H.B. No. 3748

	AN ACT
	relating to the coordination of educational support services for
	and information regarding students who are currently or were
	formerly placed in foster care.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 25.007(b), Education Code, as amended by
	Chapters 688 (H.B. 2619) and 1354 (S.B. 1404), Acts of the 83rd
	Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, is reenacted and amended to
	read as follows:
	(b)  In recognition of the challenges faced by students in
	substitute care, the agency shall assist the transition of
	substitute care students from one school to another by:
	(1)  ensuring that school records for a student in
	substitute care are transferred to the student's new school not
	later than the 10th working day after the date the student begins
	enrollment at the school;
	(2)  developing systems to ease transition of a student
	in substitute care during the first two weeks of enrollment at a new
	school;
	(3)  developing procedures for awarding credit,
	including partial credit if appropriate, for course work, including
	electives, completed by a student in substitute care while enrolled
	at another school;
	(4)  promoting practices that facilitate access by a
	student in substitute care to extracurricular programs, summer
	programs, credit transfer services, electronic courses provided
	under Chapter 30A, and after-school tutoring programs at nominal or
	no cost;
	(5)  establishing procedures to lessen the adverse
	impact of the movement of a student in substitute care to a new
	school;
	(6)  entering into a memorandum of understanding with
	the Department of Family and Protective Services regarding the
	exchange of information as appropriate to facilitate the transition
	of students in substitute care from one school to another;
	(7)  encouraging school districts and open-enrollment
	charter schools to provide services for a student in substitute
	care in transition when applying for admission to postsecondary
	study and when seeking sources of funding for postsecondary study;
	(8)  requiring school districts, campuses, and
	open-enrollment charter schools to accept a referral for special
	education services made for a student in substitute care by a school
	previously attended by the student;
	(9)  requiring school districts to provide notice to
	the child's educational decision-maker and caseworker regarding
	events that may significantly impact the education of a child,
	including:
	(A)  requests or referrals for an evaluation under
	Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794), or
	special education under Section 29.003;
	(B)  admission, review, and dismissal committee
	meetings;
	(C)  manifestation determination reviews required
	by Section 37.004(b);
	(D)  any disciplinary actions under Chapter 37 for
	which parental notice is required;
	(E)  citations issued for Class C misdemeanor
	offenses on school property or at school-sponsored activities;
	(F)  reports of restraint and seclusion required
	by Section 37.0021; and
	(G)  use of corporal punishment as provided by
	Section 37.0011; [and]
	(10)  developing procedures for allowing a student in
	substitute care who was previously enrolled in a course required
	for graduation the opportunity, to the extent practicable, to
	complete the course, at no cost to the student, before the beginning
	of the next school year;
	(11)  ensuring that a student in substitute care who is
	not likely to receive a high school diploma before the fifth school
	year following the student's enrollment in grade nine, as
	determined by the district, has the student's course credit accrual
	and personal graduation plan reviewed; [and]
	(12)  ensuring that a student in substitute care who is
	in grade 11 or 12 be provided information regarding tuition and fee
	exemptions under Section 54.366 for dual-credit or other courses
	provided by a public institution of higher education for which a
	high school student may earn joint high school and college credit;
	(13)  designating at least one agency employee to act
	as a liaison officer regarding educational issues related to
	students in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and
	Protective Services; and
	(14) [(10)]  providing other assistance as identified
	by the agency.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 51.9356 to read as follows:
	Sec. 51.9356.  DESIGNATION OF LIAISON OFFICER TO ASSIST
	STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. (a) In this section,
	"institution of higher education" has the meaning assigned by
	Section 61.003.
	(b)  Each institution of higher education shall designate at
	least one employee of the institution to act as a liaison officer
	for current and incoming students at the institution who were
	formerly in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and
	Protective Services. The liaison officer shall provide to those
	students information regarding support services and other
	resources available to the students at the institution and any
	other relevant information to assist the students.
	SECTION 3.  Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Sections 61.0908 and 61.0909 to read as follows:
	Sec. 61.0908.  DESIGNATION OF LIAISON OFFICER TO ASSIST
	STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. The board shall designate at
	least one employee of the board to act as a liaison officer for
	current and incoming students at institutions of higher education
	who were formerly in the conservatorship of the Department of
	Family and Protective Services. The liaison officer shall assist
	in coordinating college readiness and student success efforts
	relating to those students.
	Sec. 61.0909.  MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REGARDING
	EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. (a)
	In this section, "department" means the Department of Family and
	Protective Services.
	(b) The board and the department shall enter into a
	memorandum of understanding regarding the exchange of information
	as appropriate to facilitate the department's evaluation of
	educational outcomes of students at institutions of higher
	education who were formerly in the conservatorship of the
	department. The memorandum of understanding must require:
	(1)  the department to provide the board each year with
	demographic information regarding individual students enrolled at
	institutions of higher education who were formerly in the
	conservatorship of the department following an adversarial hearing
	under Section 262.201, Family Code; and
	(2)  the board, in a manner consistent with federal
	law, to provide the department with aggregate information
	regarding educational outcomes of students for whom the board
	received demographic information under Subdivision (1).
	(c)  For purposes of Subsection (b)(2), information
	regarding educational outcomes includes information relating to
	student academic achievement, graduation rates, attendance, and
	other educational outcomes as determined by the board and the
	department.
	(d)  The department may authorize the board to provide
	education research centers established under Section 1.005 with
	demographic information regarding individual students received by
	the board in accordance with Subsection (b)(1), as appropriate to
	allow the centers to perform additional analysis regarding
	educational outcomes of students in foster care. Any use of
	information regarding individual students provided to a center
	under this subsection must be approved by the department.
	(e)  Nothing in this section may be construed to:
	(1)  require the board or the department to collect or
	maintain additional information regarding students formerly in the
	conservatorship of the department; or
	(2)  allow the release of information regarding an
	individual student in a manner not permitted under the Family
	Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section
	1232g) or another state or federal law.
	SECTION 4.  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
	and the Department of Family and Protective Services shall enter
	into the memorandum of understanding required by Section 61.0909,
	Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1,
	2016.
	SECTION 5.  To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
	over another Act of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015,
	relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
	codes.
	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, 2015.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 3748 was passed by the House on May 8,
	2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 139, Nays 3, 2 present, not
	voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 3748 was passed by the Senate on May
	26, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 1.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED:  _____________________
	Date
	_____________________
	Governor