Bill Text: TX SB468 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the flexibility of the board of trustees of a school district in the management and operation of public schools in the district.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-08 - No action taken in committee [SB468 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB468-Introduced.html

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82R4981 VOO-D
By: Shapiro S.B. No. 468

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the flexibility of the board of trustees of a school
district in the management and operation of public schools in the
district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.206(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Not later than the 10th [45th] day after [before] the
last day of instruction in a school year, the board of trustees
shall notify in writing each teacher whose contract is about to
expire whether the board proposes to renew or not renew the
contract.
SECTION 2. Section 21.402(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection [(d),] (e)[,] or (f), a
school district must pay each classroom teacher, full-time
librarian, full-time counselor certified under Subchapter B, or
full-time school nurse not less than the minimum monthly salary,
based on the employee's level of experience in addition to other
factors, as determined by commissioner rule, determined by the
following formula:
MS = SF x FS
where:
"MS" is the minimum monthly salary;
"SF" is the applicable salary factor specified by Subsection
(c); and
"FS" is the amount, as determined by the commissioner under
Subsection (b), of state and local funds per weighted student,
including funds provided under Section 42.2516, available to a
district eligible to receive state assistance under Section 42.302
with a maintenance and operations tax rate per $100 of taxable value
equal to the product of the state compression percentage, as
determined under Section 42.2516, multiplied by $1.50, except that
the amount of state and local funds per weighted student does not
include the amount attributable to the increase in the guaranteed
level made by Chapter 1187, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2001.
SECTION 3. Section 28.0211(c), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) Each time a student fails to perform satisfactorily on
an assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a), the school
district in which the student attends school shall provide to the
student accelerated instruction in the applicable subject area,
including reading instruction for a student who fails to perform
satisfactorily on a reading assessment instrument. After a student
fails to perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument a
second time, a grade placement committee shall be established to
prescribe the accelerated instruction the district shall provide to
the student before the student is administered the assessment
instrument the third time. The grade placement committee shall be
composed of the principal or the principal's designee, the
student's parent or guardian, and the teacher of the subject of an
assessment instrument on which the student failed to perform
satisfactorily. The district shall notify the parent or guardian
of the time and place for convening the grade placement committee
and the purpose of the committee. [An accelerated instruction
group administered by a school district under this section may not
have a ratio of more than 10 students for each teacher.]
SECTION 4. Section 30A.107(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) A student who is enrolled in a school district or
open-enrollment charter school in this state as a full-time student
may take one or more electronic courses through the state virtual
school network. The commissioner may not limit the number of
electronic courses a student to whom this subsection applies may
take through the state virtual school network.
SECTION 5. Section 44.004, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g-1) to read as follows:
(g-1) If the rate calculated under Section
44.004(c)(5)(A)(ii)(b) decreases after the publication of the
notice required by this section, the president is not required to
publish another notice or call another meeting to discuss and adopt
the budget and the proposed lower tax rate.
SECTION 6. Section 1951.052(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section [Sections 1951.212 and]
1951.457(c), this chapter does not apply to a person who performs
pest control work on property that the person owns or leases as the
person's dwelling.
SECTION 7. Section 1951.053(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section [Sections 1951.212 and]
1951.457(c), this chapter does not apply to:
(1) a person who performs pest control work on growing
plants, trees, shrubs, grass, or other horticultural plants if the
person holds a commercial or noncommercial applicator license
from the department and issued under Chapter 76, Agriculture Code,
that covers the pest control work; or
(2) a person who performs pest control work on growing
plants, trees, shrubs, grass, or other horticultural plants or
rights-of-way if the person:
(A) is employed by a political subdivision or a
cemetery;
(B) is engaged in pest control work or vegetation
management for the political subdivision or cemetery;
(C) holds a commercial or noncommercial
applicator license from the department and issued under Chapter 76,
Agriculture Code, that covers pest control work or is under the
direct supervision of a person who holds a commercial or
noncommercial applicator license from the department and issued
under Chapter 76, Agriculture Code, that covers pest control work;
and
(D) complies with annual continuing education
required by the department.
SECTION 8. Section 1951.054(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section [Sections 1951.212 and]
1951.457(c), this chapter does not apply to a person or the person's
employee who is engaged in the business of agriculture or aerial
application or custom application of pesticides to agricultural
lands.
SECTION 9. Section 1951.055(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section [Sections 1951.212 and]
1951.457(c), this chapter does not apply to a person who uses pest
control chemicals that are for household use and are available for
purchase in retail food stores, such as aerosol bombs and spray
cans, if the insecticide is used in accordance with the label
directions on the insecticide or with department rules or
guidelines or as provided by Section 1951.303 and is:
(1) used by the owner of a building or the owner's
employee or agent in an area occupied by the owner in a residential
building; or
(2) used in a place that is vacant, unused, and
unoccupied.
SECTION 10. Section 1951.056(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section [Sections 1951.212 and]
1951.457(c), this chapter does not apply to a person acting as a
beekeeper, as defined by Section 131.001, Agriculture Code, who:
(1) is registered with the chief apiary inspector as
provided by Subchapter C, Chapter 131, Agriculture Code;
(2) does not use pesticides or electrical devices
other than conventional bee smokers or equipment as defined by
Section 131.001, Agriculture Code; and
(3) collects, removes, or destroys honey bees.
SECTION 11. Section 1951.059(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The department by rule may exempt an activity from all
or part of the requirements of this chapter [, other than a
requirement under Section 1951.212,] if the department determines
that the activity presents only a minimal risk of harm to the
health, safety, and welfare of the public, the person performing
the activity, pets and other domesticated animals, and the
environment.
SECTION 12. Section 26.05(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) The governing body of each taxing unit, before the later
of September 30 or the 60th day after the date the certified
appraisal roll is received by the taxing unit, shall adopt a tax
rate for the current tax year and shall notify the assessor for the
unit of the rate adopted. The tax rate consists of two components,
each of which must be approved separately. The components are:
(1) for a taxing unit other than a school district, the
rate that, if applied to the total taxable value, will impose the
total amount published under Section 26.04(e)(3)(C), less any
amount of additional sales and use tax revenue that will be used to
pay debt service, or, for a school district, the rate calculated
[published] under Section 44.004(c)(5)(A)(ii)(b), Education Code;
and
(2) the rate that, if applied to the total taxable
value, will impose the amount of taxes needed to fund maintenance
and operation expenditures of the unit for the next year.
SECTION 13. The following provisions are repealed:
(1) Section 21.402(d), Education Code; and
(2) Section 1951.212, Occupations Code.
SECTION 14. The change in law made by the repeal of Section
21.402(d), Education Code, applies beginning with the 2012-2013
school year.
SECTION 15. The change in law made by Sections 28.0211(c)
and 30A.107(b), Education Code, as amended by this Act, and the
repeal of Section 1951.212, Occupations Code, applies beginning
with the 2011-2012 school year.
SECTION 16. The change in law made by Section 44.004(g-1),
Education Code, as added by this Act, applies beginning with
adoption of a tax rate for the 2011 tax year.
SECTION 17. 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, 2011.