Bill Text: TX HB4515 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to an alternative qualified early learning grant program administered by the commissioner of education and funding for prekindergarten and kindergarten programs under the Foundation School Program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-22 - Referred to Public Education [HB4515 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB4515-Introduced.html

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88R10049 TSS-F
By: Allen H.B. No. 4515

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an alternative qualified early learning grant program
administered by the commissioner of education and funding for
prekindergarten and kindergarten programs under the Foundation
School Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.1534(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) In this section, "prekindergarten program" includes
prekindergarten programs provided by a private entity through a
partnership with the school district or by an early learning
provider qualified under Section 29.1535(d).
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.1535 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.1535. ALTERNATIVE QUALIFIED EARLY LEARNING GRANT
PROGRAM. (a) In this section:
(1) "Eligible student" means a child who resides in
this state and who either:
(A) is eligible for prekindergarten classes
under Section 29.153(b); or
(B) is five years of age or older and otherwise
eligible for enrollment in kindergarten.
(2) "Parent" includes a person standing in parental
relation to a student, including a stepparent.
(3) "Qualified early learning provider" means a
child-care provider that qualifies under Subsection (d) to receive
a grant under this section.
(b) A parent of an eligible student may enroll the student
in prekindergarten or kindergarten classes offered by a qualified
early learning provider as an alternative to a public school
kindergarten or prekindergarten program.
(c) A qualified early learning provider is entitled to
receive a grant in the amount equal to the amount of funding per
eligible student in weighted average daily attendance, calculated
on the basis of full-day attendance, to which the school district in
which the student resides would be entitled.
(d) To qualify for a grant under this section, an early
learning provider must:
(1) offer, at no cost to the student, prekindergarten
or kindergarten classes to each student for which the provider
receives a grant under this section;
(2) meet the qualifications of Section 29.153(g);
(3) only employ teachers in a prekindergarten or
kindergarten program:
(A) who meet the qualifications of Section
29.167(b); or
(B) for whom the provider has received a waiver
under Subsection (f);
(4) if offering prekindergarten classes, implement a
curriculum consistent with Section 29.167(a);
(5) if offering kindergarten classes, only offer
curriculum from a list of approved curricula developed by the
agency under Subsection (l)(4); and
(6) select and implement appropriate methods for
evaluating the provider's prekindergarten and kindergarten
programs in accordance with Section 29.169.
(e) Money from the available school fund or federal funds
may not be used for awarding a grant under this section.
(f) A qualified early learning provider may apply to the
commissioner for a waiver of the requirement that a teacher be
certified under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, in the same manner as
provided by Sections 7.056(b) and (c) as a school campus or district
seeking a waiver. A teacher for whom the provider has been granted a
waiver must be employed under a probationary contract or a contract
that establishes an at-will employment relationship between the
provider and the teacher.
(g) A waiver granted under Subsection (f) is effective for
the period stated in the application for a waiver, which may not
exceed three years. A qualified early learning provider that has
been granted a waiver for a certain teacher may not apply again for
a waiver for that teacher.
(h) The commissioner shall develop a system to notify the
population in each school district with children who are eligible
for enrollment in a prekindergarten or kindergarten program under
this section of the availability of prekindergarten or kindergarten
classes at a qualified early learning provider. The notification
must:
(1) include each qualified early learning provider
located within the district; and
(2) be provided in English and Spanish.
(i) This section does not restrict or prohibit a qualified
early learning provider from advertising the availability of
prekindergarten and kindergarten classes offered by the provider.
(j) The commissioner may not reduce the amount of funds to
which a qualified early learning provider is entitled under this
section based on an eligible student's simultaneous enrollment in
the provider's program and a public school's prekindergarten or
kindergarten program.
(k) The commissioner shall administer the program and award
grants to qualified early learning providers.
(l) The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement this
section, including rules for:
(1) establishing a process by which a qualified early
learning provider may apply for a grant under Subsection (c);
(2) providing a timeline for making payments to grant
recipients under this section;
(3) ensuring that a qualified early learning provider
awarded a grant under this section is, to the greatest extent
possible and except as provided by this section, funded in a manner
identical to a prekindergarten or kindergarten program offered at a
public school;
(4) developing criteria for and a list of approved
kindergarten curricula; and
(5) developing and publishing a list of qualified
early learning providers.
SECTION 3. Section 48.005, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (i) and adding Subsection (i-1) to
read as follows:
(a) In this chapter, average daily attendance is:
(1) the quotient of the sum of attendance for each day
of the minimum number of days of instruction as described under
Section 25.081(a) divided by the minimum number of days of
instruction;
(2) for a district that operates under a flexible year
program under Section 29.0821, the quotient of the sum of
attendance for each actual day of instruction as permitted by
Section 29.0821(b)(1) divided by the number of actual days of
instruction as permitted by Section 29.0821(b)(1);
(3) for a district that operates under a flexible
school day program under Section 29.0822, the average daily
attendance as calculated by the commissioner in accordance with
Sections 29.0822(d) and (d-1); or
(4) unless otherwise provided by Subsection
(i-1), for a district that operates a half-day program [or a
full-day program] under Section 29.153(c), one-half of the average
daily attendance calculated under Subdivision (1).
(i) Unless otherwise provided by Subsection (i-1), a [A]
district or a charter school operating under Chapter 12 that
operates a prekindergarten program is eligible to receive
three-quarters [one-half] of average daily attendance under
Subsection (a) if the district's or charter school's
prekindergarten program provides at least 50,400 [32,400] minutes
of instructional time to students.
(i-1) A district or a charter school operating under Chapter
12 that operates a prekindergarten program is eligible to receive
full-day average daily attendance under Subsection (a) for each
student enrolled in a prekindergarten program at a campus that
offers only prekindergarten or prekindergarten and kindergarten.
SECTION 4. Section 48.108, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) A school district is entitled to receive funding for a
student who satisfies the requirements of this section regardless
of whether the eligible student is simultaneously enrolled in a
prekindergarten or kindergarten program provided by an early
learning provider qualified under Section 29.1535(d) and is a
student for whom the early learning provider receives a grant under
that section.
SECTION 5. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the commissioner of education shall adopt rules to
implement the alternative qualified early learning grant program
established by Section 29.1535, Education Code, as added by this
Act.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.