bill barring charters from rejecting students over discipline

The text as introduced · 810 words

By: Hinojosa
H.B. No. 1179

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the admission policy of an open-enrollment charter

school.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 12.111, Education Code, is amended by

amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as

follows:

(a) Each charter granted under this subchapter must:

(1) describe the educational program to be offered,

which must include the required curriculum as provided by Section

28.002;

(2) provide that continuation of the charter is

contingent on the status of the charter as determined under Section

12.1141 or 12.115 or under Chapter 39A;

(3) specify the academic, operational, and financial

performance expectations by which a school operating under the

charter will be evaluated, which must include applicable elements

of the performance frameworks adopted under Section 12.1181;

(4) specify:

(A) any basis, in addition to a basis specified

by this subchapter or Chapter 39A, on which the charter may be

revoked, renewal of the charter may be denied, or the charter may be

allowed to expire; and

(B) the standards for evaluation of a school

operating under the charter for purposes of charter renewal, denial

of renewal, expiration, revocation, or other intervention in

accordance with Section 12.1141 or 12.115 or Chapter 39A, as

applicable;

(5) prohibit discrimination in admission policy on the

basis of sex, national origin, ethnicity, religion, disability,

discipline history, academic, artistic, or athletic ability, or the

district the child would otherwise attend in accordance with this

code, although the charter may:

(A) provide for the exclusion of a student who is

currently:

(i) placed in a disciplinary alternative

education program or a juvenile justice alternative education

program; or

(ii) subject to an order of expulsion from a

school district or open-enrollment charter school [ has a documented

history of a criminal offense, a juvenile court adjudication, or

discipline problems under Subchapter A, Chapter 37 ]; and

(B) provide for an admission policy that requires

a student to demonstrate artistic ability if the school specializes

in performing arts;

(6) specify the grade levels to be offered;

(7) describe the governing structure of the program,

including:

(A) the officer positions designated;

(B) the manner in which officers are selected and

removed from office;

(C) the manner in which members of the governing

body of the school are selected and removed from office;

(D) the manner in which vacancies on that

governing body are filled;

(E) the term for which members of that governing

body serve; and

(F) whether the terms are to be staggered;

(8) specify the powers or duties of the governing body

of the school that the governing body may delegate to an officer;

(9) specify the manner in which the school will

distribute to parents information related to the qualifications of

each professional employee of the program, including any

professional or educational degree held by each employee, a

statement of any certification under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, held

by each employee, and any relevant experience of each employee;

(10) describe the process by which the person

providing the program will adopt an annual budget;

(11) describe the manner in which an annual audit of

the financial and programmatic operations of the program is to be

conducted, including the manner in which the person providing the

program will provide information necessary for the school district

in which the program is located to participate, as required by this

code or by commissioner rule, in the Public Education Information

Management System (PEIMS);

(12) describe the facilities to be used;

(13) describe the geographical area served by the

program;

(14) specify any type of enrollment criteria to be

used;

(15) provide information, as determined by the

commissioner, relating to any management company that will provide

management services to a school operating under the charter; and

(16) specify that the governing body of an

open-enrollment charter school accepts and may not delegate

ultimate responsibility for the school, including the school's

academic performance and financial and operational viability, and

is responsible for overseeing any management company providing

management services for the school and for holding the management

company accountable for the school's performance.

(a-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(5), a charter granted

under this subchapter may provide for the exclusion of a student

from an open-enrollment charter school campus that includes a

child-care facility based on the student's conviction for a

criminal offense that would preclude the student from being

admitted to a school district campus that includes a child-care

facility.

SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024

school year.

SECTION 3. 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, 2025.