| (a) General provisions.
(1) Each year, the commissioner of education shall
assign to each school district an accreditation status under Texas
Education Code (TEC), §39.052(b) and (c). Each district shall
be assigned a status defined as follows.
(A) Accredited. Accredited means the Texas Education
Agency (TEA) recognizes the district as a public school of this state
that:
(i) meets the standards determined by the commissioner
under TEC, §39.052(b) and (c), and specified in §97.1059
of this title (relating to Standards for All Accreditation Sanction
Determinations); and
(ii) is not currently assigned an accreditation status
of Accredited-Warned or Accredited-Probation.
(B) Accredited-Warned. Accredited-Warned means the
district exhibits deficiencies in performance, as specified in subsection
(b) of this section, that, if not addressed, will lead to probation
or revocation of its accreditation status.
(C) Accredited-Probation. Accredited-Probation means
the district exhibits deficiencies in performance, as specified in
subsection (c) of this section, that must be addressed to avoid revocation
of its accreditation status.
(D) Not Accredited-Revoked. Not Accredited-Revoked
means the TEA does not recognize the district as a Texas public school
because the district's performance has failed to meet standards adopted
by the commissioner under TEC, §39.052(b) and (c), and specified
in subsection (d) of this section.
(2) The commissioner shall assign the accreditation
status, as defined by this section, based on the performance of each
school district. This section shall be construed and applied to achieve
the purposes of TEC, §39.051 and §39.052, which are specified
in §97.1053(a) of this title (relating to Purpose).
(3) The commissioner shall revoke the accreditation
status of a district that fails to meet the standards specified in
this section. In the event of revocation, the purposes of the TEC, §39.051
and §39.052, are to:
(A) inform the parents of students enrolled in the
district, property owners in the district, general public, and policymakers
that the TEA does not recognize the district as a Texas public school
because the district's performance has failed to meet standards adopted
by the commissioner under TEC, §39.052(b) and (c), and specified
in subsection (d) of this section; and
(B) encourage other districts to improve their performance
so as to retain their accreditation.
(4) Unless revised as a result of investigative activities
by the commissioner as authorized under TEC, Chapter 39, or other
law, an accreditation status remains in effect until replaced by an
accreditation status assigned for the next school year. An accreditation
status shall be revised within the school year when circumstances
require such revision in order to achieve the purposes specified in §97.1053(a)
of this title.
(5) An accreditation status will be withheld pending
completion of any appeal or review of an academic accountability rating,
a financial accountability rating, or other determination by the commissioner,
but only if such appeal or review is:
(A) specifically authorized by commissioner rule;
(B) timely requested under and in compliance with such
rule; and
(C) applicable to the accreditation status under review.
(6) An accreditation status may be withheld pending
completion of on-site or other investigative activities in order to
achieve the purposes specified in §97.1053(a) of this title.
(7) An accreditation status may be raised or lowered
based on the district's performance or may be lowered based on the
performance of one or more campuses in the district that is below
a standard required under this chapter or other applicable law.
(8) For purposes of determining multiple years of academically
unacceptable or insufficient performance, the academic accountability
ratings issued for the 2010-2011 school year and for the 2012-2013
school year are consecutive. An accreditation status assigned for
the 2012-2013 school year shall be based on assigned academic accountability
ratings for the applicable prior school years, as determined under
subsections (b)-(d) of this section.
(9) Accreditation statuses are consecutive if they
are not separated by an accreditation period in which the TEA assigned
accreditation statuses to districts and charter schools generally.
For example, if TEA does not assign accreditation statuses to districts
and charter schools generally for the 2012-2013 school year, then
the accreditation statuses issued for the 2011-2012 school year and
for the 2013-2014 school year are consecutive.
(b) Determination of Accredited-Warned status.
(1) A district shall be assigned Accredited-Warned
status if, beginning with its 2006 rating, the district is assigned:
(A) for two consecutive school years, an unacceptable
academic accountability rating as indicated in the applicable year's
accountability manual adopted under §97.1001 of this title (relating
to Accountability Rating System);
(B) for two consecutive school years, a financial accountability
rating of Substandard Achievement or Suspended--Data Quality under §109.1002
of this title (relating to Financial Accountability Ratings);
(C) for two consecutive school years, any one of the
ratings referenced in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph;
or
(D) for one school year, a combination of ratings referenced
in both subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph.
(2) Notwithstanding the district's performance under
paragraph (1) of this subsection, a district shall be assigned Accredited-Warned
status if the commissioner determines this action is reasonably necessary
to achieve the purposes of TEC, §39.051 and §39.052. Such
action is generally required by the following circumstances:
(A) to an extent established under subsection (e) of
this section, the district has failed to comply with requirements
related to:
(i) the integrity of assessment or financial data used
to measure performance under TEC, Chapter 39 or 42, and rules implementing
those chapters;
(ii) the reporting of data under TEC, §42.006,
and §61.1025 of this title (relating to Public Education Information
Management System (PEIMS) Data and Reporting Standards);
(iii) other reports required by state or federal law
or court order;
(iv) awarding high school graduation under TEC, §28.025;
or
(v) any applicable requirement under TEC, §7.056(e)(3)(C)-(I);
or
(B) after investigation under TEC, §39.056 or §39.057,
the commissioner finds:
(i) the district's programs monitored under §97.1005
of this title (relating to Performance-Based Monitoring Analysis System)
exhibit serious or persistent deficiencies that, if not addressed,
may lead to probation or revocation of the district's accreditation;
or
(ii) the district otherwise exhibits serious or persistent
deficiencies that, if not addressed, may lead to probation or revocation
of the district's accreditation.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2) of this subsection,
a district shall be assigned Accredited-Warned status if the commissioner
determines this action is reasonably necessary to achieve the purposes
of TEC, §39.051 and §39.052.
(c) Determination of Accredited-Probation status.
(1) A district shall be assigned Accredited-Probation
status if, beginning with its 2006 rating, the district is assigned:
(A) for three consecutive school years, an unacceptable
academic accountability rating as indicated in the applicable year's
accountability manual adopted under §97.1001 of this title;
(B) for three consecutive school years, a financial
accountability rating of Substandard Achievement or Suspended--Data
Quality under §109.1002 of this title;
(C) for three consecutive school years, any one of
the ratings referenced in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph;
or
(D) for two consecutive school years, a combination
of ratings referenced in both subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph.
(2) Notwithstanding the district's performance under
paragraph (1) of this subsection, a district shall be assigned Accredited-Probation
status if the commissioner determines this action is reasonably necessary
to achieve the purposes of TEC, §39.051 and §39.052. Such
action is generally required by the following circumstances:
(A) to an extent established under subsection (e) of
this section, the district has failed to comply with requirements
related to:
(i) the integrity of assessment or financial data used
to measure performance under TEC, Chapter 39 or 42, and rules implementing
those chapters;
Cont'd... |
