Bill Text: TX SB8 | 2011 | 82nd Legislature 1st Special | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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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 8-0)

Status: (Passed) 2011-07-19 - Effective on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [SB8 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB8-Engrossed.html

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By: Shapiro, et al. S.B. No. 8

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 21.0031, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to
read as follows:
(a) An employee's probationary, continuing, or term
contract under this chapter is void if the employee:
(1) does not hold a valid certificate or permit issued
by the State Board for Educator Certification; [or]
(2) fails to fulfill the requirements necessary to
renew or extend the employee's temporary, probationary, or
emergency certificate or any other certificate or permit issued
under Subchapter B; or
(3) fails to comply with any requirement under
Subchapter C, Chapter 22, if the failure results in suspension or
revocation of the employee's certificate under Section
22.0831(f)(2).
(b) If a school district has knowledge that an [After an
employee receives notice that the] employee's contract is void
under Subsection (a):
(1) the [a school] district may, except as provided by
Subsection (b-1):
(A) terminate the employee;
(B) suspend the employee with or without pay; or
(C) retain the employee for the remainder of the
school year on an at-will employment basis in a position other than
a position required to be held by an employee under a contract under
Section 21.002 [classroom teacher] at the employee's existing rate
of pay or at a reduced rate; and
(2) the employee is not entitled to the minimum salary
prescribed by Section 21.402.
(b-1) A school district may not terminate or suspend under
Subsection (b) an employee whose contract is void under Subsection
(a)(1) or (2) because the employee failed to renew or extend the
employee's certificate or permit if the employee:
(1) requests an extension from the State Board for
Educator Certification to renew, extend, or otherwise validate the
employee's certificate or permit; and
(2) not later than the 10th day after the date the
contract is void, takes necessary measures to renew, extend, or
otherwise validate the employee's certificate or permit, as
determined by the State Board for Educator Certification.
SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 21.103, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) The board of trustees of a school district may terminate
the employment of a teacher employed under a probationary contract
at the end of the contract period if in the board's judgment the
best interests of the district will be served by terminating the
employment. The board of trustees must give notice of its decision
to terminate the employment to the teacher not later than the 10th
[45th] day before the last day of instruction required under the
contract. The board's decision is final and may not be appealed.
SECTION 3. Section 21.157, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.157. NECESSARY REDUCTION OF PERSONNEL. A teacher
employed under a continuing contract may be released at the end of a
school year and the teacher's employment with the school district
terminated at that time because of a necessary reduction of
personnel by the school district[, with those reductions made in
the reverse order of seniority in the specific teaching fields].
SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 21.206, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Not later than the 10th [45th] day 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 5. Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 21.4021 and 21.4022 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.4021. FURLOUGHS. (a) Notwithstanding Section
21.401 and subject to Section 21.4022, the board of trustees of a
school district may, in accordance with district policy, implement
a furlough program and reduce the number of days of service
otherwise required under Section 21.401 by not more than six days of
service during a school year if the commissioner certifies in
accordance with Section 42.009 that the district will be provided
with less state and local funding for that year than was provided to
the district for the 2010-2011 school year.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 21.402, the board of trustees
may reduce the salary of an employee who is furloughed in proportion
to the number of days by which service is reduced, provided that the
furlough program is implemented in compliance with this section.
(b-1) A furlough program must subject all contract
personnel to the same number of furlough days.
(c) An educator may not be furloughed on a day that is
included in the number of days of instruction required under
Section 25.081.
(d) An educator may not use personal, sick, or any other
paid leave while the educator is on a furlough.
(e) A furlough imposed under this section does not
constitute a break in service for purposes of the Teacher
Retirement System of Texas.
(f) Implementation of a furlough program may not result in
an increase in the number of required teacher workdays.
(g) If a board of trustees adopts a furlough program after
the date by which a teacher must give notice of resignation under
Section 21.105, 21.160, or 21.210, as applicable, a teacher who
subsequently resigns is not subject to sanctions imposed by the
State Board for Educator Certification as otherwise authorized by
those sections.
(h) A decision by the board of trustees to implement a
furlough program:
(1) is final and may not be appealed; and
(2) does not create a cause of action or require
collective bargaining.
Sec. 21.4022. REQUIRED PROCESS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF FURLOUGH
PROGRAM OR OTHER SALARY REDUCTION PROPOSAL. (a) The board of
trustees of a school district may not implement a furlough program
under Section 21.4021 or reduce salaries until the district has
complied with this section.
(b) A school district must use a process to develop a
furlough program or other salary reduction proposal, as applicable,
that:
(1) includes the involvement of the district's
professional staff; and
(2) provides district employees with the opportunity
to express opinions regarding the furlough program or salary
reduction proposal, as applicable, at the public meeting required
by Subsection (c).
(c) The board of trustees must hold a public meeting at
which the board and school district administration present:
(1) information regarding the options considered for
managing the district's available resources, including
consideration of a tax rate increase and use of the district's
available fund balance; and
(2) an explanation of how the district intends,
through implementation of a furlough program under Section 21.4021
or through other salary reductions, as applicable, to limit the
number of district employees who will be discharged or whose
contracts will not be renewed.
(d) Any explanation of a furlough program under Subsection
(c)(2) must state the specific number of furlough days proposed to
be required.
(e) The public and school district employees must be
provided with an opportunity to comment at the public meeting
required under Subsection (c).
SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 38.101, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a school district
annually shall assess the physical fitness of students enrolled in
grade three or higher in a course that satisfies the curriculum
requirements for physical education under Section 28.002(a)(2)(C)
[grades 3 through 12].
SECTION 7. Subchapter A, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 42.009 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.009. DETERMINATION OF FUNDING LEVELS. (a) Not
later than July 1 of each year, the commissioner shall determine for
each school district whether the estimated amount of state and
local funding per student in weighted average daily attendance to
be provided to the district under the Foundation School Program for
maintenance and operations for the following school year is less
than the amount provided to the district for the 2010-2011 school
year. If the amount estimated to be provided is less, the
commissioner shall certify the percentage decrease in funding to be
provided to the district.
(b) In making the determinations regarding funding levels
required by Subsection (a), the commissioner shall:
(1) make adjustments as necessary to reflect changes
in a school district's maintenance and operations tax rate;
(2) for a district required to take action under
Chapter 41 to reduce its wealth per student to the equalized wealth
level, base the determinations on the district's net funding levels
after deducting any amounts required to be expended by the district
to comply with Chapter 41; and
(3) determine a district's weighted average daily
attendance in accordance with this chapter as it existed on January
1, 2011.
SECTION 8. Subsection (d), Section 21.402, Education Code,
is repealed.
SECTION 9. 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 on the 91st day after the last day of the
legislative session.