80R10827 KKA-F
	By: Noriega	H.B. No. 3621

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to dropout rates in public schools.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Sections 39.051(d) and (e), Education Code, are
	amended to read as follows:
	(d)  Annually, the commissioner shall define exemplary,
	recognized, and unacceptable performance for each academic
	excellence indicator included under Subsections (b)(1) through (7)
	and shall project the standards for each of those levels of
	performance for succeeding years. For the indicator under
	Subsection (b)(8), the commissioner shall define exemplary,
	recognized, and unacceptable performance based on student
	performance for the period covering both the current and preceding
	academic years. In defining exemplary, recognized, and
	unacceptable performance for the indicators under Subsections
	(b)(2) and (4), the commissioner:
	(1)  shall define a student who has obtained a high
	school equivalency certificate or who is attending a course of
	instruction to prepare for the high school equivalency examination
	as a dropout; and
	(2)  may not consider as a dropout or as a student who
	has failed to attend school a student whose failure to attend school
	results from[:
	[(1)the student's expulsion under Section 37.007; and
	[(2)as applicable:
	[(A)  adjudication as having engaged in
	delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision, as
	defined by Section 51.03, Family Code; or
	[(B)]  conviction of and sentencing for an offense
	under the Penal Code.
	(e)  Each school district shall cooperate with the agency in
	determining whether a student is considered a dropout under this
	section. The agency shall require that a school district provide at
	least the following documentation regarding a student who dies or
	who leaves school but is not considered a dropout under this
	section:
	(1)  for a student who dies, a death certificate;
	(2)  for a student who transfers to another school in
	this country:
	(A)  a statement signed by the student's parent or
	guardian confirming that the student has enrolled or will enroll
	promptly in another school; and
	(B)  a transcript or other written evidence of
	enrollment from the other school in which the student enrolled;
	(3)  for a student who leaves school to reside in
	another country, a statement signed by the student's parent or
	guardian confirming that the student will reside in the other
	country; and
	(4)  for a student who leaves school to attend a home
	school, a statement signed by the student's parent or guardian
	confirming that the student is being educated at home in accordance
	with applicable law.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter C, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 39.0511 to read as follows:
	Sec. 39.0511.  FOUR-YEAR ADJUSTED COHORT HIGH SCHOOL
	GRADUATION RATE FORMULA. (a) In this section, "high school
	diploma" does not include a high school equivalency certificate
	(GED) or a certificate of coursework completion issued under
	Section 28.025.
	(b)  For purposes of Section 39.051, the high school
	graduation rate is computed by applying the four-year adjusted
	cohort formula as follows:
	Graduation rate = G/(A + B - C)
	where:
	"G" is the number of students in a school year who graduate
	with a high school diploma not later than the conclusion of the
	fourth year of enrollment in high school, including any enrollment
	period available to senior students during the summer following the
	fourth regular school year;
	"A" is the number of students who entered the ninth grade at
	the beginning of the first year of the four-year enrollment period
	described in "G";
	"B" is the number of students who subsequently enroll at the
	same grade level as the students described by "A"; and
	"C" is the number of students in the group of students
	described by "A" and "B" who die or transfer to another school,
	school district, or educational program that grants a high school
	diploma, provided that each student's death or actual enrollment in
	the subsequent school, school district, or educational program is
	documented in accordance with Section 39.051(e).
	SECTION 3.  Section 39.053(a), Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(a)  Each board of trustees shall publish an annual report
	describing the educational performance of the district and of each
	campus in the district that includes uniform student performance
	and descriptive information as determined under rules adopted by
	the commissioner. The annual report must also include:
	(1)  campus performance objectives established under
	Section 11.253 and the progress of each campus toward those
	objectives, which shall be available to the public;
	(2)  the performance rating for the district as
	provided under Section 39.072(a) and the performance rating of each
	campus in the district as provided under Section 39.072(c);
	(3)  the district's current special education
	compliance status with the agency;
	(4)  a statement of the number, rate, and type of
	violent or criminal incidents that occurred on each district
	campus, to the extent permitted under the Family Educational Rights
	and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g);
	(5)  information concerning school violence prevention
	and violence intervention policies and procedures that the district
	is using to protect students; [and]
	(6)  the findings that result from evaluations
	conducted under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act
	of 1994 (20 U.S.C. Section 7101 et seq.) and its subsequent
	amendments; [and]
	(7)  information received under Section 51.403(e) for
	each high school campus in the district, presented in a form
	determined by the commissioner; and
	(8)  dropout rates for each high school in the
	district.
	SECTION 4.  Section 39.055, Education Code, is amended by
	adding Subsection (b) to read as follows:
	(b)  The electronic audit system required by Subsection (a)
	must have the capacity to identify irregularities in a district's
	dropout records, including irregularities based on an excessive
	number of students identified by the district as leaving school for
	a specified reason. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
	section, the agency shall conduct on-site monitoring of a school
	district's dropout records if the electronic auditing system
	identifies an irregularity under this subsection.
	SECTION 5.  This Act applies beginning with the 2007-2008
	school year.
	SECTION 6.  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, 2007.