Commissioner's Rules
Adopted Amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 61, School Districts, Subchapter II, Commissioner's Rules Concerning High School Allotment
Attachments:
I. Statutory Citations (PDF)
II. Text of Adopted Amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 61, School Districts, Subchapter II, Commissioner's Rules Concerning High School Allotment (PDF)
SUMMARY:
The rule action presented in this item will be filed as adopted with the Texas Register under the commissioner's rulemaking authority. The adopted amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 61, School Districts, Subchapter II, Commissioner's Rules Concerning High School Allotment, update the rules to reflect statutory changes resulting from the 81st Texas Legislature, 2009. No changes were made to the rules since published as proposed.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
Texas Education Code (TEC), §§39.233, 39.234, and 42.160.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
March 3, 2010.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND SIGNIFICANT ISSUES:
House Bill (HB) 1, 79th Texas Legislature, Third Called Session, 2006, added the TEC, §42.2516(b)(3), providing for an allotment of $275 for each student in average daily attendance in Grades 9-12 in a school district. The additional state aid is for the purpose of improving graduation and college readiness rates. In addition, HB 1 added the TEC, §39.113 and §39.114, authorizing the commissioner of education to adopt rules to implement provisions relating to the use of this additional state aid referred to as the high school allotment.
The commissioner exercised rulemaking authority to implement the high school allotment by adopting 19 TAC Chapter 61, School Districts, Subchapter II, Commissioner's Rules Concerning High School Allotment, effective November 9, 2006.
HB 3, 81st Texas Legislature, 2009, renumbered the TEC, §39.113, as §39.233, and the TEC, §39.114, as §39.234. HB 3 also revised language in renumbered TEC, §39.234(b), regarding criteria for identification of school districts eligible for exceptions for alternative uses of the funds.
HB 3646, 81st Texas Legislature, 2009, repealed the provisions for the funding of the high school allotment that were in the TEC, §42.2516, and placed these provisions in new TEC, §42.160, making the allotment no longer a part of additional state aid for tax reduction but instead a Tier I allotment.
The adopted amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 61, Subchapter II, reflect these statutory changes by updating references throughout the subchapter to renumbered TEC sections.
Other changes include an amendment to §61.1091, Definitions, to update the title of a cross-referenced rule and amendments to §61.1094, Exceptions for Alternative Uses of Funds, and §61.1101, Standards for Selecting and Methods for Recognizing Districts and Campuses Offering Exceptional Programs, to remove outdated year references.
Technical edits were made throughout the subchapter to correct word usage and punctuation.
No changes were made to the rules since published as proposed.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The TEA has determined that there are no additional costs to persons or entities required to comply with the rule action. In addition, there is no direct adverse economic impact for small businesses and microbusinesses; therefore, no regulatory flexibility analysis, specified in the Texas Government Code, §2006.002, is required.
PUBLIC AND STUDENT BENEFIT:
The adopted amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 61, School Districts, Subchapter II, Commissioner's Rules Concerning High School Allotment, update the current rules to reflect recent statutory changes.
PROCEDURAL AND REPORTING IMPLICATIONS:
The adopted amendments have no new procedural and reporting implications.
LOCALLY MAINTAINED PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS:
The adopted amendments have no new locally maintained paperwork requirements.
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
The public comment period on the rule action began November 20, 2009, and ended December 21, 2009. No public comments were received.
ALTERNATIVES:
None.
OTHER COMMENTS AND RELATED ISSUES:
None.
Staff Members Responsible:
Adam Jones, Deputy Commissioner, Finance and Administration/Chief Operating Officer
Lisa Dawn-Fisher, Deputy Associate Commissioner, School Finance
For additional information, email rules@tea.state.tx.us.