Minimum School Days Bill Exempts Every District Under 8,000 Students

The text as introduced · 1,508 words

89R1078 PRL-F

By: Cunningham
H.B. No. 1209

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the minimum number of instructional days provided by

public schools.

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 (a-1) or (b) of this section, Section

25.0815, Section 25.084, or Section 29.0821, for each school year

each school district must operate :

(1) for a minimum of 175 instructional days; and

(2) for at least 75,600 minutes of operation ,

including time allocated for instruction, intermissions, and

recesses for students.

(a-1) Subsection (a)(1) does not apply to a school district

with a student enrollment of less than 8,000.

(b) The commissioner may approve the operation of schools

for fewer than the number of instructional days or minutes of

operation 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

instructional days or minutes of operation [ time ] under Subsection

(b), a school district may add additional instructional days to the

school year or minutes of operation to the end of the district's

normal school hours as necessary to compensate for instructional

days or minutes of operation 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 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;

(2) [ (3) ] defining minutes of operation and

instructional time; and

(3) [ (4) ] establishing the minimum number of minutes of

instructional time 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 required instructional days or minutes of operation

[ requirement ] if the district's or program's average daily

attendance is calculated under Section 48.005(j).

(f) The commissioner may proportionally reduce the amount

of funding a district receives under Chapter 46, 48, or 49 and the

average daily attendance calculation for the district if the

district operates on a calendar that provides fewer instructional

days or minutes of operation than required under Subsection (a).

(g) A school district may not provide student instruction on

Memorial Day. If a school district would be required to provide

student instruction on Memorial Day to compensate for instructional

days or minutes of operation [ instruction ] lost because of school

closures caused by disaster, flood, extreme weather conditions,

fuel curtailment, or another calamity, the commissioner shall

approve the instruction of students for fewer than the number of

instructional days or minutes of operation required under

Subsection (a).

SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Education Code, is

amended by adding Section 25.0813 to read as follows:

Sec. 25.0813. MAINTENANCE OF FOUR-DAY SCHOOL WEEK SCHEDULE.

(a) Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by

Subsection (b), a school district that adopted a four-day school

week schedule for the 2024-2025 school year may maintain a four-day

school week schedule in each subsequent school year.

(b) If a school district adopts a four-day school week and

the agency assigns an overall performance rating of D, F, or "Not

Rated" to one or more campuses in the district, the district must

adopt and maintain a five-day school week in each subsequent school

year until each campus in the district is assigned an overall

performance rating of C or higher.

SECTION 3. Sections 25.0815(a) and (b), Education Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(a) The commissioner shall provide a waiver allowing for

fewer instructional days and fewer minutes of operation [ and

instructional time ] than required under Section 25.081(a) for a

school district that requires each educator employed by the

district to attend an approved school safety training course.

(b) A waiver under this section:

(1) must allow sufficient time for the school

district's educators to attend the school safety training course;

and

(2) may not:

(A) result in an inadequate number of minutes of

instructional time for students; or

(B) reduce :

(i) the number of instructional days by

more than one day; or

(ii) the number of minutes of operation

[ and instructional time ] by more than 420 minutes.

SECTION 4. 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) or enrolled in a course described by

Subsection (b)(4), 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 instructional days [ minutes of operation ] under

Section 25.081.

SECTION 5. Section 29.162(a), Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(a) The commissioner may adopt rules for this subchapter,

including rules establishing full-day and half-day instructional

days and minutes of operation requirements as provided by Section

25.081.

SECTION 6. Section 37.011(f), Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(f) A juvenile justice alternative education program must

operate at least seven hours per day and 175 [ 180 ] days per year,

except that a program may apply to the Texas Juvenile Justice

Department for a waiver of the 175-day [ 180-day ] requirement. The

department may not grant a waiver to a program under this subsection

for a number of days that exceeds the highest number of

instructional days waived by the commissioner during the same

school year for a school district served by the program.

SECTION 7. Sections 48.005(i), (j), and (m), Education

Code, are amended to read as follows:

(i) A district or a charter school operating under Chapter

12 that operates a prekindergarten program is eligible to receive

one-half of average daily attendance under Subsection (a) if the

district's or charter school's prekindergarten program provides at

least 32,400 minutes of instructional time to students over the

minimum required number of instructional days .

(j) A district or charter school is eligible to earn full

average daily attendance under Subsection (a) if the district or

school provides at least 43,200 minutes of instructional time

during a school year to students enrolled in:

(1) a dropout recovery school or program operating

under Section 12.1141(c) or Section 39.0548;

(2) an alternative education program operating under

Section 37.008;

(3) a school program located at a day treatment

facility, residential treatment facility, psychiatric hospital, or

medical hospital;

(4) a school program offered at a correctional

facility; or

(5) a school operating under Subchapter G, Chapter 12.

(m) The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to

implement this section, including rules that:

(1) establish the minimum amount of instructional time

per day that allows a school district or charter school to be

eligible for full average daily attendance, which may differ based

on the instructional program offered by the district or charter

school;

(2) establish the requirements necessary for a school

district or charter school to be eligible for one-half of average

daily attendance, which may differ based on the instructional

program offered by the district or charter school;

(3) proportionally reduce the average daily

attendance for a school district if any campus or instructional

program in the district provides to students fewer than the

required minimum number of instructional days or minutes of

operation [ instruction to students ]; and

(4) allow a grade or course repeated under Section

28.02124 to qualify for average daily attendance even if the

student previously passed or earned credit for the grade or course,

if the grade or course would otherwise be eligible.

SECTION 8. Section 48.0051(a), Education Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a) The [ Subject to Subsection (a-1), the ] commissioner

shall adjust the average daily attendance of a school district or

open-enrollment charter school under Section 48.005 in the manner

provided by Subsection (b) if the district or school:

(1) provides the minimum number of minutes of

operational and instructional time required under Section 25.081

and commissioner rules adopted under that section over the minimum

required number of instructional days or minutes of operation [ at

least 180 days of instruction ]; and

(2) offers an additional 30 days of half-day

instruction for students enrolled in prekindergarten through fifth

grade.

SECTION 9. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026

school year.

SECTION 10. 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.