By: Taylor of Galveston S.B. No. 14
      Bettencourt, Creighton
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to empowering the parents of students to petition for the
  reconstitution, repurposing, alternative management, or closure of
  low-performing public school campuses.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 39.107(a) and (e), Education Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  After a campus has been identified as unacceptable for
  two consecutive school years, the commissioner shall order the
  reconstitution of the campus, subject to Section 39.1071.
         (e)  If a campus is considered to have an unacceptable
  performance rating for three consecutive school years after the
  campus is reconstituted under Subsection (a), the commissioner,
  subject to Subsection (e-1) or Section 39.1071 [(e-2)], shall
  order:
               (1)  repurposing of the campus under this section;
               (2)  alternative management of the campus under this
  section; or
               (3)  closure of the campus.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter E, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Sections 39.1071, 39.1072, and 39.1073 to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 39.1071.  PETITION BY PARENTS FOR RECONSTITUTION,
  REPURPOSING, ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT, OR CLOSURE. (a)  Unless the
  commissioner has ordered the closure of the campus under Section
  39.107, the parents of students enrolled at a campus with an
  unacceptable performance rating under Section 39.054 for three
  consecutive school years may, at any time, submit a petition to the
  commissioner requesting that the commissioner order one of the
  following actions authorized by Section 39.107:
               (1)  reconstitution of the campus;
               (2)  repurposing of the campus;
               (3)  alternative management of the campus; or
               (4)  closure of the campus.
         (b)  A petition that seeks alternative management of a campus
  under Subsection (a)(3) may specify the process to be used in
  selecting the organization or team to assume management of the
  campus. If the petition specifies a process to be used, the
  commissioner is required to use the specified process and comply
  with the requirements prescribed by Section 39.1073. If the
  petition does not specify a process to be used, the organization or
  team must be selected by the parents of students enrolled at the
  campus.  To the extent this subsection conflicts with another
  provision of this subchapter, this subsection prevails.
         (c)  A petition must:
               (1)  be in a form developed by the commissioner;
               (2)  be made available to all parents of students
  enrolled at the campus;
               (3)  include state accountability data on the status of
  the campus, including the performance rating of the campus for each
  year; and
               (4)  include detailed information on the options
  available for the campus, including a copy of the proposed options
  listed under Subsection (a).
         (d)  If the petition is signed by the parents of a majority of
  the students enrolled at the campus, as determined under Subsection
  (e), the commissioner shall order the specific action requested by
  the petition.  If the petition requests:
               (1)  reconstitution or repurposing of the campus, the
  commissioner shall consider input from the lead petitioner and the
  parents of students enrolled at the campus in implementing the
  order;
               (2)  alternative management of the campus, the
  commissioner shall order alternative management of the campus by
  the organization or team selected as described by Subsection (b);
  or
               (3)  closure of the campus, the commissioner shall
  order closure of the campus for the following school year.
         (e)  The percentage of parents signing a petition shall be
  calculated based on the total number of students enrolled at the
  campus, applying the following rules:
               (1)  the signature of only one parent of a student is
  required;
               (2)  a student may not be counted more than once,
  regardless of whether more than one parent signs the petition on
  behalf of the student; and
               (3)  the signature of a parent shall be counted on
  behalf of each child of the parent who is enrolled at the campus,
  unless otherwise indicated in the petition.
         (f)  The petition may designate as a lead petitioner one or
  more parents of one or more students enrolled at the campus.  The
  parent or parents shall be chosen annually by the parents of
  students enrolled at the campus.
         (g)  The commissioner shall review the signatures on a
  petition to verify that the petition is signed by the parents of a
  majority of the students enrolled at the campus. In verifying that
  the petition is signed by the parents of a majority of the students
  enrolled at the campus, the commissioner may consult with any
  person necessary to make the verification, including the board of
  trustees for the district in which the campus is located, the
  principal of the campus, the lead petitioner, or any designated
  lead petitioner representative.
         (h)  Not later than the 30th day after receipt of the
  petition or additional signatures under Subsection (j), the
  commissioner shall notify, in writing, the board of trustees for
  the district in which the campus is located, the principal of the
  campus, the lead petitioner, any designated lead petitioner
  representative, and any other person who has requested notice in
  writing of the commissioner's determination regarding whether the
  number of signatures on the petition is sufficient to compel the
  action sought in the petition.  Additionally, the commissioner's
  written notice must:
               (1)  state the number of students the commissioner has
  determined are enrolled at the campus;
               (2)  state the number of signatures the commissioner
  counted when determining whether the necessary majority was
  attained; and
               (3)  list the signatures that were not counted toward
  determining whether the necessary majority was attained and the
  reason each disqualified signature was not counted.
         (i)  In verifying signatures, the commissioner may not
  disregard a signature if the clear intent of the person providing
  the signature was to support the petition.
         (j)  If the commissioner determines that a petition is not
  signed by the parents of a majority of the students enrolled at the
  campus, the parents may, not later than the 45th day after the date
  of the commissioner's written notice under Subsection (h), submit
  additional signatures in support of the petition.
         (k)  If additional signatures are submitted to the
  commissioner under Subsection (j), the commissioner shall review
  and verify the additional signatures in accordance with Subsections
  (e), (g), and (h).
         (l)  If the commissioner determines that the petition is not
  signed by the parents of a majority of the students enrolled at the
  campus, the commissioner's determination is final and may not be
  appealed.
         (m)  A student who resides in the campus's assigned
  attendance zone, as that zone existed during the school year
  immediately preceding implementation of an order under this
  section, and who is otherwise eligible to attend the campus may:
               (1)  enroll in the campus during each school year that
  the student would otherwise be eligible to attend the campus; or
               (2)  transfer and enroll in another campus in the
  district during each school year that the student would otherwise
  be eligible to attend the campus.
         (n)  Notwithstanding Subsection (m), the board of trustees
  of a school district may assign or transfer a student between school
  facilities or classrooms in accordance with Chapter 37.
         (o)  A person may not use school district or campus resources
  to support or oppose a petition under this section, except that
  school district or campus resources may be used to comply with a
  public information request under Chapter 552, Government Code.
         (p)  A person may not coerce or bribe a parent to sign or
  decline to sign a petition under this section.
         (q)  An operator of a charter school is prohibited from
  funding a parent petition campaign conducted under this section.
         (r)  For purposes of this section, "parent" includes a
  student's parent, a student's legal guardian, a person with legal
  authority to act in place of a student's parent or legal guardian,
  or the student, if the student is 18 years of age or older, but does
  not include a parent whose parental rights have been terminated or
  whose rights to make decisions concerning a student's education
  have been limited.
         (s)  The commissioner may adopt rules necessary to implement
  this section.
         Sec. 39.1072.  PERFORMANCE UPDATES FOLLOWING PETITION BY
  PARENTS FOR RECONSTITUTION, REPURPOSING, ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT,
  OR CLOSURE.  Following the submission of a petition for the
  reconstitution, repurposing, alternative management, or closure of
  a campus by the parents of students enrolled at the campus under
  Section 39.1071, the commissioner shall provide quarterly updates
  on the performance of the campus to parents of students enrolled at
  the campus. 
         Sec. 39.1073.  SELECTION OF ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT
  FOLLOWING PETITION BY PARENTS.  (a)  In this section, "management
  company" has the meaning assigned by Section 12.1012.
         (b)  If the commissioner selects a charter holder as the
  organization or team to assume alternative management of a campus
  in accordance with a process specified in a petition for
  alternative management submitted by parents under Section 39.1071,
  the commissioner shall give preference to proposals submitted by
  charter holders who do not use the services of a management company
  to operate the charter holder's open-enrollment charter schools and
  who submit information demonstrating a record of success with
  respect to each item listed under Section 39.107(k).  The
  commissioner may only consider proposals from charter holders that
  use the services of a management company if the commissioner does
  not receive proposals from charter holders that do not use the
  services of a management company and that submit information
  demonstrating a record of success with respect to each item listed
  under Section 39.107(k).
         (c)  If the commissioner selects a charter school to assume
  alternative management of a campus in accordance with a process
  specified in a petition for alternative management submitted by
  parents under Section 39.1071, laws and rules applicable to
  open-enrollment charter schools under Subchapter D, Chapter 12,
  including laws and rules related to public information, open
  meetings, nepotism, conflict of interest, and other protections of
  public funds and public trust, shall apply to the campus.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 39.107(e-2) and (e-3), Education Code,
  are repealed.
         SECTION 4.  This Act applies beginning with the 2016-2017
  school year, except that parents of students enrolled at a school
  campus that has been identified as unacceptable for three or more
  consecutive years as of the effective date of this Act may submit a
  petition under Section 39.1071, Education Code, as added by this
  Act, beginning on the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 5.  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.