Bill Text: TX SB378 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to a study to determine public school facility needs.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-11 - Referred to Education [SB378 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-SB378-Introduced.html
| 83R637 EAH-D | ||
| By: Lucio | S.B. No. 378 | |
|
|
||
|
|
||
| relating to a study to determine public school facility needs. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 44, Education Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Section 44.904 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 44.904. STUDY REGARDING PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITY NEEDS; | ||
| RECOMMENDATIONS. (a) The commissioner shall study public school | ||
| facility needs and make recommendations for meeting five-year and | ||
| ten-year facility needs. | ||
| (b) The commissioner may work with institutions of higher | ||
| education, nonprofit organizations, private organizations, | ||
| regional education service centers, or school districts to conduct | ||
| the study. | ||
| (c) The study must include an assessment of the five-year | ||
| and ten-year facility needs of public schools and school districts | ||
| that represent a variety of geographic regions, including: | ||
| (1) inner-urban school districts; | ||
| (2) small and rural school districts; | ||
| (3) fast-growth school districts; | ||
| (4) suburban school districts; | ||
| (5) open-enrollment charter schools; | ||
| (6) property-wealthy school districts; and | ||
| (7) property-poor school districts. | ||
| (d) For purposes of Subsection (c), a fast-growth school | ||
| district is a school district that has an enrollment of more than | ||
| 3,400 students and has had an increase in student enrollment of at | ||
| least 10 percent over the five school years preceding the 2013-2014 | ||
| school year or a district that has had a net increase in enrollment | ||
| of at least 5,000 students in any one of the five school years | ||
| preceding the 2013-2014 school year. The commissioner by rule | ||
| shall establish criteria for the other district categories | ||
| specified by Subsection (c). | ||
| (e) The study must include a survey of: | ||
| (1) portable and non-permanent buildings used as | ||
| school facilities; | ||
| (2) the cost of school facilities; and | ||
| (3) utility efficiencies. | ||
| (f) The study must include recommendations for meeting: | ||
| (1) the five-year and ten-year facility needs of each | ||
| public school and school district type listed in Subsection (c); | ||
| and | ||
| (2) the unique facility needs of public schools in | ||
| border areas, inner-urban areas, and disaster-prone areas such as | ||
| coastal areas. | ||
| (g) In developing recommendations required under Subsection | ||
| (f), the commissioner shall consider: | ||
| (1) growing construction costs; | ||
| (2) construction methods; and | ||
| (3) potential cost savings that may be achieved by | ||
| renovating facilities with energy-efficient utilities. | ||
| (h) Not later than September 1, 2014, the commissioner shall | ||
| submit the results of the study and recommendations to the | ||
| governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of | ||
| representatives, and the standing legislative committees with | ||
| primary jurisdiction over public education. | ||
| (i) The agency shall post the results of the study and | ||
| recommendations on the agency's Internet website. | ||
| (j) This section expires September 1, 2015. | ||
| SECTION 2. 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, 2013. | ||
