten program under Section 29.153 on
	a full-day basis for a number of prekindergarten students equal to
	twice the number of students who received a high school diploma
	under the pilot program authorized by Section 28.0255 during the
	preceding school year.
	(c) This section expires September 1, 2023.
	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.

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