Bill Text: TX HB4977 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the operation of open-enrollment charter schools, including enrollment procedures and the applicability of certain laws to open-enrollment charter schools.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-23 - Referred to Public Education [HB4977 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB4977-Introduced.html

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88R17640 TYPED
By: Klick H.B. No. 4977

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operation of open-enrollment charter schools,
including enrollment procedures and the applicability of certain
laws to open-enrollment charter schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 12.117, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 12.117. ADMISSION AND ENROLLMENT.
SECTION 2. Section 12.117, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (a-3),
and (b-1) to read as follows:
(a) For admission and enrollment to an open-enrollment
charter school, the governing body of the school shall:
(1) require the applicant to complete and submit the
common admission application form described by Section 12.1173 not
later than a reasonable deadline the school establishes; and
(2) on receipt of more acceptable applications for
admission under this section than available positions in a grade
level or campus [the school]:
(A) fill the available positions by lottery; or
(B) subject to Subsection (b), fill the available
positions in the order in which applications received before the
application deadline were received.
(a-1) An open-enrollment charter school that fills
available positions by lottery under Subsection (a)(2)(A) may use a
weighted lottery that assigns weights to applicants so that an
applicant's probability of admission increases if the applicant
satisfies criteria selected by the school. The school may increase
an applicant's probability of admission if the applicant is:
(1) eligible to participate in a special education
program under Section 29.003;
(2) a student of limited English proficiency, as
defined by Section 29.052; or
(3) educationally disadvantaged.
(a-2) The commissioner shall adopt rules regarding the
implementation of a weighted lottery under Subsection (a-1),
including rules that:
(1) establish the information an open-enrollment
charter school may request an applicant to provide that is limited
in scope to only the information necessary for the school to
implement the lottery; and
(2) ensure compliance with:
(A) federal law regarding the 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); and
(B) any state law relating to the privacy of
student information.
(a-3) An open-enrollment charter school that uses a
weighted lottery under Subsection (a-1) shall:
(1) include in the school's admission and enrollment
policy the information requested under Subsection (a-2)(1) that the
school uses for the lottery;
(2) provide notice of the information requested of an
applicant under Subsection (a-2)(1) only if the school receives
more acceptable applications for admission than available
positions in the school;
(3) clearly mark all information requested under
Subdivision (2) as optional; and
(4) use any information provided by an applicant under
Subdivision (2) only to determine if the applicant's probability of
admission will increase in accordance with Subsection (a-1).
(b-1) An open-enrollment charter school shall make publicly
available and post in a prominent and appropriate location on the
school's public Internet website, if the school maintains a public
Internet website, notice of the school's admission and enrollment
policy, including:
(1) the method by which the school fills available
positions in the school, including whether the school uses:
(A) a lottery; or
(B) a weighted lottery; and
(2) if the school fills available positions by
weighted lottery under Subsection (a-1), the weights assigned to
applicants under that subsection.
SECTION 3. Section 12.104, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) to read as follows:
(b) An open-enrollment charter school is subject to:
(1) a provision of this title establishing a criminal
offense;
(2) the provisions in Chapter 554, Government Code;
and
(3) a prohibition, restriction, or requirement, as
applicable, imposed by this title or a rule adopted under this
title, relating to:
(A) the Public Education Information Management
System (PEIMS) to the extent necessary to monitor compliance with
this subchapter as determined by the commissioner;
(B) criminal history records under Subchapter C,
Chapter 22;
(C) reading instruments and accelerated reading
instruction programs under Section 28.006;
(D) accelerated instruction under Section
28.0211;
(E) high school graduation requirements under
Section 28.025;
(F) special education programs under Subchapter
A, Chapter 29;
(G) bilingual education under Subchapter B,
Chapter 29;
(H) prekindergarten programs under Subchapter E
or E-1, Chapter 29, except class size limits for prekindergarten
classes imposed under Section 25.112, which do not apply;
(I) extracurricular activities under Section
33.081;
(J) discipline management practices or behavior
management techniques under Section 37.0021;
(K) health and safety under Chapter 38;
(L) the provisions of Subchapter A, Chapter 39;
(M) public school accountability and special
investigations under Subchapters A, B, C, D, F, G, and J, Chapter
39, and Chapter 39A;
(N) the requirement under Section 21.006 to
report an educator's misconduct;
(O) intensive programs of instruction under
Section 28.0213;
(P) the right of a school employee to report a
crime, as provided by Section 37.148;
(Q) bullying prevention policies and procedures
under Section 37.0832;
(R) the right of a school under Section 37.0052
to place a student who has engaged in certain bullying behavior in a
disciplinary alternative education program or to expel the student;
(S) the right under Section 37.0151 to report to
local law enforcement certain conduct constituting assault or
harassment;
(T) a parent's right to information regarding the
provision of assistance for learning difficulties to the parent's
child as provided by Sections 26.004(b)(11) and 26.0081(c) and (d);
(U) establishment of residency under Section
25.001;
(V) school safety requirements under Sections
37.108, 37.1081, 37.1082, 37.109, 37.113, 37.114, 37.1141, 37.115,
37.207, and 37.2071;
(W) the early childhood literacy and mathematics
proficiency plans under Section 11.185;
(X) the college, career, and military readiness
plans under Section 11.186; and
(X) parental options to retain a student under
Section 28.02124.; and
(Y) technology and student information
protection requirements under Chapter 32.
SECTION 4. Section 12.1058, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (d), (d-1), (d-2),
(d-3), and (d-4) to read as follows:
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) or (b), an
open-enrollment charter school operated by a tax exempt entity as
described by Section 12.101(a)(3) is not considered to be a
political subdivision, local government, or local governmental
entity unless:
(1) a [the applicable] statute specifically states
that the statute applies to an open-enrollment charter school; or
(2) a provision in this chapter states that a specific
statute applies to an open-enrollment charter school.
(d) A political subdivision shall consider an
open-enrollment charter school a school district for purposes of
zoning, project permitting, platting and replatting processes,
business licensing, franchises, utility services, signage,
subdivision regulation, property development projects, the
requirements for posting bonds or securities, contract
requirements, land development standards as provided by Section
212.902, Local Government Code, tree and vegetation regulations,
regulations of architectural features of a structure, construction
of fences, landscaping, garbage disposal, noise levels, fees or
other assessments, and construction or site development work. An
open-enrollment charter school does not have the power of eminent
domain.
(d-1) A political subdivision may not take any action that
prohibits an open-enrollment charter school from operating a public
school campus, educational support facility, athletic facility, or
administrative office within the political subdivision's
jurisdiction or on any specific property located within the
jurisdiction of the political subdivision that it could not take
against a school district. A political subdivision shall grant
approval in the same manner and follow the same timelines as if the
charter school were a school district located in that political
subdivision's jurisdiction.
(d-2) This section applies to both owned and leased property
of the open-enrollment charter school under Section 12.128.
(d-3) Except as provided by this section, this section does
not affect the authority granted by state law to a political
subdivision to regulate an open-enrollment charter school
regarding health and safety ordinances.
(d-4) In this section, "political subdivision" does not
include a school district.
SECTION 5. Section 212.902, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 212.902. SCHOOL DISTRICT AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT CHARTER
SCHOOL LAND DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS. (a) This section applies to an
agreement [agreements] between a school district or
open-enrollment charter school [districts] and a [any]
municipality which has annexed territory for limited purposes.
(b) On request by a school district or open-enrollment
charter school, a municipality shall enter an agreement with the
board of trustees of the school district or the governing body of
the open-enrollment charter school to establish review fees, review
periods, and land development standards ordinances and to provide
alternative water pollution control methodologies for school
buildings constructed by the school district or open-enrollment
charter school. The agreement shall include a provision exempting
the district or charter school from all land development ordinances
in cases where the district or charter school is adding temporary
classroom buildings on an existing school campus.
(c) If the municipality and the school district or
open-enrollment charter school do not reach an agreement on or
before the 120th day after the date on which the municipality
receives the district's or charter school's request for an
agreement, proposed agreements by the [school] district or charter
school and the municipality shall be submitted to an independent
arbitrator appointed by the presiding district judge whose
jurisdiction includes the [school] district or charter school. The
arbitrator shall, after a hearing at which both the [school]
district or charter school and the municipality make presentations
on their proposed agreements, prepare an agreement resolving any
differences between the proposals. The agreement prepared by the
arbitrator will be final and binding upon both the [school]
district or charter school and the municipality. The cost of the
arbitration proceeding shall be borne equally by the [school]
district or charter school and the municipality.
(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
that requests an agreement under this section, at the time the
district or charter school [it] makes the request, shall send a copy
of the request to the commissioner of education. At the end of the
120-day period, the requesting district or charter school shall
report to the commissioner the status or result of negotiations
with the municipality. A municipality may send a separate status
report to the commissioner. The district or charter school shall
send to the commissioner a copy of each agreement between the
district or charter school and a municipality under this section.
(e) In this section:
(1) [,] "Land [land] development standards" includes
impervious cover limitations, building setbacks, floor to area
ratios, building heights and coverage, water quality controls,
landscaping, development setbacks, compatibility standards,
traffic analyses, including traffic impact analyses, parking
requirements, signage requirements, and driveway cuts, if
applicable.
(2) "Open-enrollment charter school" means a school
granted a charter under Subchapter C, D, or E, Chapter 12, Education
Code.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
applicability of or waive fees for fire, safety, health, or
building code ordinances of the municipality prior to or during
construction of school buildings, nor shall any agreement waive any
fee or modify any ordinance of a municipality for an
administration, service, or athletic facility proposed for
construction by a school district or open-enrollment charter
school.
SECTION 6. Section 552.053(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The following may be exempt:
(1) this state;
(2) a county;
(3) a municipality; or
(4) [a] school districts and open-enrollment charter
schools [district].
SECTION 7. Section 12.103(c), Education Code, is repealed.
SECTION 8. An exemption granted to a school district under
Section 552.053(b)(4), Local Government Code, as that subdivision
existed before the effective date of this Act, automatically
extends to all open-enrollment charter schools located in the
municipality after the effective date of this Act unless the
municipality repeals the exemption before the effective date of
this Act.
SECTION 7. 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, 2023.