Honorable Larry Taylor, Chair, Senate Committee on Education
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB2078 by Taylor, Larry (Relating to the duties of school districts, open-enrollment charter schools, and the Texas Education Agency regarding multihazard emergency operations plans and other school safety measures.), As Introduced
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for SB2078, As Introduced: a negative impact of ($445,778) through the biennium ending August 31, 2019.
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2018
($230,889)
2019
($214,889)
2020
($214,889)
2021
($214,889)
2022
($214,889)
Fiscal Year
Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2017
2018
($230,889)
2.0
2019
($214,889)
2.0
2020
($214,889)
2.0
2021
($214,889)
2.0
2022
($214,889)
2.0
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend the Education Code related to the duties of school districts, open-enrollment charter schools, and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) regarding multihazard emergency operations plans and other school safety measures. The bill would clarify the requirement for school districts to follow safety and security audit procedures to specify that school districts can follow procedures developed by a school safety services provider on a list maintained by TEA. The bill would add requirements for provisions that school districts must include in multihazard emergency operations plans. The bill would require TEA to perform certain duties regarding school safety measures, including adopting a model multihazard emergency operations plan and reviewing and approving all school district mulithazard emergency operations plans.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2017.
Methodology
Implementing the requirements of the bill would result in costs associated with the operation of TEA totaling $230,889 in fiscal year 2018 and $214,889 in subsequent years.
The bill would require TEA to work with the Texas School Safety Center to adopt a model multihazard emergency operations plan, and to review and approve every school district's multihazard emergency operations plan. The bill would require TEA to identify on its website each school district that: (1) failed to submit a plan; 2) submitted a plan that did not comply with applicable standards; (3) failed the school safety and security audit. The bill would also require TEA to conduct a Request For Qualifications and maintain a list of school safety service providers approved by the agency, and conduct a Request For Proposal and provide assistance to the Texas School Safety Center to develop the model safety and security audit procedures.
TEA indicated that it would require two full-time equivalent (FTE) positions to implement the provisions of the bill. The estimated cost of the FTEs, including salary, benefits, and other operating expenses, would be $230,889 in fiscal year 2018 and $214,889 in subsequent years.
Local Government Impact
The bill would require open-enrollment charter schools to comply with certain safety provisions. TEA estimates that initial costs could be $2,000 per charter school campus and nominal thereafter.
The bill would require school districts to establish a chain of command, report audit results, provide certain notification to parents, provide a statement regarding the amount spent on school safety per student, have certain representatives on their school safety committee, have three meetings per fiscal year and potentially comply with best practices. Currently, school districts are required to have safety plans and report certain information which may offset some costs. TEA estimates school districts can accomplish these tasks at $1,000 per school district.
The Texas Municipal League anticipates no significant fiscal impact to municipalities.