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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to public school students placed in substitute care. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 25, Education Code, is |
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amended by adding Section 25.007 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 25.007. TRANSITION ASSISTANCE FOR STUDENTS IN |
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SUBSTITUTE CARE. (a) The legislature finds that: |
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(1) students in substitute care are faced with |
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numerous transitions during their formative years; and |
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(2) students in substitute care who move from one |
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school to another are faced with special challenges to learning and |
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future achievement. |
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(b) In recognition of the challenges faced by students in |
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substitute care, the agency shall assist the transition of |
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substitute care students from one school to another by: |
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(1) ensuring that school records for a student in |
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substitute care are transferred to the student's new school not |
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later than the 14th day after the date the student begins enrollment |
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at the school; |
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(2) developing systems to ease transition of a student |
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in substitute care during the first two weeks of enrollment at a new |
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school; |
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(3) developing procedures for awarding credit for |
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course work, including electives, completed by a student in |
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substitute care while enrolled at another school; |
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(4) promoting practices that facilitate access by a |
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student in substitute care to extracurricular programs, summer |
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programs, credit transfer services, electronic courses provided |
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under Chapter 30A, and after-school tutoring programs at nominal or |
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no cost; |
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(5) establishing procedures to lessen the adverse |
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impact of the movement of a student in substitute care to a new |
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school; |
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(6) entering into a memorandum of understanding with |
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the Department of Family and Protective Services regarding the |
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exchange of information as appropriate to facilitate the transition |
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of students in substitute care from one school to another; |
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(7) encouraging school districts and open-enrollment |
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charter schools to provide services for a student in substitute |
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care in transition when applying for admission to postsecondary |
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study and when seeking sources of funding for postsecondary study; |
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(8) requiring school districts, campuses, and |
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open-enrollment charter schools to accept a referral for special |
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education services made for a student in substitute care by a school |
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previously attended by the student; and |
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(9) providing other assistance as identified by the |
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agency. |
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SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 30A.002, Education Code, |
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is amended to read as follows: |
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(b) A student is eligible to enroll full-time in courses |
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provided through the state virtual school network only if: |
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(1) the student was enrolled in a public school in this |
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state in the preceding school year; [or] |
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(2) the student: |
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(A) is a dependent of a member of the United |
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States military; |
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(B) was previously enrolled in high school in |
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this state; and |
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(C) does not reside in this state due to a |
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military deployment or transfer; or |
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(3) the student has been placed in substitute care in |
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this state, regardless of whether the student was enrolled in a |
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public school in this state in the preceding school year. |
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SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2009-2010 |
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school year. |
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SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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* * * * * |