Hinojosa Rural Pathway Bill Funds Only Coding, Cybersecurity, Trades From 2027

The text as introduced · 800 words

2025S0158-1 03/03/25

By: Hinojosa of Hidalgo
S.B. No. 2132

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP)

program, including funding for that program under the Foundation

School Program.

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

SECTION 1. Section 29.912, Education Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:

(c-1) A school district that has participated in the program

may continue to participate in the program regardless of the number

of students in average daily attendance in the district for the

current school year.

SECTION 2. Section 48.118, Education Code, is amended by

amending Subsections (a) and (f) and adding Subsections (a-1),

(a-2), (a-3), and (g) to read as follows:

(a) Subject to Subsection (a-1), for [ For ] each full-time

equivalent student in average daily attendance in grades 9 through

12 in a college or career pathway offered through a partnership

under the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program

under Section 29.912 that meets the requirements under Subsection

(g) , a school district is entitled to an allotment equal to the

basic allotment, or, if applicable, the sum of the basic allotment

and the allotment under Section 48.101 to which the district is

entitled, multiplied by:

(1) 1.15 if the student is educationally

disadvantaged; or

(2) 1.11 if the student is not educationally

disadvantaged.

(a-1) A school district is eligible to receive an allotment

under Subsection (a) only if the district has adopted a school

calendar for that school year that provides for at least:

(1) 175 instructional days; or

(2) five instructional days per week for the majority

of the school year.

(a-2) The commissioner may waive the requirement under

Subsection (a-1) for a school district for the 2025-2026 school

year on application by the district if the district demonstrates

that the district has adopted a school calendar for the 2026-2027

school year that complies with that subsection. This subsection

expires September 1, 2026.

(a-3) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a school district

described by Section 29.912(c-1) may receive funding under this

section for up to 110 percent of the number of students who

qualified under Subsection (a) for the school year immediately

preceding the school year in which the district's enrollment first

reached 1,600 or more.

(f) The total amount of state funding for allotments and

outcomes bonuses under this section may not exceed $5 million per

year. If the total amount of allotments and outcomes bonuses to

which school districts are entitled under this section exceeds the

amount permitted under this subsection, the agency shall allocate

state funding to districts under this section in the following

order:

(1) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school

districts participating in partnerships prioritized under Section

29.912(h) are eligible;

(2) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school

districts that entered into a memorandum of understanding or letter

of commitment regarding a multidistrict pathway partnership, as

defined by commissioner rule, before May 1, 2023, are eligible;

(3) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school

districts that have entered into a performance agreement under

Section 29.912 with a coordinating entity that is an institution of

higher education, as defined by Section 61.003, are eligible; and

(4) allotments under Subsection (a) for which school

districts with the highest percentage of students who are

educationally disadvantaged, in descending order, are eligible[ ;

and

[ (5) outcomes bonuses under Subsection (c) for which

school districts with the highest percentage of students who are

educationally disadvantaged, in descending order, are eligible ].

(g) To be eligible for funding under this section, a

partnership under the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP)

program under Section 29.912 must offer at least one of the

following programs of study through in-person instruction, remote

instruction, or a hybrid of in-person and remote instruction:

(1) computer programming and software development or

cybersecurity; or

(2) a specialized skilled trade, such as:

(A) plumbing and pipefitting;

(B) electrical;

(C) welding;

(D) diesel and heavy equipment;

(E) aviation maintenance; or

(F) applied agricultural engineering.

SECTION 3. Sections 48.118(b), (c), and (d), Education

Code, are repealed.

SECTION 4. Section 29.912, Education Code, as amended by

this Act, applies beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.

SECTION 5. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) or (c)

of this section, 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.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section,

Section 48.118, Education Code, as amended by this Act, takes

effect September 1, 2025.

(c) Section 48.118(g), Education Code, as added by this Act,

takes effect September 1, 2027.