86R3707 KJE-D
	By: Collier	H.B. No. 1003

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the composition of the student body of an
	open-enrollment charter school.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 12.111(a), Education Code, is amended 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,
	academic, artistic, or athletic ability, or, subject to Section
	12.1172, 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
	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.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 12.1172 to read as follows:
	Sec. 12.1172.  ADMISSION PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS.
	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the governing body of an
	open-enrollment charter school shall adopt and implement admission
	procedures designed to ensure that students who reside in the
	attendance zone of the school district within the boundaries of
	which the school is located represent a majority of the school's
	total enrollment.
	(b)  To the extent necessary to achieve the result described
	by Subsection (a):
	(1)  a governing body that uses a lottery to fill
	available positions, as authorized by Section 12.117, may conduct
	separate lotteries for students who reside in the attendance zone
	of the school district within the boundaries of which the school is
	located and for students who do not reside in that attendance zone;
	and
	(2)  a governing body that fills available positions
	based on the order in which applications were received, as
	authorized by Section 12.117, may fill available positions based on
	the order in which applications were received from students who
	reside in the attendance zone of the school district within the
	boundaries of which the school is located before filling available
	positions with students who do not reside in that attendance zone.
	(c)  The commissioner shall decline to renew the charter of
	an open-enrollment charter school if the commissioner determines
	that the governing body of the open-enrollment charter school has
	not complied with this section, unless the commissioner determines
	that the governing body made a good faith effort to comply but was
	unable to achieve the result described by Subsection (a).
	(d)  This section does not apply to the governing body of an
	open-enrollment charter school that:
	(1)  is designated as a dropout recovery school under
	Section 12.1141(c);
	(2)  specializes in one or more performing arts; or
	(3)  serves another special purpose and limits
	enrollment to students with specific characteristics related to
	that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  (a) Section 12.1172, Education Code, as added by
	this Act, applies to each open-enrollment charter school authorized
	under Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code. A school in
	operation before the 2020-2021 school year shall achieve the
	required student body composition by not later than the start of the
	2023-2024 school year. A school that begins operation during or
	after the 2020-2021 school year shall achieve the required student
	body composition beginning with the first school year of operation.
	(b)  Section 12.1172, Education Code, as added by this Act,
	does not affect the ability of a student enrolled in an
	open-enrollment charter school during the 2019-2020 school year to
	continue attending that school as long as the student maintains
	enrollment during consecutive school years.
	(c)  A sibling of a student described by Subsection (b) of
	this section who seeks admission for any school year to the same
	open-enrollment charter school as attended by the student described
	by Subsection (b) during the 2019-2020 school year shall be
	considered for purposes of admission as a student who resides in the
	attendance zone of the school district within the boundaries of
	which the school is located, regardless of the student's actual
	residence.
	SECTION 4.  This Act applies beginning with the 2020-2021
	school year.
	SECTION 5.  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, 2019.