The Texas Education Agency (TEA) adopts an amendment to §97.1055, concerning accreditation status. The amendment is adopted without changes to the proposed text as published in the June 29, 2018 issue of the Texas Register (43 TexReg 4293) and will not be republished. The adopted amendment modifies the rule to provide clarifications to existing statutory provisions and reflect the recodification of Texas Education Code (TEC), Chapter 39, Subchapter E, into TEC, Chapter 39A.

REASONED JUSTIFICATION. Section 97.1055 defines the requirements a school district must meet each school year to receive the status of Accredited and states how the accreditation statuses of Accredited-Warned, Accredited-Probation, and Not Accredited-Revoked are determined.

The adopted amendment to §97.1055 adds new subsection (a)(7) to extend the commissioner's option to withhold the assignment of an accreditation status to an open-enrollment charter school subject to revocation or non-renewal/expiration to those that have voluntarily surrendered their charter contract in order to reduce duplicative actions on the part of the TEA.

New subsection (a)(10) clarifies the commissioner's authority to proceed with previously imposed sanctions due to a lowered accreditation status after the subsequent issuance of a new accreditation status. This addition best fulfills the purposes of the accreditation system by ensuring that interventions and sanctions are continued so that districts do not earn their way out of the accreditation system only to fall back into the system in the next school year.

New subsection (d)(2) was added to clarify the commissioner's options when a district might otherwise earn a Not Accredited-Revoked accreditation status. When the commissioner determines that good cause exists to maintain the district's current status, together with new or existing interventions or sanctions, the commissioner may abate the issuance of an accreditation status, issue another accreditation, appoint a board of managers to govern the district, and/or take other actions reasonably necessary to achieve the purposes of the accreditation system in lieu of revoking the district's accreditation. This allows the commissioner greater flexibility to tailor interventions to meet the purposes of the accreditation system.

New subsection (d)(3) was added to explain how accreditation statuses will be determined during school years in which a district is operated wholly or in part by an appointed board of managers. This change allows the board of managers an opportunity to correct the district's academic, financial, programmatic, and governance deficiencies and holds the board of managers responsible for the performance of the district that occurs during the period of appointment. This provision best meets the purposes of the accreditation system by recognizing that the appointment of a board of managers is a fundamental change in the operation of the district and allowing time for that fundamental change to impact the academic, financial, and programmatic performance of the district.

In addition, the adopted amendment updates cross references to align with Senate Bill 1488, 85th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, which recodified TEC, Chapter 39, Subchapter E, into TEC, Chapter 39A.

SUMMARY OF COMMENTS AND AGENCY RESPONSES. The public comment period on the proposal began June 29, 2018, and ended July 30, 2018. No public comments were received.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY. The amendment is adopted under Texas Education Code (TEC), §39.051, which requires the commissioner to determine accreditation statuses; and TEC, §39.052, which establishes the requirements for the commissioner to consider when determining accreditation statuses.

CROSS REFERENCE TO STATUTE. The amendment implements Texas Education Code, §39.051 and §39.052.