HBA-JRA H.B. 538 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 538 By: Zbranek Public Education 4/17/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, school districts are held accountable by the Academic Excellence Indicator System for students that dropout even when the district does not have the authority or the means to return the dropout students to school. School campuses and districts are labeled low-performing if their secondary students' dropout rate exceeds six percent of all students, white students, AfricanAmerican students, Hispanic students, or Native American students. This may hold small, diverse districts to higher standards than larger, less diverse districts. H.B. 538 prohibits the commissioner of education from considering as dropouts students who failed to attend school because of expulsion or adjudication for serious offenses. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 39.051(d), Education Code, to prohibit the commissioner of education from considering as a dropout or as a student who failed to attend school, a student who failed to attend school because of expulsion under Section 37.007 (Expulsion for Serious Offenses) and, as applicable, adjudication resulting from having engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision or conviction of and sentence for an offense, when defining the terms "exemplary," "recognized," and "unacceptable" performance for academic excellence indicators. SECTION 2. Makes application of this Act prospective to the 1999 - 2000 school year. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.