September School Start Skips Districts With Old Innovation Plans

The text as introduced · 613 words

89R3840 RDR-D

By: Patterson
H.B. No. 604

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the scheduling of the first day of school for students

by school districts.

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

SECTION 1. Section 12A.003(b), Education Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(b) A local innovation plan must:

(1) provide for a comprehensive educational program

for the district, which [ program ] may include:

(A) innovative curriculum, instructional

methods, and provisions regarding community participation, campus

governance, and parental involvement;

(B) except as provided by Section 12A.004(a),

modifications to the school day or year;

(C) provisions regarding the district budget and

sustainable program funding;

(D) accountability and assessment measures that

exceed the requirements of state and federal law; and

(E) any other innovations prescribed by the board

of trustees; and

(2) identify requirements imposed by this code that

inhibit the goals of the plan and from which the district should be

exempted on adoption of the plan, subject to Section 12A.004.

SECTION 2. Section 12A.004(a), Education Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a) A local innovation plan may not provide for the

exemption of a district designated as a district of innovation from

the following provisions of this title:

(1) a state or federal requirement applicable to an

open-enrollment charter school operating under Subchapter D,

Chapter 12;

(2) Subchapters A, C, D, and E, Chapter 11, except that

a district may be exempt from Sections 11.1511(b)(5) and (14) and

Section 11.162;

(3) state curriculum and graduation requirements

adopted under Chapter 28; [ and ]

(4) academic and financial accountability and

sanctions under Chapters 39 and 39A ; and

(5) the first day of instruction requirements under

Section 25.0811 .

SECTION 3. Section 25.0811(a), Education Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by this section, a school district

may not begin instruction for students for a school year before the

first [ fourth ] Monday in September [ August ]. A school district may:

(1) begin instruction for students for a school year

before the first [ fourth ] Monday in September [ August ] if the

district operates a year-round system under Section 25.084; or

(2) begin instruction for students for a school year

on or after the third [ first ] Monday in August at a campus or at not

more than 20 percent of the campuses in the district if:

(A) the district has a student enrollment of

190,000 or more;

(B) the district at the beginning of the school

year provides, financed with local funds, days of instruction for

students at the campus or at each of the multiple campuses, in

addition to the minimum instructional time [ number of days of

instruction ] required under Section 25.081;

(C) the campus or each of the multiple campuses

is [ are ] undergoing comprehensive reform, as determined by the

board of trustees of the district; and

(D) a majority of the students at the campus or at

each of the multiple campuses are educationally disadvantaged.

SECTION 4. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of

this section, this Act applies beginning with the 2026-2027 school

year.

(b) Sections 12A.003 and 12A.004, Education Code, as

amended by this Act, apply only to a local innovation plan adopted

or renewed on or after the effective date of this Act. A local

innovation plan adopted or renewed before the effective date of

this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the plan was

adopted or renewed, and the former law is continued in effect for

that purpose.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.