Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) The commissioner of education shall
appoint a monitor, conservator, management team, or board of managers whenever
such action is required, as determined by this section. Action under any other
section of this subchapter is not a prerequisite to acting under this
section.
(b) The commissioner may
appoint a monitor under Texas Education Code (TEC), §39A.002, when:
(1) the district has an accreditation rating
of Accredited-Warned or Accredited-Probation;
(2) a monitor is needed to ensure
district-level support to low-performing campuses and the implementation of the
updated targeted improvement plan; or
(3) all of the following exist:
(A) the deficiencies identified under §
97.1059 of this title (relating to
Standards for All Accreditation Sanction Determinations) require a monitor to
participate in and report to the commissioner on the activities of the
district's board of trustees and superintendent;
(B) the deficiencies identified under §
97.1059 of this title are not of
such severity or duration as to require direct Texas Education Agency (TEA)
oversight of district operations;
(C) the district has been responsive to and
generally compliant with previous commissioner sanctions and TEA interventions;
and
(D) stronger intervention is
not required to prevent substantial or imminent harm to the welfare of the
district's students or to the public interest.
(c) The commissioner may appoint a
conservator or management team under TEC, §§
39A.002,
39A.003, and
39A.102, when:
(1) the district has an accreditation rating
of Accredited-Probation;
(2) a
conservator or management team is needed to ensure and oversee district-level
support to low-performing campuses and the implementation of the updated
targeted improvement plan;
(3) the
nature or duration of the deficiencies require that the TEA directly oversee
the operations of the district in the area(s) of deficiency;
(4) the district has not been responsive to
or compliant with TEA intervention requirements; or
(5) such intervention is needed to prevent
substantial or imminent harm to the welfare of the district's students or to
the public interest.
(d)
The decision whether to appoint a conservator or management team under
subsection (c) of this section may be based on logistical concerns, including
the competencies required and the volume of work involved. The addition of a
conservator to form a management team or the addition of additional members to
the management team is not a new sanction and does not entitle the district to
an additional review.
(e) The
commissioner may appoint a board of managers under TEC, §§
39A.004,
39A.006,
39A.102,
39A.107,
39A.111,
39A.256, or
12.116(d)(1),
as applicable, when:
(1) sanctions under
subsection (b) or (c) of this section have been ineffective to achieve the
purposes identified in §
97.1057 of this title (relating to
Interventions and Sanctions; Lowered Rating or Accreditation Status);
(2) the commissioner has initiated
proceedings to close or annex the district;
(3) the commissioner has initiated
proceedings to close a campus, and such intervention is needed to cease
operations of the campus;
(4) such
intervention is needed to prevent substantial or imminent harm to the welfare
of the district's students or to the public interest;
(5) a board of managers is needed to ensure
and oversee district-level support to low-performing campuses and the
implementation of the updated targeted improvement plan;
(6) the district has a campus that is subject
to TEC, §
39A.111, and the
commissioner does not order the closure of the campus;
(7) deficiencies identified in a special
investigation warrant the appointment of a board of managers; or
(8) a failure in governance results in an
inability to carry out the powers and duties of the board of trustees as
outlined in TEC, §
11.151 and §
11.1511.
(f) The superintendent, upon appointment,
immediately assumes all powers, duties, rights, and responsibilities of the
superintendent of the district to which the superintendent is
appointed.
(g) Not later than the
second anniversary date of the appointment of the board of managers, the
commissioner shall notify the board of managers and the board of trustees of
the date on which the appointment of the board of managers will
expire.
(h) A board of managers
shall, during the period of the appointment, order the election of members of
the board of trustees of the district in accordance with applicable provisions
of law. Except as provided by this subsection, the members of the board of
trustees do not assume any powers or duties after the election until the
appointment of the board of managers expires.
(1) An individual elected to the board of
trustees at an election ordered under this subsection assumes and may exercise
all powers and duties of that office at the first official board meeting where
the replacement of the member of the board of managers with the elected board
of trustees member occurs and after satisfying all legal and procedural
prerequisites to take office.
(2)
Any member of the board of trustees elected during the appointment of the board
of managers who has not yet assumed the powers and duties of a member of the
board of trustees will not be considered for purposes of constitution of a
quorum.
(3) A board of managers
shall order elections for trustees with three-year terms to be held annually in
accordance with TEC, §
11.059(b).
Following each of the last three years of the period of appointment, one-third
of the members of the board of managers shall be replaced by the number of
members of the school district board of trustees who were elected at an
election ordered under this paragraph that constitutes, as closely as possible,
one-third of the membership of the board of trustees.
(4) A board of managers shall order elections
for trustees with four-year terms to be held biennially in accordance with TEC,
§
11.059(c).
Following each of the last three years of the period of appointment, one-third
of the members of the board of managers shall be replaced by the number of
members of the school district board of trustees who were elected at an
election ordered under this paragraph that constitutes, as closely as possible,
one-third of the membership of the board of trustees.
(5) Upon the appointment of a board of
managers to a school district, the commissioner will designate the sequence in
which the board of managers' member groups and eligible board of trustees'
member groups, the number of which constitutes, as closely as possible,
one-third of the membership of the board of trustees, will be replaced by an
equal number of elected board of trustees members. The commissioner may modify
the composition or number of members constituting those groups at any time
during the period of the appointment.
(6) The commissioner may at any time remove
and/or replace a member of the board of managers and may expand or reduce the
number of the board of manager members at any time during the appointment of
the board of managers.
(7) On the
expiration of the appointment of the board of managers, the board of trustees
assumes all of the powers and duties assigned to a board of trustees of the
school district.
(8) The
commissioner may designate the sequence in which an eligible trustee of the
board of trustees will replace a member of the board of managers. If the
commissioner makes such designation, a trustee replacing a manager would
complete the remainder of his or her elected term upon placement to the
transitioning board. In the absence of a designation by the commissioner, the
trustees elected in an election following each of the last three years of the
board of managers' appointment, as determined by the commissioner, shall
replace the designated members of the board of managers, except as follows.
(A) In the event that the number of trustees
elected in the first election exceeds one-third of the total board of trustees
membership, the board of managers shall determine by lot which of those
trustees shall be selected to initially replace members of the board of
managers and assume positions on the board.
(B) Any remaining trustees elected at the
first election ordered under this paragraph shall replace an equivalent number
of members of the board of managers and assume positions on the board in the
following year, together with any trustees elected in the second election
ordered by the board of managers under this paragraph.
(C) In the event that the total number of
previously elected trustees who have not yet assumed positions on the board
exceeds one-third of the total board of trustees membership, the trustees
elected at the first election ordered under this paragraph shall receive
priority in the order of placement on the board, followed by trustees elected
at the second election, who shall be selected by lot by the board of
managers.
(D) Any trustees elected
in the third election ordered by the board of managers under this paragraph
shall replace an equivalent number of members of the board of managers and
assume positions on the board following the last year of the period of the
board of managers' appointment.
(i) The training in effective leadership
strategies required under TEC, §
39A.205, shall be
provided by TEA-approved authorized providers of school board training to each
individual appointed by the commissioner to a board of managers, including
board of trustees members appointed under subsection (h)(4) of this section,
and, following the expiration of the appointment of the board of managers, to
the board of trustees of the school district.
(j) A board of trustees member appointed
under subsection (h)(4) of this section must complete the training required in
subsection (i) of this section prior to or within 10 days of the appointment.
Failure to do so may result in the removal of the board of trustees member from
the board of managers.
