After today, only 1 day remains in the 87th Regular Legislative Session.
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June 9 Post-Legislative Workshop
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The end is near. And as we count down the days until the end of the legislative session, we are also counting down the days until our Post-Legislative Workshop on Wednesday, June 9, in Dallas.
You can register via the link below to attend in person and also find the info you need to make hotel reservations for a discounted rate if you plan to stay overnight. If you are planning to make a hotel reservation, please be advised that the discounted rate will expire today, so please make your reservation today if you are planning to stay overnight.
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Wed, Jun 9, 2021 10:00 AM CST
Post-Legislative Workshop 2021
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Dallas - Love Field,
Dallas
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If you are not able to join us in person, but still want to participate, please click on the button below to register and attend virtually via Zoom.
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Final version of HB 1525 - School Finance
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The Conference Committee Report (CCR) for HB 1525 (Huberty/Taylor) was filed and distributed at 11:53 p.m., just a few minutes prior to the midnight deadline. The rules require a 24-hour lay-out of conference committee reports, but both chambers will likely suspend the rules and bring the bill up before 11:53 p.m. Sunday evening.
The Senate adopted 23 amendments last week, and now we know the final standing on where we ended up on all the details. Here are some resources to help you do that:
There are some things to point out that do NOT appear in the final bill (you won't find these in the summary, as they are not in the conference committee report):
- The Senate removed the provisions of the bill that would have required districts to bank 40% (or any amount) of funding relative to the district's federal allocation. The US Department of Education released new guidance and sent to a communication to Commissioner Morath indicating this provision of the bill would be a violation of federal law. Additionally, a change was adopted so that the Commissioner may only increase school funding entitlements (not adjust) in order to ensure compliance with federal MOE and MOQ requirements.
- The provisions that would have prevented districts who choose to do so from charging tuition for transfers was removed from the bill; current law stands on that matter.
- Outcomes-based funding provisions added by the Senate were also removed.
An amendment by Senator Taylor (that remains in the final bill) spelled out the details of several grant programs for districts, which use both state and federal funds (paid for in part by the $1.14 billion reduction to the FSP and $620 million reduction to Technology & Instructional Materials Allotment (TIMA) funding. Those include:
- Funds for expanding learning options for P-TECH, Regional Pathways Network, and JET ($118 million)
- Supplemental instructional supports (including tutoring) ($100 million)
- COVID-19 learning acceleration supports (innovation in curriculum and instruction, diagnosing student mastery, extended instruction time, and supports for teachers) ($1.35 billion).
- Technical assistance for students with limited or no internet access ($8 million)
- Reimbursement for technology acquisitions made by schools before February 28, 2021 ($350 million)
Additionally, that amendment establishes an allotment for schools receiving no or low ESSER funding amounts. That allotment is worth $208.35 per student plus $1,290 for each student multiplied by the percent of students who did not perform satisfactorily on a state assessment. Then the allotment amount is reduced by the funding the districts receives under the LEA subgrants of ESSER II and ESSER III. This allotment is then distributed equally across schools years 2021-22 and 2022-23.
The amendment that would have removed the cap on Formula Transition Grants was withdrawn by the Senate author, and that provision remained in the bill through the conference committee process, to apply a cap of $400 million per year.
We will be providing info regarding the per-district impact of the Foundation School Program portions of this bill soon. Some of the other non-FSP aspects are a little more difficult to project, but we will do our best to provide info on those as well. Stay tuned.
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HB 1468 - Virtual Instruction
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The Conference Committee Report for HB 1468 (Bell, Keith/Taylor) was filed at 11:36 p.m. This is another bill for which we think the members of both chambers will suspend the rules to hear earlier in the day. Once adopted in both chambers, the bill will be sent to the Governor. The final version of HB 1468 includes:
- School districts may choose to offer a local remote learning program and offer virtual courses to enrolled students via synchronous or asynchronous instruction, or a combination of the two. Hybrid remote and in-person instruction programs are also allowed.
- Not more than 10% of students may be enrolled in the remote program, unless a waiver has been granted by the Commissioner.
- Remote students will qualify for ADA funding, in accordance with rules to be adopted by the Commissioner to provide the method by which daily attendance will be recorded.
- Schools may establish additional criteria and academic standards students must meet to qualify for remote instruction, and may return a student to in-person learning if they are not making progress and/or fail to meet criteria.
- School districts may contract with one another district to allow a student enrolled in one district to enroll in a virtual course offered in another district.
- Schools may not require a teacher to provide instruction for both virtual and in-person students simultaneously (though the teacher may do so by choice)
- Remote learning provisions have an expiration date of September 1, 2027 in law.
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Here is a quick status report on the bills we're watching closely right now. The deadline to file conference committee reports was midnight last night, and all conference committee reports must be adopted, or the House or Senate must concur with amendments, by midnight tonight. The only thing legislators may do on Monday is adopt technical corrections, give long-winded speeches, and adjourn sine die.
SB 1 (Nelson/Bonnen), The General Appropriations Act
Conference Committee Reports adopted in both chambers, and on its way to the Governor's desk.
SB 1365 (Bettencourt/Huberty), school district accountability/sanctions
The Senate concurred with the House amendments, and the bill has been sent to the Governor.
HB 1468 (Bell, Keith/Taylor), ADA for remote instruction provided by local districts
The Conference Committee Report was filed and must be adopted by both chambers.
HB 1525 (Huberty/Taylor), HB 3 Clean-up/school finance bill
The Conference Committee Report was filed and must be adopted by both chambers.
HB 4545 (Dutton/Taylor), accelerated instruction requirements for districts
House concurred with Senate amendments and the bill is on its way to the Governor.
HB 4242 (Meyer/Birdwell), extension of Chapter 313
This bill failed to pass before the deadline and therefore died. Chapter 313 will expire December 31, 2022. Any agreements signed before that date carry out in accordance with that agreement.
HB 547 (Frank/Paxton) - allows home-schooled students to participate in UIL activities; House concurred with Senate amendments and the bill is on its way to the Governor.
HB 3979 (Toth/Creighton), civics curriculum bill dubbed the "anti-critical race theory bill"
This bill had a point of order sustained in the House on Senate amendments, but through some procedural maneuvering, the Senate returned the bill to the form that passed the House, and passed it in that form, which sends the bill straight to the Governor.
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Thank you to our annual sponsors!
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601 Camp Craft Road
Austin, Texas 78746
512-732-9072
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