HBA-CCH H.B. 1817 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1817
By: Dunnam
Public Education
3/5/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

State law supports site-based decision-making processes as essential to
improving schools.  Current law requires a district to adopt policies and
administrative procedures to implement site-based decision making,
including establishment of district-level and campus-level planning and
decision-making committees (committee).  However, current law does not set
forth specific provisions for the committee to be involved in developing
the budget for a school district.  The law does not provide a committee
with recourse, if a superintendent, principal, or board of trustees (board)
fails to follow the site-based decision making process.  House Bill 1817
provides that a committee must be included in the budgeting process, and
establishes a procedure to ensure that the site-based decision-making
process is followed.  

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. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1817 amends the Education Code to require the board of trustees
(board) of a school district to establish a procedure for district-level
and campus-level planning and decision-making committees (committee) to
formally present recommendations directly to the board in response to a
decision by the superintendent or a campus principal that is contrary to a
committee's recommendation.  H.B. 1817 provides that the administrative
procedure required under current law that defines the roles and
responsibilities of different individuals in the areas of planning,
budgeting, curriculum, staffing patterns, staff development, and school
organization must include a process by which the board and superintendent
consider a committee's recommendations concerning a proposed budget.  The
bill also requires each principal to develop budgets for the principal's
campus in accordance with the administrative procedure. The bill requires
the board to ensure that all participants in the planning and
decision-making process perform their roles and responsibilities in
accordance with the administrative procedure.  The bill specifies that the
duties of the superintendent include preparing recommendations for policies
to be adopted by the board of trustees in accordance with the
district-level and campus-level planning and decision-making process. 

The bill requires the commissioner of education to authorize special
accreditation investigations to be conducted in response to a written
statement adopted by a majority of the members of a committee that cites
specific evidence that the board of trustees has failed to properly
implement the policies and procedures required for the district or
site-based decision-making process.   

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.