TITLE 19. EDUCATION

§97.1081. Resource Campuses.

(a) Applicability. This section applies only to a school district that intends to apply for a resource campus designation for a campus or campuses under Texas Education Code (TEC), §29.934.

(b) Definitions. For purposes of this division, the following words and terms shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) Applicant--This term refers to the school district submitting the application for a resource campus designation.

(2) Closed campus--This term refers to a campus whose county-district-campus number has been retired by the commissioner of education or the school district under §97.1066 of this title (relating to Campus Repurposing and Closure).

(3) County-district-campus number (CDCN)--This term refers to the nine-digit identifier assigned to a campus under §97.1051 of this title (relating to Definitions).

(4) Receiving campus--This term refers to a campus that enrolls students previously served by a closed campus.

(5) Resource campus--This term has the meaning assigned by TEC, §29.934.

(6) Resource campus designation--This term refers to a campus that has satisfactorily met the eligibility criteria included in TEC, §29.934, and this section and is eligible for additional funding as provided by TEC, §48.252.

(c) Application requirements.

(1) To apply to be designated as a resource campus, the campus must have received an overall performance rating under TEC, §39.054, of D, F, or NR/NR1365 for three years over a 10-year period at the time of application.

(A) The calculation of the 10-year period begins with the school year prior to the year in which the applicant submits the request for the resource campus designation, regardless of whether a rating was issued.

(B) An Academically Unacceptable or Improvement Required rating will be considered an unacceptable rating for determining eligibility.

(C) The three D, F, or NR/NR1365 ratings do not have to be consecutive.

(2) Annually, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) will release a list of campuses that meet the application eligibility requirement described in paragraph (1) of this subsection and application package requirements, which may include, but are not limited to:

(A) a letter of intent;

(B) an application form;

(C) the application deadline;

(D) requirements, including mandatory training sessions for school districts and campuses, that must be met in order for applications to be approved; and

(E) eligibility approval criteria aligned to subsection (d) of this section.

(3) If TEA determines that an application package is not complete and/or the applicant does not meet the eligibility criteria in TEC, §29.934, and this section, TEA may notify the applicant and allow 10 business days for the applicant to submit any missing or explanatory (supplementary) documents.

(A) If, after giving the applicant the opportunity to provide supplementary documents, TEA determines that the resource campus designation request remains incomplete and/or the eligibility requirements of TEC, §29.934, have not been met, the resource campus designation request will be denied.

(B) If the documents are not timely submitted, TEA shall remove the resource campus designation request without further processing.

(C) Failure by TEA to identify any deficiency or notify an applicant thereof does not constitute a waiver of the requirement and does not bind the commissioner.

(4) TEA staff may interview applicants, specify individuals from the school district and campus required to attend the interview, and require the submission of additional information and documentation prior to an interview.

(d) Eligibility criteria.

(1) To be eligible for a resource campus designation, a school district must demonstrate that a campus meets all criteria provided in TEC, §29.934, related to the resource campus designation beginning in the school year in which it applies for the designation.

(2) The school district must provide evidence that the campus is:

(A) implementing a targeted improvement plan as described by TEC, Chapter 39A, Subchapter A, and §97.1061(e)(4) of this title (relating to Interventions and Sanctions for Campuses) and has established a school community partnership team;

(B) adopting and implementing an accelerated campus excellence (ACE) turnaround plan as provided by TEC, §39A.105(b), which must include:

(i) a staffing plan that aligns with the staffing provisions in paragraph (3) of this subsection and includes:

(I) the requirement that the principal assigned to the campus must have:

(-a-) demonstrated a history of improvement in student academic growth at campuses at which the principal has previously worked; and

(-b-) final authority over personnel decisions at the campus;

(II) the requirement that at least 60% of classroom teachers assigned to the campus must satisfy the requirements for demonstrated instructional effectiveness under TEC, §39A.105(b)(3);

(III) a detailed description of the employment and compensation structures for the principal and classroom teachers, which must include significant incentives for a high-performing principal or teacher to remain at the campus and a commitment by the district to continue incentives for the principal and teachers. Teacher compensation structures must align to the approved local optional teacher designation system;

(IV) a plan that describes how the district will determine that the principal and classroom teachers are meeting determined student growth measures aligned to the campus compensation model; and

(V) the requirement that by August 1 of the school year in which the campus will begin receiving funding for the resource campus designation, the campus principal and all teachers must have applied for a position to continue at the campus at the beginning of ACE implementation, regardless of past employment or assignment to the campus, and the district must demonstrate that the leader continues to meet requirements in the district's blueprint;

(ii) a board policy that includes the commitment to continue incentives for principals and teachers, and no other board policy related to staffing compensation in the district may contradict the staffing and compensation provisions in the ACE plan; and

(iii) policies and procedures for the implementation of best practices at the campus described in TEC, §39A.105(b)(4), including:

(I) a performance management system providing at least weekly insight for all administrators and at least monthly insights for all teachers on classroom instructional delivery;

(II) a system of observation of classroom teachers and feedback for classroom teachers;

(III) positive student culture on the campus;

(IV) family and community engagement;

(V) extended learning opportunities for students, which may include service or workforce learning opportunities; and

(VI) providing student services before or after the instructional day that improve student performance, which may include tutoring, extracurricular activities, counseling services, and offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner to all students at the campus;

(C) developing and implementing a plan to utilize both full-subject high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) and supplemental instructional materials to support intervention tiers with detailed descriptions of how accelerated support will be provided to students who have not yet mastered prior content in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics at full fidelity that have been approved through the instructional materials review and approval (IMRA) process.

(i) If the campus has already adopted and can demonstrate implementation of HQIM as described in this subparagraph, it may receive full approval for the resource campus designation based on review and acceptance by TEA.

(ii) If there are no IMRA-approved materials in ELA or mathematics for a grade level served by the campus at the time of application, the campus may submit a plan to adopt and implement materials as soon as available.

(iii) Conditional approval may be granted if high-quality instructional materials are not yet implemented as described in this subparagraph, but to receive full approval and benefits, the campus must submit artifacts by May 31 of the same school year as the application that the campus will fully implement HQIM in the subsequent school year. Campuses that do not submit verification artifacts will not be fully approved and will not receive the resource campus designation or funding;

(D) implementing, if serving a grade level from prekindergarten-Grade 8, an Additional Days School Year (ADSY) calendar for funding under TEC, §48.0051, designed to include a base calendar of 175 days plus at least six additional ADSY days for all students;

(E) implementing a campus-level positive behavior program as provided by TEC, §37.0013, that aligns with the ACE plan described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph;

(F) developing partnerships with parent and community groups and implementing a family engagement plan as described by TEC, §29.168, that aligns with the ACE plan described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph;

(G) demonstrating that all teachers of record assigned to foundation curriculum subjects, as defined in TEC, §28.002, have a minimum of two years' experience serving as a classroom teacher as defined in TEC, §5.001, prior to the start of the school year in which the resource campus designation is awarded;

(H) demonstrating that at least 50% of teachers of record assigned to foundation curriculum subjects, as defined in TEC, §28.002, currently hold a designation under a local optional teacher designation system as described in TEC, §21.3521;

(I) verifying that at least one full-time school counselor is dedicated to the campus for every 300 students with fractional school counselor assignment allowed if over 300 students (i.e., 1.5 FTE for 450 students); and

(J) verifying that at least one appropriately licensed professional, either directly employed or contracted, is assigned full time to the campus to support the social and emotional needs of students and staff. This individual must be dedicated solely to the campus and must be one of the following:

(i) a family and community liaison;

(ii) a clinical social worker;

(iii) a specialist in school psychology; or

(iv) a professional counselor.

(3) A campus that receives a resource campus designation must be in a school district that has adopted an approved local optional teacher designation system under TEC, §21.3521, that includes the campus to receive the resource campus designation. The local designation system must:

(A) meet all requirements under §150.1041 of this title (relating to Local Optional Teacher Designation System) for all foundation subject teachers in all grade levels served by the resource campus; and

(B) receive full approval by TEA no later than the school year prior to the year that the resource campus designation begins.

(e) Continued eligibility.

(1) To maintain the resource campus designation and receive benefits under TEC, §29.934 and §48.252, the school district and campus holding the resource campus designation must continuously meet the requirements in subsection (d) of this section.

(2) The school district and campus holding the resource campus designation must comply with all information requests or monitoring visits deemed necessary by TEA staff to monitor the ongoing eligibility of the resource campus designation.

(A) TEA will annually release monitoring requirements and timelines.

(B) School districts will submit data and information required by TEA to assess fidelity of implementation upon request by TEA.

(C) A school district or campus holding the resource campus designation that fails to respond to implementation monitoring requests by the published deadline will be subject to subsection (g) of this section related to removal of resource campus designation.

(3) TEA will annually notify school districts of their resource campus designation status.

(f) Closed campus eligibility to maintain resource campus designation.

(1) A receiving campus may maintain resource campus designation if:

(A) the receiving campus assumes the CDCN of the closed resource campus or is otherwise assigned its accountability performance history by the commissioner; and

(B) the receiving campus continues to meet all requirements for resource campus designation under TEC, §29.934, and this chapter.

(2) The district must submit a request to the commissioner to maintain the resource campus designation for the receiving campus.

(A) The request must include documentation demonstrating compliance with subsections (d) and (e) of this section.

(B) The commissioner may approve the request if all conditions are met.

(g) Removal of resource campus designation.

(1) A campus fails to maintain status as a resource campus if:

(A) the campus or school district does not continuously meet the requirements in subsection (d) of this section; or

(B) the campus or school district fails to comply with information requests or monitoring visits by TEA staff needed to determine the ongoing implementation of resource campus eligibility criteria.

(2) If a campus fails to maintain status as a resource campus for two consecutive years, the campus is not eligible for designation as a resource campus.

(A) The financial benefits awarded to a campus under TEC, §48.252, will end at the end of the second consecutive school year in which the campus failed to maintain its resource campus status.

(B) A campus subject to this subsection may reapply for designation as a resource campus if the campus qualifies under TEC, §29.934(b).

(h) Decision finality. A decision of the commissioner made under this section is final and is not subject to appeal, including under TEC, §7.057.