Bill Text: TX SB471 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Comm Sub

---

Bill Title: Relating to reviews and investigations conducted by the Texas Education Agency.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-05-23 - Committee report sent to Calendars [SB471 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-SB471-Comm_Sub.html

---

By: Rodríguez, et al. S.B. No. 471
(Huberty)

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to reviews and investigations conducted by the Texas
Education Agency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 7.028(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section 29.001(5), 29.010(a),
[39.056,] or 39.057, the agency may monitor compliance with
requirements applicable to a process or program provided by a
school district, campus, program, or school granted charters under
Chapter 12, including the process described by Subchapter F,
Chapter 11, or a program described by Subchapter B, C, D, E, F, H, or
I, Chapter 29, Subchapter A, Chapter 37, or Section 38.003, and the
use of funds provided for such a program under Subchapter C, Chapter
42, only as necessary to ensure:
(1) compliance with federal law and regulations;
(2) financial accountability, including compliance
with grant requirements; and
(3) data integrity for purposes of:
(A) the Public Education Information Management
System (PEIMS); and
(B) accountability under Chapter 39.
SECTION 2. Section 29.315, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 29.315. TEXAS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF MEMORANDUM OF
UNDERSTANDING. The Texas Education Agency and the Texas School for
the Deaf shall develop, agree to, and by commissioner rule adopt no
later than September 1, 1998, a memorandum of understanding to
establish:
(1) the method for developing and reevaluating a set
of indicators of the quality of learning at the Texas School for the
Deaf;
(2) the process for the agency to conduct and report on
an annual evaluation of the school's performance on the indicators;
(3) the requirements for the school's board to
publish, discuss, and disseminate an annual report describing the
educational performance of the school;
(4) the process for the agency to assign an
accreditation status to the school, to reevaluate the status on an
annual basis, and, if necessary, to conduct monitoring reviews
[make on-site accreditation investigations]; and
(5) the type of information the school shall be
required to provide through the Public Education Information
Management System (PEIMS).
SECTION 3. Section 30.005, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 30.005. TEXAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY
IMPAIRED MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING. The Texas Education Agency
and the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired shall
develop, agree to, and by commissioner rule adopt a memorandum of
understanding to establish:
(1) the method for developing and reevaluating a set
of indicators of the quality of learning at the Texas School for the
Blind and Visually Impaired;
(2) the process for the agency to conduct and report on
an annual evaluation of the school's performance on the indicators;
(3) the requirements for the school's board to
publish, discuss, and disseminate an annual report describing the
educational performance of the school;
(4) the process for the agency to:
(A) assign an accreditation status to the school;
(B) reevaluate the status on an annual basis; and
(C) if necessary, conduct monitoring reviews
[make on-site accreditation investigations]; and
(5) the type of information the school shall be
required to provide through the Public Education Information
Management System (PEIMS).
SECTION 4. Section 39.056, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.056. MONITORING REVIEWS [ON-SITE INVESTIGATIONS].
(a) The commissioner may[:
[(1)] direct the agency to conduct monitoring reviews
and random on-site visits [investigations] of a school district at
any time as authorized by Section 7.028 [to answer any questions
concerning a program, including special education, required by
federal law or for which the district receives federal funds; and
[(2) as a result of the investigation, change the
accreditation status of a district, change the accountability
rating of a district or campus, or withdraw a distinction
designation under Subchapter G].
(b) The commissioner shall determine the frequency of
monitoring reviews [on-site investigations] by the agency
according to:
(1) annual comprehensive analyses of student
performance and equity in relation to the student achievement
indicators adopted under Section 39.053;
(2) reviews of fiscal reports and other fiscal data as
set forth in Section 44.010; or
(3) comprehensive analyses of financial
accountability standards under Subchapter D.
(c) In conducting a monitoring review [making an on-site
accreditation investigation], the agency may [investigators shall]
obtain information from administrators, other district employees
[teachers], [and] parents of students enrolled in the school
district, and other persons as necessary. [The investigation may
not be closed until information is obtained from each of those
sources.] The commissioner [State Board of Education] shall adopt
rules for:
(1) obtaining information from parents and using that
information in the monitoring review [investigator's] report; and
(2) obtaining information from other district
employees [teachers] in a manner that prevents a district or campus
from screening the information.
(d) The agency shall give written notice to the
superintendent and the board of trustees of a school district of any
impending monitoring review [investigation of the district's
accreditation].
(e) The agency [investigators] shall report [orally and] in
writing to the superintendent and president of the board of
trustees of the school district [and, as appropriate, to campus
administrators] and shall make recommendations concerning any
necessary improvements or sources of aid such as regional education
service centers.
(f) A district which takes action with regard to the
recommendations provided by the agency [investigators] as
prescribed by Subsection (e) shall make a reasonable effort to seek
assistance from a third party in developing an action plan to
improve district performance using improvement techniques that are
goal oriented and research based.
(g) A monitoring review may include desk reviews and on-site
visits, including random on-site visits.
(h) The commissioner may at any time convert a monitoring
review to a special accreditation investigation under Section
39.057, provided the commissioner promptly notifies the school
district of the conversion.
SECTION 5. Section 39.058, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.058. CONDUCT OF SPECIAL ACCREDITATION
INVESTIGATIONS. (a) The agency shall adopt written procedures for
conducting special accreditation [on-site] investigations under
this subchapter, including procedures that allow the agency to
obtain information from district employees in a manner that
prevents a district or campus from screening the information. The
agency shall make the procedures available on the agency Internet
website [to the complainant, the alleged violator, and the public].
Agency staff must be trained in the procedures and must follow the
procedures in conducting the special accreditation investigation.
(b) After completing a special accreditation [an]
investigation, the agency shall present preliminary findings to any
person or entity the agency finds has violated a law, rule, or
policy. Before issuing a report with its final findings, the agency
must provide a person or entity the agency finds has violated a law,
rule, or policy an opportunity for an informal review by the
commissioner or a designated hearing examiner.
SECTION 6. Section 39.102(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) If a school district does not satisfy the accreditation
criteria under Section 39.052, the academic performance standards
under Section 39.053 or 39.054, or any financial accountability
standard as determined by commissioner rule, or if considered
appropriate by the commissioner on the basis of a special
accreditation investigation under Section 39.057, the commissioner
shall take any of the following actions to the extent the
commissioner determines necessary:
(1) issue public notice of the deficiency to the board
of trustees;
(2) order a hearing conducted by the board of trustees
of the district for the purpose of notifying the public of the
insufficient performance, the improvements in performance expected
by the agency, and the interventions and sanctions that may be
imposed under this section if the performance does not improve;
(3) order the preparation of a student achievement
improvement plan that addresses each student achievement indicator
under Section 39.053(c) for which the district's performance is
insufficient, the submission of the plan to the commissioner for
approval, and implementation of the plan;
(4) order a hearing to be held before the commissioner
or the commissioner's designee at which the president of the board
of trustees of the district and the superintendent shall appear and
explain the district's low performance, lack of improvement, and
plans for improvement;
(5) arrange a monitoring review [an on-site
investigation] of the district;
(6) appoint an agency monitor to participate in and
report to the agency on the activities of the board of trustees or
the superintendent;
(7) appoint a conservator to oversee the operations of
the district;
(8) appoint a management team to direct the operations
of the district in areas of insufficient performance or require the
district to obtain certain services under a contract with another
person;
(9) if a district has a current accreditation status
of accredited-warned or accredited-probation, fails to satisfy any
standard under Section 39.054(e), or fails to satisfy financial
accountability standards as determined by commissioner rule,
appoint a board of managers to exercise the powers and duties of the
board of trustees;
(10) if for two consecutive school years, including
the current school year, a district has received an accreditation
status of accredited-warned or accredited-probation, has failed to
satisfy any standard under Section 39.054(e), or has failed to
satisfy financial accountability standards as determined by
commissioner rule, revoke the district's accreditation and:
(A) order closure of the district and annex the
district to one or more adjoining districts under Section 13.054;
or
(B) in the case of a home-rule school district or
open-enrollment charter school, order closure of all programs
operated under the district's or school's charter; or
(11) if a district has failed to satisfy any standard
under Section 39.054(e) due to the district's dropout rates, impose
sanctions designed to improve high school completion rates,
including:
(A) ordering the development of a dropout
prevention plan for approval by the commissioner;
(B) restructuring the district or appropriate
school campuses to improve identification of and service to
students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by
Section 29.081;
(C) ordering lower student-to-counselor ratios
on school campuses with high dropout rates; and
(D) ordering the use of any other intervention
strategy effective in reducing dropout rates, including mentor
programs and flexible class scheduling.
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, 2015.