Implementation of House Bill (HB) 3593, High School Cybersecurity Courses
DATE: | January 17, 2019 |
SUBJECT: | Implementation of House Bill (HB) 3593, High School Cybersecurity Courses |
CATEGORY: | Additional courses eligible for CTE weighted funding |
NEXT STEPS: | Share with appropriate staff |
The purpose of this correspondence is to notify districts of additional courses that will qualify for CTE weighted funding.
HB 3593, passed by the 85th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, added Texas Education Code §28.002(f)(2), to require that the State Board of Education (SBOE), approve courses in cybersecurity for credit for high school graduation. HB 3593 also added TEC, §28.025(c)(10), to require that the SBOE adopt or select five technology applications courses on cybersecurity to be included in a cybersecurity pathway for the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) endorsement.
HB 3593 permits school districts to receive weighted funding for students who enroll in technology applications courses on cybersecurity that are included in the cybersecurity pathway. The SBOE will complete the rulemaking process to identify the courses for the cybersecurity pathway prior to the end of the 2018-2019 school year. Based on the SBOE’s preliminary discussion, districts may begin receiving weighted funding for students enrolled in the following courses in the 2018-2019 school year:
Fundamentals of Computer Science 03580140
Computer Science I 03580200
AP Computer Science Principles A3580300
The finalized payment of additional weighted funding for Career and Technical Education (CTE) full-time equivalents (FTEs) will occur after the completion of the 2018-2019 school year, as part of the “Near-Final” settle-up of the Summary of Finances.
In order for a district to receive weighted funding for these additional courses, the district must report CTE attendance contact hours for students enrolled in the courses for the 2018-2019 school year.
If you have questions related to high school courses, please contact the Curriculum Standards and Student Support Division by email at curriculum@tea.texas.gov or by phone at (512) 463-9581. If you have questions regarding weighted funding, please contact the State Funding Division by email at sfinance@tea.texas.gov or by phone at (512) 463-9238. Please submit questions regarding the TSDS PEIMS submission requirements to the TSDS Incident Management System (TIMS), which is available within the TSDS portal.