TITLE: Relating to the first day of the school year for public schools.

SUMMARY: Relating to the first day of the school year for public schools.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to the first day of the school year for public schools. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 25.0811, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows: Sec. 25.0811 FIRST DAY OF INSTRUCTION. (a) Except as provided by this section, a school district may not begin instruction for students for a school year before the third [fourth] Monday in August. A school district may: (1) begin instruction for students for a school year before the third [fourth] Monday in August if the district operates a year-round system under Section 25.084; or (2) begin instruction for students for a school year on or after the first Monday in August at a campus or at not more than 20 percent of the campuses in the district if: (A) the district has a student enrollment of 190,000 or more; (B) the district at the beginning of the school year provides, financed with local funds, days of instruction required under Section 25.081; (C) the campus or each of the multiple campuses are undergoing comprehensive reform, as determined by the board of trustees of the district; and (D) a majority of the students at the campus or at each of the multiple campuses are educationally disadvantaged. (c) Notwithstanding Chapter 12A, Education Code, including Section 12A.003(b), a local innovation plan may not provide for the exemption of a district designated as a district of innovation from the first day of instruction requirement under this Section.SECTION 2. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section, this Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. (b) Section 25.0811(c), Education Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a local innovation plan adopted or renewed on or after the effective date of this Act. A local innovation plan adopted or renewed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the plan was adopted or renewed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 3. 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.