bill freezing expansion for charters under a conservator

The text as introduced · 509 words

89R1889 AMF-D

By: West
S.B. No. 605

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the establishment of a new open-enrollment charter

school campus by certain charter holders and to the expansion of an

open-enrollment charter school.

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

SECTION 1. Section 12.101(b-4), Education Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(b-4) Notwithstanding Section 12.114, approval of the

commissioner under that section is not required for establishment

of a new open-enrollment charter school campus if the requirements

of this subsection are satisfied. A charter holder having an

accreditation status of accredited and at least 50 percent of its

student population in grades assessed under Subchapter B, Chapter

39, or at least 50 percent of the students in the grades assessed

having been enrolled in the school for at least three school years

may establish one or more new campuses under an existing charter

held by the charter holder if:

(1) the charter holder is currently evaluated under

the standard accountability procedures for evaluation under

Chapter 39 and received a district rating in the highest or second

highest performance rating category under Subchapter C, Chapter 39,

for three of the last five years with at least 75 percent of the

campuses rated under the charter also receiving a rating in the

highest or second highest performance rating category and with no

campus with a rating in the lowest performance rating category in

the most recent ratings;

(2) the charter holder and each campus operating under

the charter are not currently subject to an action of the

commissioner under Subchapter A, Chapter 39A;

(3) [ (2) ] the charter holder provides written notice

to the commissioner of the establishment of any campus under this

subsection in the time, manner, and form provided by rule of the

commissioner; and

(4) [ (3) ] not later than the 60th day after the date

the charter holder provides written notice under Subdivision (3)

[ (2) ], the commissioner does not provide written notice to the

charter holder that the commissioner has determined that the

charter holder does not satisfy the requirements of this section.

SECTION 2. Section 12.114, Education Code, is amended by

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

(c-1) The commissioner may not approve a request for

approval of an expansion amendment if the charter holder or any

campus operating under the charter is currently subject to an

action of the commissioner under Subchapter A, Chapter 39A.

SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to

a new open-enrollment charter school campus established or a

request for approval of an expansion amendment by an

open-enrollment charter school submitted on or after the effective

date of this Act. A campus established or a request submitted

before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in

effect on the date the campus was established or request submitted,

and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.