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Jan-Feb Committee on School Initiatives Item 5

Adoption of Review of 19 TAC Chapter 30, Administration,
Subchapter A, State Board of Education: General Provisions
(Adoption of Review)

February 3, 2017

COMMITTEE ON SCHOOL INITIATIVES: ACTION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: CONSENT

SUMMARY:
Texas Government Code, §2001.039, establishes a four-year rule review cycle for all state agency rules, including State Board of Education (SBOE) rules. This item presents the adoption of the review of 19 TAC Chapter 30, Administration, Subchapter A, State Board of Education: General Provisions. The rule being reviewed establishes the SBOE process for petitioning the adoption of changes to SBOE rules, as required by Texas Government Code, §2001.021.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
Statutory authority for the rule review is Texas Government Code, §2001.039. Statutory authority for 19 TAC Chapter 30, Subchapter A, is Texas Government Code, §2001.021.

Texas Government Code, §2001.039, requires a state agency to review and consider for readoption each of its rules.

Texas Government Code, §2001.021, authorizes a state agency to prescribe by rule the form for a petition and the procedure for the submission, consideration, and disposition.

PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION:
The SBOE last adopted the review of 19 TAC §30.1, Petition for Adoption of Rule Changes, in January 2013, finding that the reason for initially adopting the rule continued to exist. The review of 19 TAC §30.1 was presented to the Committee on School Initiatives for discussion in November 2016.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND SIGNIFICANT ISSUES: Texas Government Code, §2001.021, requires that procedures to petition for the adoption of rule changes be adopted by rule. To comply with statute, the SBOE adopted 19 TAC Chapter 30, Administration, Subchapter A, State Board of Education: General Provisions, §30.1, Petition for Adoption of Rule Changes, effective December 5, 2004. Prior to the adoption of 19 TAC §30.1, procedures to petition for the adoption of changes to SBOE rules were included as part of the SBOE's operating rules. Effective April 26, 2009, an amendment adopted in rule the form used to submit a petition.

Since 19 TAC §30.1 was last reviewed in 2012, two petitions have been presented to the SBOE. In 2013, a petitioner requested that a student who is 16 years of age be eligible to take the GED if the student is pregnant or a parent. The petition was denied based on the fact that the TEC, §7.111, establishes eligibility requirements for taking a Texas high school equivalency examination and does not grant the SBOE rulemaking authority to adopt additional bases of eligibility.

The second petition requested that the SBOE modify the amount of credit awarded for the Cosmetology I and II courses that are scheduled to be implemented in the 2017-2018 school year. The SBOE considered the petition and voted to initiate rulemaking to adopt additional one-credit lab-based courses to be taught concurrently with §130.283, Cosmetology I (Two Credits), Adopted 2015, and §130.284, Cosmetology II (Two Credits), Adopted 2015, for implementation in the 2018-2019 school year. Since the November 2016 SBOE meeting, petitions regarding credit hours for Cosmetology I and II have been re-submitted and are presented as a separate action item in this agenda.

House Bill 763, 84th Texas Legislature, 2015, amended the Texas Government Code, §2001.021, to define the term interested person for the purposes of petitioning a rule change. As a separate item in this agenda, a proposed amendment to §30.1 would update for first reading and filing authorization the petition form adopted in rule to require the petitioner to indicate that the petitioner meets at least one of the four definitions of an interested person specified in statute.

RULE REVIEW:
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) filed the notice of proposed review of 19 TAC Chapter 30, Administration, Subchapter A, State Board of Education: General Provisions, with the Texas Register following the November 2016 SBOE meeting. If authorized by the SBOE, the TEA will file the notice of adopted review with the Texas Register following the January/February 2017 SBOE meeting. The notice of adopted review will state that the SBOE finds the reasons for adopting 19 TAC Chapter 30, Subchapter A, continue to exist. Any public comments received during the review of 19 TAC Chapter 30, Subchapter A, will also be filed.

The filing of the notice of adopted review stating that the reasons for adoption continue to exist would not preclude any amendments that may be proposed at different dates through a separate rulemaking process.

FISCAL IMPACT: None.

PUBLIC AND STUDENT BENEFIT:
The rule in 19 TAC Chapter 30, Subchapter A, codifies into the Texas Administrative Code the SBOE's procedure for interested persons to petition to adopt SBOE rule changes as required in statute.

PROCEDURAL AND REPORTING IMPLICATIONS:
None.

LOCALLY MAINTAINED PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS: None.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: Following the November 2016 SBOE meeting, notice of the proposed review of 19 TAC Chapter 30, Subchapter A, was filed with the Texas Register, initiating the official public comment period for the review. At the time this item was prepared, no comments had been received regarding this review. Any public comments received will be provided to the SBOE at the January/February 2017 meeting.

ALTERNATIVES: None.

OTHER COMMENTS AND RELATED ISSUES: A separate item in this agenda presents the proposed amendment to 19 TAC §30.1 for first reading and filing authorization. In addition, the adoption of review of 19 TAC Chapter 30, Administration, Subchapter B, State Board of Education: Purchasing and Contracts, is presented as a separate item in this agenda for action by the Committee on School Finance/Permanent School Fund.

MOTION TO BE CONSIDERED:
The State Board of Education:

Adopt the review of 19 TAC Chapter 30, Administration, Subchapter A, State Board of Education: General Provisions.

Staff Member Responsible:
Cristina De La Fuente-Valadez, Director
Rulemaking

Attachments:
I. Statutory Citations (PDF, 21KB)
II. Text of 19 TAC Chapter 30, Administration, Subchapter A, State Board of Education: General Provisions (PDF, 32KB)