(a)The commissioner of education shall impose district
and campus accreditation sanctions under this subchapter individually
or in combination as the commissioner determines necessary to achieve
the purposes identified in §97.1053 of this title (relating to
Purpose).
(b)In making a determination under subsection (a)
of this section, the commissioner shall consider the seriousness,
number, extent, and duration of deficiencies identified by the Texas
Education Agency (TEA) and shall impose one or more accreditation
sanctions on a district and its campuses as needed to address:
(1)each material deficiency identified by the TEA
through its systems for district and campus accountability, including:
(A)an accreditation status under §97.1055 of
this title (relating to Accreditation Status);
(B)an academic accountability rating under §97.1001
of this title (relating to Accountability Rating System);
(C)a financial accountability rating under §109.1001
of this title (relating to Financial Accountability Ratings) or a
financial audit or investigation;
(D)program effectiveness under §97.1071 of this
title (relating to Special Program Performance; Intervention Stages)
or other law;
(E)the results of a special accreditation investigation
under Texas Education Code, §39.057;
(F)the results of an investigative report under Chapter
157, Subchapter EE, of this title (relating to Informal Review, Formal
Review, and Review by State Office of Administrative Hearings); complaint
investigation; special education due process hearing; or data integrity
investigation, including an investigation of assessment or financial
data;
(G)an inability to implement effective change to improve
the performance of students in the district or at the campus; or
(H)other information related to subparagraphs (A)-(G)
of this paragraph.
(2)any ongoing failures to address deficiencies previously
identified or patterns of recurring deficiencies;
(3)any lack of district responsiveness to, or compliance
with, current or prior interventions or sanctions; and
(4)any substantial or imminent harm presented by the
deficiencies of the district or campus to the welfare of its students
or to the public interest.
(c)If the commissioner identifies a district and one
or more of its campuses for accreditation sanction under subsection
(a) of this section, the commissioner may elect to combine activities
to be undertaken at the district and campus levels as needed to achieve
the purposes of each sanction.
(d)When making any campus-level determination under
this subchapter, the commissioner shall also consider the district-level
performance of the district on applicable academic, fiscal, and compliance
standards.
(e)The commissioner must review at least annually
the performance of a district for which the accreditation status or
academic accountability rating has been lowered due to insufficient
student performance and may not raise the accreditation status or
rating until the district has demonstrated improved student performance.
If the review reveals a lack of improvement, the commissioner shall
increase the level of state intervention and sanction unless the commissioner
finds good cause for maintaining the current status.
The agency certifies that legal counsel has reviewed
the adoption and found it to be a valid exercise of the agency's legal
authority.
Filed with the Office
of the Secretary of State on January 8, 2018
TRD-201800059 Cristina De La Fuente-Valadez
Director, Rulemaking
Texas Education Agency
Effective date: January 28, 2018
Proposal publication date: September 29, 2017
For further information, please call: (512) 475-1497
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