S.B. No. 1353

	AN ACT
	relating to state funding for school districts, including a school
	district to which an academically unacceptable school district is
	annexed.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 13.054, Education Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (f) and (g) and adding Subsections (h), (i),
	and (j) to read as follows:
	(f)  For five years beginning with the school year in which
	the annexation occurs, a school district shall receive additional
	funding under this subsection or Subsection (h).  The amount of
	funding shall be determined [the commissioner shall annually adjust
	the local fund assignment of a district to which territory is
	annexed under this section] by multiplying the lesser of the
	enlarged district's local fund assignment computed under Section
	42.252 or the enlarged district's total cost of tier one by a
	fraction, the numerator of which is the number of students residing
	in the [district] territory annexed to the receiving district
	preceding the date of the annexation and the denominator of which is
	the number of students residing in the district as enlarged on the
	date of the annexation.
	(g)  In order to assist with the costs of facility
	renovation, repair, and replacement, a [A] district to which
	territory is annexed under this section is entitled to additional
	state aid for five years, beginning with the school year in which
	the annexation occurs [equal to the amount by which the annual debt
	service required to meet the indebtedness incurred by the district
	due to the annexation exceeds the additional amount of state aid
	that results from the adjustment under Subsection (f), if any]. The
	commissioner shall determine the amount of additional state aid
	provided each year by dividing the amount of debt service taxes
	received by the district during the tax year preceding the tax year
	in which the annexation occurs by the number of students enrolled in
	the district immediately preceding the date of annexation, and
	multiplying that result by the number of additional students
	enrolled in the district on September 1 after the date of
	annexation. The commissioner shall provide additional state aid
	under this subsection from funds appropriated for purposes of the
	Foundation School Program and available for that purpose. A
	determination by the commissioner under this subsection is final
	and may not be appealed.  [In determining the amount of annual debt
	service required, the estimated tax levy from applying the
	receiving district's current debt service tax rate, if any, to the
	territory that has been annexed shall be deducted.]
	(h)  The commissioner may authorize a district to receive
	payments provided by Subchapter G, instead of Subsection (f), if
	the commissioner determines that would result in greater payments
	for the district.  A determination by the commissioner is final and
	may not be appealed.
	(i)  The funding provided under Subsection (f), (g), or (h)
	is in addition to other funding the district receives through other
	provisions of this code, including Chapters 41 and 42.
	(j)  The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to
	implement this section.
	SECTION 2.  Section 41.002(g), Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(g)  The wealth per student that a district may have under
	Subsection (e) is adjusted as follows:
	AWPS = WPS X (((EWL/280,000 - 1) X DTR/1.17 [1.5]) + 1)
	where:
	"AWPS" is the district's wealth per student;
	"WPS" is the district's wealth per student determined under
	Subsection (e);
	"EWL" is the equalized wealth level; and
	"DTR" is the district's adopted maintenance and operations
	tax rate for the current school year.
	SECTION 3.  Section 13.054(f), Education Code, as amended by
	this Act, and Section 13.054(h), Education Code, as added by this
	Act, apply only to an annexation that occurs on or after September
	1, 2017.  An annexation that occurs before that date is governed by
	Section 13.054(f), Education Code, as that section existed at the
	time the annexation occurred.
	SECTION 4.  Section 13.054(g), Education Code, as amended by
	this Act, applies to a school district to which territory is annexed
	under that section on or after July 1, 2016.
	SECTION 5.  The commissioner of education is required to
	implement this Act only if the legislature appropriates money
	specifically for that purpose.  If the legislature does not
	appropriate money specifically for that purpose, the commissioner
	of education may, but is not required to, implement this Act using
	other appropriations available for the purpose.
	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, 2017.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1353 passed the Senate on
	May 15, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the
	Senate concurred in House amendments on May 25, 2017, by the
	following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1353 passed the House, with
	amendments, on May 23, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 146,
	Nays 0, one present not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	Approved:
	______________________________
	Date
	______________________________
	Governor