Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) Applicability.
This section applies only to an independent school district that intends to
contract to partner to operate a campus and receive benefits under Texas
Education Code (TEC), §11.174 and §48.252.
(b) Definitions. For purposes of this
division, the following words and terms shall have the following meaning,
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Operating partner--Either a
state-authorized open-enrollment charter school or an eligible entity as
defined by TEC, §
12.101(a).
(2) Open-enrollment charter holder--This term
has the meaning assigned in TEC, §
12.1012(1).
(3) Governing body of a charter holder--This
term has the meaning assigned in TEC, §
12.1012(2).
(4) Governing body of a charter school--This
term has the meaning assigned in TEC, §
12.1012(3).
(5) Contract to partner to operate a
campus--This term means the partner must operate the campus in accordance with
subsection (c) of this section under a performance contract as outlined in
subsection (d) of this section.
(6)
Campus--This term has the meaning assigned in §
97.1051(3) of
this title (relating to Definitions).
(c) Conferred authority. In order to qualify
as operating a district campus under TEC, §
11.174, the district
must confer, at a minimum, the following enhanced authorities to the operating
partner.
(1) Staffing authorities.
(A) The operating partner must have authority
to employ and manage the campus chief operating officer, including initial and
final non-delegable authority to hire, supervise, manage, assign, evaluate,
develop, advance, compensate, continue employment, and establish any other
terms of employment.
(B) The
operating partner must have authority over the employees of the operating
partner, including initial and final non-delegable authority for the operating
partner to employ and/or manage all of the operating partner's own
administrators, educators, contractors, or other staff. Such authority includes
the authority to hire, supervise, manage, assign, evaluate, develop, advance,
compensate, continue employment, and establish any other terms of
employment.
(C) The operating
partner must have sole authority over the assignment of all district employees
to the campus, including initial and final authority to approve the assignment
of all district employees or contractors to the campus.
(D) The operating partner must have initial,
final, and sole authority to supervise, manage, evaluate, and rescind the
assignment of any district employee or district contractor from the campus. If
the operating partner rescinds the assignment of any district employee or
district contractor, the district must grant the request within 20 working
days.
(E) The operating partner
must directly manage the campus principal or chief operating officer, including
having the sole responsibility for evaluating the performance of the campus
principal or chief operating officer.
(2) Other authorities. The operating partner
must have:
(A) initial, final, and sole
authority to approve all curriculum decisions beyond the minimum requirements
outlined in §
74.2 of this title (relating to
Description of a Required Elementary Curriculum) or §
74.3 of this title (relating to
Description of a Required Secondary Curriculum), lesson plans, instructional
strategies, and instructional materials, as defined in TEC, §
31.002(1),
to be used at that campus;
(B)
initial, final, and sole authority over educational programs for specific,
identified student groups, such as gifted and talented students, students of
limited English proficiency, students at risk of dropping out of school,
special education students, and other statutorily defined
populations;
(C) initial, final,
and sole authority to set the school calendar and the daily schedule, which may
differ from those in other district campuses;
(D) initial, final, and sole authority to
select and determine the use of any and all assessments to be used on the
campus that are not required by the state of Texas;
(E) initial, final, and sole authority to
determine how the entire campus budget, including any and all federal and state
grant funds due the campus, is allocated. The governing body of the operating
partner shall approve the campus budget in a meeting held under the Texas Open
Meetings Act, Texas Government Code, Chapter 551. Notwithstanding such budget
authority, the operating partner's expenditures must comply with applicable
restrictions on the use of state and federal funds; and
(F) initial, final, and sole authority to
implement and adjust the campus budget.
(d) Performance contract. To contract to
partner to operate under TEC, §
11.174, the
independent school district's board of trustees must grant the operating
partner a campus charter under TEC, Chapter 12, Subchapter C. The charter must
include performance expectations memorialized in a performance contract, as
required by TEC, §
12.0531. This
performance contract must include, at a minimum, the following provisions:
(1) a clear and unambiguous description of
enhanced authorities as outlined in subsection (c) of this section;
(2) academic performance expectations and
goals, which shall include, but are not limited to:
(A) for campuses that are paired for
accountability purposes, specific annual targets for improved student academic
performance;
(B) for campuses
issued an accountability rating under TEC, §
39.054, a specific
annual target for the overall campus academic rating; and
(C) specific consequences in the event that
the operating party does not meet the academic performance expectations and
goals described in the performance contract;
(3) annual financial performance expectations
and goals, which shall include, but are not limited to:
(A) the completion of an annual independent
financial report, including an audit, of the operating partner organization,
limited to matters directly related to the management or operation of the
campus or campuses;
(B) receipt of
an unqualified audit opinion, in connection with the annual financial report
required in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph; and
(C) specific consequences in the event that
the operating partner does not meet the annual financial performance
expectations and goals described in the performance contract;
(4) a description of the campus
enrollment and expulsion policies that must comply with TEC, §
11.174(i);
(5) a contract term of up to 10 years as
required by TEC, §
12.0531, with a
provision(s) specifying:
(A) a requirement for
a public hearing at least 30 days prior to any district action to terminate the
contract for an operating partner that successfully met the performance
expectations and goals described in the performance contract; and
(B) a requirement for a public hearing at
least 30 days prior to any district action to extend the contract for an
operating partner that failed to meet the performance expectations and goals
described in the performance contract;
(6) a contract term stating that the campus
is exempt from laws and rules to the fullest extent allowed by TEC, Chapter 12,
Subchapter C, and is exempt from all district policies except for laws, rules,
and policies that are specifically identified as applicable to the campus in
the performance contract;
(7) a
section that describes the funding structure of the partnership. This section
must specify:
(A) a reasonable per pupil
amount or percentage of the revenue generated by attendance at the campus from
the district to the operating partner of all federal, state, and local funds
due the campus, to be paid to the operating partner for managing the campus or
campuses each year;
(B) the total
budget for the first year of operation; and
(C) the authority of the partner over the
entire campus budget, which includes all federal, state, and local funds due
the campus as described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph;
(8) service-level agreements that
list the resources and services the operating partner intends to purchase from
the district and the specific costs of such services by pupil, square foot,
campus, or the percentage of the total district budget for the specific
resource or service. The resources and services may include:
(A) facility use and related
matters;
(C) specific
education program services, such as providing special education services;
and
(D) access to other resources
and services as agreed between the parties;
(9) a section that describes the educational
plan or academic model that the operating partner will implement on the campus
or campuses;
(10) an assurance that
the district has consulted with campus personnel regarding the provisions
included in the performance contract and that the rights and protections
afforded by current employment contracts or agreements shall not be affected by
this contract as required by TEC, §
11.174(c),
unless the district is partnering with an entity described in TEC, §
11.174(a)(2);
and
(11) a description of the
specific and material consequence(s) in the instance that either the district
or the operating partner breaches the contract.
(e) Capacity to operate. In order to qualify
as an eligible partnership under TEC, §
11.174, the district
must demonstrate that the operating partner has the necessary capacity to
successfully manage campuses.
(f)
Contract notification to the TEA. In order to qualify as an eligible
partnership under TEC, §
11.174, notification
of contracts related to TEC, §
11.174(a)(1),
must meet the deadlines published by the TEA staff.
(g) Contract amendments. Eligible
partnerships under TEC, §
11.174, must notify
the TEA of amendments to performance contracts related to TEC, §
11.174(a)(1) and
(2), within 30 calendar days of the amendment
of the contract.
(h) Performance
ratings. The commissioner of education shall continue to evaluate and assign
overall and domain performance ratings under TEC, §
39.054, to the
campus.
(i) Monitoring. In order to
qualify for ongoing benefits, subsequent to initial eligibility validation or
approval, the eligible partnership campus must comply with all information
requests or monitoring visits deemed necessary by the TEA staff to monitor the
ongoing eligibility of the partnership.
(j) Continued eligibility. To receive
benefits under TEC, §
11.174(f) and
(g) and §48.252, the district must
continuously meet the requirements in subsections (c)-(i) of this
section.
