Bill Text: TX HB4148 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Relating to the transfer of students between public schools.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-04-25 - Left pending in committee [HB4148 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB4148-Introduced.html

---

88R7918 PRL-F
By: Dutton H.B. No. 4148

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the transfer of students between public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 25.001, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (h) and adding Subsection (k) to read as
follows:
(h) In addition to the penalty provided by Section 37.10,
Penal Code, a person who knowingly falsifies information on a form
required for enrollment of a student in a school district is liable
to the district if the student is not eligible for enrollment in the
district but is enrolled on the basis of the false information. The
person is liable, for the period during which the ineligible
student is enrolled, for [the greater of:
[(1) the maximum tuition fee the district may charge
under Section 25.038; or
[(2)] the amount the district has budgeted for each
student as maintenance and operating expenses.
(k) Notwithstanding any other law, a school district shall
allow a student who qualifies for admission under this subchapter
to enroll at the campus nearest to the student's residence offering
the appropriate grade level, regardless of whether the student
resides in the attendance zone of that district or campus and
provided that the campus has capacity, as determined under Section
25.046.
SECTION 2. Section 25.036, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 25.036. TRANSFER OF STUDENT. (a) Any child, other
than a high school graduate, who is younger than 21 years of age and
eligible for enrollment on September 1 of any school year may apply
to transfer [annually] from the child's school district [of
residence] to any public school [another district] in this state
that offers the appropriate grade level and has capacity, as
determined under Section 25.046 [if both the receiving district and
the applicant parent or guardian or person having lawful control of
the child jointly approve and timely agree in writing to the
transfer].
(b) Before the beginning of each school year, a school
district shall:
(1) require a transfer applicant under Subsection (a)
to complete and submit the district's transfer application form by
a reasonable deadline established by the district; and
(2) admit each eligible transfer applicant until
enrollment at the campus reaches capacity, as determined under
Section 25.046.
(c) If a school district receives more eligible transfer
applications for a district campus or a specific grade level at a
district campus than the district has capacity for at that campus or
in that grade level, as determined under Section 25.046, the
district shall fill the available positions by lottery. A school
district shall offer to a student who the district does not enroll
due to lack of capacity an available position, if any, in the
appropriate grade level at another district campus.
(d) A school district that must fill positions by lottery
under Subsection (c) shall, in developing the lottery system,
ensure priority is given to an applicant who:
(1) resides within the district;
(2) is enrolled as a transfer student in the district
at another campus but has completed the highest grade level offered
at that campus;
(3) is a sibling of a student currently enrolled at a
district campus;
(4) is applying to transfer to a campus that is the
campus geographically nearest to the student's residence that
offers the appropriate grade level, regardless of whether the
student resides in the attendance zone of that campus;
(5) receives special education services under
Subchapter A, Chapter 29;
(6) is in foster care; or
(7) is a dependent of a person who is employed at the
campus to which the student is applying to transfer.
(e) A school district that receives more eligible transfer
applications for a district campus or a specific grade level at a
district campus than the district may enroll at the capacity
determined under Section 25.046 for that campus or grade level
shall establish and maintain a waiting list for transfer applicants
who are not admitted.
(f) If a position at a school district campus with a
waitlist under Subsection (e) becomes available after the start of
the school year, the district shall first admit transfer applicants
according to that waitlist and then admit any additional transfer
applicants in the order in which those additional transfer
applications are received.
(g) A school district may not deny a student's transfer
application unless:
(1) the requested district or campus is determined to
be at capacity under Section 25.046; or
(2) the student requesting the transfer is, at the
time of the application:
(A) expelled or suspended from the student's
school;
(B) placed in a disciplinary alternative
education program or a juvenile justice alternative education
program; or
(C) subject to an ongoing disciplinary
proceeding under a district's student code of conduct adopted under
Section 37.001, which may lead to the student's:
(i) out-of-school suspension;
(ii) placement in a disciplinary
alternative education program or juvenile justice alternative
education program; or
(iii) expulsion.
(h) Notwithstanding any other law, a transfer applicant
under this section may only appeal a denial of the applicant's
transfer application as provided by this subsection. The parent of
or person standing in parental relation to a student may appeal a
denial of the student's transfer application by submitting the
appeal not later than the 10th day after the date of notification of
the application denial to the board of trustees of the receiving
school district. The receiving school district must consider the
appeal at the board's next regularly scheduled meeting and notify
the parent of the board's decision not later than the 10th day after
the date of that meeting. If the receiving school district board of
trustees denies the appeal, the parent of or person standing in
parental relation to the student may appeal that denial by
submitting the appeal to the commissioner not later than the 10th
day after the date of notification of the board's denial of the
appeal. The commissioner must provide a decision regarding an
appeal received under this subsection not later than the 90th day
after the date the commissioner receives notice of the appeal. The
commissioner must allow the appealing person and a representative
from the receiving school district to provide comment to the
commissioner regarding the appeal. An appeal under this subsection
must be submitted on a form approved by the commissioner.
(i) A student who transfers to another school district or
district campus as provided by this section may remain at the
receiving campus until that student completes the highest grade
level offered at the campus.
(j) Once a student who transfers to another school district
or district campus as provided by this section completes the
highest grade level offered at the receiving campus, the student
must reapply to continue attending school in the receiving
district. The district must prioritize admitting the student as
provided by Subsection (d).
(k) A school district may not deny admission to a student
who resides in the attendance zone of the district, including a
student who attends an open-enrollment charter school in the
district, for the purpose of accepting a transfer applicant under
this section.
(l) A school district campus that uses a selective
admissions process in accordance with a specific instructional
model or performing arts focus may retain that selective admissions
process if the admissions process prohibits discrimination on the
basis of a student's:
(1) sex, national origin, ethnicity, religion,
disability, socioeconomic status, or athletic ability;
(2) disciplinary record, except as permitted under
Subsection (g); or
(3) assigned school district or district campus based
on the attendance zone of the student's residence.
(m) The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to
implement this section, including rules establishing:
(1) an admissions lottery, as described by Subsection
(c), and a waitlist as described by Subsection (e);
(2) procedures to ensure that selective admissions
processes at applicable open-enrollment district campuses comply
with Subsection (l); and
(3) procedures to ensure this section complies with
state and federal law regarding confidentiality of student medical
or educational information, including the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. Section 1320d
et seq.) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
(20 U.S.C. Section 1232g). [A transfer agreement under this section
shall be filed and preserved as a receiving district record for
audit purposes of the agency.]
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 25.046 and 25.047 to read as follows:
Sec. 25.046. TRANSFER CAPACITY; DISTRICT POLICY. (a)
Except as provided by Subsection (c), each year on the first day of
January, April, July, and October, the board of trustees of a school
district shall determine the capacity of each district campus and
the capacity of each grade level offered at each campus. For
purposes of this section, the capacity of a district campus or a
grade level at that campus is the total number of students that may
be admitted at the campus or at that grade level, as applicable,
less the students who are currently enrolled at that campus or at
that grade level, as applicable. Based on the board's
determination of campus or grade level capacity and current student
enrollment, the district shall identify the number of available
positions at each campus and for each grade level. In determining
campus and grade level capacity, the district shall consult the
most recent district facility plan, including a facility plan
created as part of a district bond proposal.
(b) The district shall post for each campus in the district
on the district's Internet website, if the district maintains a
website, the most recent determination of campus and grade level
capacity. If the district does not maintain a website, the district
shall make the information required under this subsection available
to the public at an administrative office of the district.
(c) A school district is not required to determine the
capacity of a new instructional facility, as defined by Section
48.152, in the first school year in which students attend the new
instructional facility.
(d) The board of trustees of a school district shall adopt a
written policy that meets the requirements adopted by the
commissioner under Subsection (f) for the admission of a transfer
applicant under this subchapter. The board shall make the policy
available to the public in the same manner the district makes
available a district's determination of campus and grade level
capacity under Subsection (b). The policy must include:
(1) adoption of a transfer application form;
(2) the provision of the address of the district
administrative office where a person may access the district's
determination of campus and grade level capacity, if the district
does not maintain an Internet website; and
(3) the provision of information regarding available
options for transportation provided by the district or in the
community.
(e) The agency shall establish and maintain on the agency's
Internet website a publication that includes each school district's
policy adopted under this section and each district's campus or
grade level capacity determinations under Subsection (a).
(f) The commissioner shall adopt rules and prescribe
procedures necessary to implement this section, including by
developing any necessary model policies, forms, or templates for
use by a school district in complying with Subsection (d). In
adopting rules to implement this section, the commissioner shall
consider feedback from districts and shall prioritize:
(1) flexibility of access for students;
(2) encouraging districts to accommodate student
transfers; and
(3) preventing districts from discouraging student
transfers.
Sec. 25.047. REPORTING AND AUDIT REQUIREMENTS. (a)
Subject to Subsection (b), each school district shall annually
submit not later than the last Friday in October of each school year
a report to the agency regarding the transfer of students to and
from the district during the previous school year. The report must
include:
(1) for each district campus, the quarterly campus and
grade level capacity determinations under Section 25.046;
(2) for each campus, the number of transfer
applications for transfers to that campus the district received,
the number of applications that were granted, and the number of
applications that were denied, including the reason for the denial,
during the preceding school year;
(3) the information described by Subdivisions (1) and
(2) aggregated for all campuses in the district; and
(4) for the purposes of demographic analysis, any
information required by the commissioner as necessary to identify
each student admitted to or denied admission to a campus in the
district who is or was previously enrolled in a public school in
this state.
(b) A school district with only one campus serving each
grade level is exempt from Subsection (a)(3).
(c) Not later than March 15 of each year, the agency shall
post on the agency's Internet website a report on the transfer and
assignment of students. The report must include:
(1) a summary of school district admission practices
relating to student transfer admissions;
(2) for the state, the aggregated data reported under
Subsection (a);
(3) for each district, the aggregated data reported
under Subsection (a);
(4) a demographic analysis of the students
transferring districts;
(5) a demographic analysis of the students
transferring between campuses within the same district;
(6) for each district, the number of transfer
applicants seeking admission or withdrawal, showing the potential
net change in enrollment; and
(7) for each district, the actual number of students
who transferred into or out of the district, showing the actual net
change in enrollment.
(d) Every sixth year, the agency shall publish a study of
statewide transfer trends that includes:
(1) the total number of students transferring
districts and of students transferring between campuses within the
same district;
(2) using data from the previous six school years, an
analysis at the state and district level of changes in:
(A) the number of school districts and campuses
admitting transfer students;
(B) the number of students transferring
districts; and
(C) the number of students transferring between
campuses within the same district;
(3) a demographic analysis of the students
transferring districts and of the students transferring between
campuses within the same district;
(4) using data from the previous six school years, an
analysis of the patterns of student movement between districts and
campuses, including a description of any characteristics that are
correlated with students transferring to or away from districts or
schools;
(5) a summary of district practices regarding
transportation of transfer students;
(6) an explanation of the reasons students choose to
transfer districts or campuses and the barriers faced by students
in transferring districts or campuses;
(7) an explanation of the challenges restricting
school districts from admitting more transfer students;
(8) performance outcomes for inter- and
intra-district transfer students, including changes in student
proficiency after the date of transfer; and
(9) the effects of inter-district transfers on test
scores and program offerings for sending and receiving districts.
(e) Each year, the agency shall randomly select 10 percent
of the school districts in the state and conduct an audit of each
district's capacity determination under Section 25.046 and of each
district's approved and denied transfer applications. If the
agency finds inaccurate reporting of capacity levels by a school
district, the agency shall set the capacity for the school
district. Districts audited during the previous two school years
may not be selected for audit in a school year.
(f) The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to
implement this section.
SECTION 4. Section 34.007(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A board of county school trustees or a school district
board of trustees may establish and operate an economical public
school transportation system:
(1) in the county or district, as applicable;
(2) outside the county or district, as applicable, if
the county or school district enters into an interlocal contract as
provided by Chapter 791, Government Code; or
(3) outside the district if students enrolled in the
district reside outside the district and the district:
(A) has an active policy adopted by the board
that prohibits screening transfer students who reside outside the
district based on the student's academic performance, disciplinary
history, except as provided by Section 25.036(g)(2), or attendance
record, regardless of any relevant district or innovation plan
adopted by the board or authorization to screen transfer students
under any other authority; [and]
(B) certifies that the district has:
(i) an overall performance rating of C or
higher under Section 39.054 for the preceding school year or the
most recent school year in which a performance rating was assigned;
and
(ii) an overall accountability score of 70
or higher for the preceding school year or the most recent school
year in which a performance rating was assigned as calculated by the
agency for purposes of determining the district's overall
performance rating under Section 39.054; and
(C) certifies that the district or receiving
campus has [(iii)] the same or better overall performance rating
under Section 39.054 for the preceding school year or the most
recent school year in which a performance rating was assigned as the
school district or campus from which the district will transport
students under this subdivision.
SECTION 5. The following provisions of the Education Code
are repealed:
(1) Section 25.038;
(2) Sections 25.039(b) and (c); and
(3) Section 48.154.
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act may not be
interpreted to affect the authority or existing rules of the
University Interscholastic League regarding the participation of a
student in an interscholastic competition.
SECTION 7. Not later than September 1, 2029, the Texas
Education Agency shall publish the first study of statewide
transfer trends required under Section 25.047, Education Code, as
added by this Act.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.