Sec. 29.257. COMMUNITY EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

(a) The legislature may appropriate money from the foundation school fund to the agency for developing and implementing community education projects. The agency shall actively seek gifts, grants, or other donations for purposes related to community education development projects, unless the acceptance is prohibited by other law. Money received under this subsection shall be deposited in the account established under Subsection (b) and may be appropriated only for the purpose for which the money was given.

(b) The community education development account is created as a dedicated account in the foundation school fund in the state treasury. The account shall consist of community education related gifts, grants, and donations and shall be administered by the agency.

(c) Subject to legislative appropriation and except as provided by Subsection (g), a school district to which the agency awards money for a community education development project is entitled to receive money for a period of three years. After that period, a project must be funded wholly from local sources. State funding under this section may not exceed:

(1) $50,000 for the first year of a project;

(2) $35,000 for the second year of a project; or

(3) $20,000 for the third year of a project.

(d) The State Board of Education by rule shall establish procedures for distributing community education development money to school districts. The procedures must include a statewide competitive process by which the agency, in accordance with procedures adopted by board rule, evaluates applications for community education development money and awards money to the districts whose projects the agency determines have the greatest merit. A school district may seek review of an agency determination regarding the award of money only in accordance with an administrative review process adopted by board rule. A school district may not seek judicial review of an agency determination.

(e) An application for funding under this section must include:

(1) a resolution adopted by the board of trustees of the school district adopting a particular community education development project plan;

(2) in accordance with rules adopted by the State Board of Education, a description of:

(A) the objectives of the proposed project, including, if appropriate, quantitative targets for the objectives; and

(B) the particular means by which the objectives are to be achieved;

(3) the estimated funding requirements and the data or analysis used to prepare the estimate;

(4) a statement outlining the manner in which the proposed project achieves goals for community education and complies with the requirements of this section;

(5) a statement of the manner in which the project is to be funded after the third year;

(6) a provision for a survey of community education needs in the district that:

(A) incorporates the objectives of community education;

(B) is completed and analyzed by the district in the first year of the project; and

(C) adheres to statistical techniques recognized as valid by professional statisticians;

(7) a provision for the maximum efficient use of existing school facilities in the first year of the project;

(8) a provision for the establishment of an advisory committee of at least 15 members who:

(A) are selected without regard to race or sex;

(B) are selected to reflect persons from the local business community, governmental agencies, public and private nonprofit educational interests, parents, and the general public; and

(C) serve without compensation; and

(9) a designation of a district community education administrator whose primary responsibility is the implementation and supervision of the community education program.

(f) The agency shall monitor each project awarded money under this section in accordance with rules adopted by the State Board of Education. The agency shall evaluate whether the project has satisfactorily carried out the district's objectives as set out in the community education project plan. The board by rule may provide a process for amending the plan.

(g) A school district is not entitled to funding for any year of a project for which:

(1) the district did not apply for funding; or

(2) the agency suspends the funding based on the agency's determination that the district has failed to satisfactorily implement the project's objectives.

(h) The State Board of Education by rule shall provide for an administrative process for the suspension of funding under Subsection (g)(2). The rules must be consistent with Chapter 2001, Government Code.

(i) The State Board of Education may adopt rules necessary to implement and enforce this section, including rules relating to financial audits of school districts that receive money under this section. Rules adopted under this section by the State Board of Education may not permit the board or the agency to waive any provision of this section.

(j) The agency may not use more than five percent of the funds appropriated for the projects under this section for the agency's administration of this section.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1071, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.