School districts responsible for special education must share certain education costs for students at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired or the Texas School for the Deaf, and the commissioner handles calculations, deductions, remittances, and related funding rules.
Sec. 30.003. SUPPORT OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN TEXAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED OR TEXAS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF. (a) For each student enrolled in the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired or the Texas School for the Deaf, the school district that is responsible for providing appropriate special education services to the student shall share the cost of the student's education as provided by this section. (b) If the student is admitted to the school for a full-time program for the equivalent of two long semesters, the district's share of the cost is an amount equal to the dollar amount of maintenance and debt service taxes imposed by the district for that year, subject to Subsection (b-1), divided by the district's average daily attendance for the preceding year. (b-1) The commissioner shall reduce the amount of maintenance taxes imposed by the district that are obligated to be paid under Subsection (b) for a year by the amount, if any, by which the district is required to reduce the district's local revenue level under Section 48.257 for that year. (c) If the student is admitted for a program less than two complete semesters in duration, other than a summer program, the district's share of the cost is an amount equal to the amount that would be the district's share under Subsection (b) for a full-time program multiplied by the quotient resulting from the number of full-time equivalent days in the program divided by the minimum number of days of instruction for students as provided by Section 25.081. (d) Each school district and state institution shall provide to the commissioner the necessary information to determine the district's share under this section. The information must be reported to the commissioner on or before a date set by commissioner rule. After determining the amount of a district's share for all students for which the district is responsible, the commissioner shall deduct that amount from the payments of foundation school funds payable to the district. Each deduction shall be in the same percentage of the total amount of the district's share as the percentage of the total foundation school fund entitlement being paid to the district at the time of the deduction, except that the amount of any deduction may be modified to make necessary adjustments or to correct errors. The commissioner shall provide for remitting the amount deducted to the appropriate school at the same time at which the remaining funds are distributed to the district. If a district does not receive foundation school funds or if a district's foundation school entitlement is less than the amount of the district's share under this section, the commissioner shall direct the district to remit payment to the commissioner, and the commissioner shall remit the district's share to the appropriate school. (e) For each student enrolled in the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired or the Texas School for the Deaf, the appropriate school is entitled to the state available school fund apportionment. (f) The commissioner, with the assistance of the comptroller, shall determine the amount that the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Texas School for the Deaf would have received from the available school fund if Chapter 28, Acts of the 68th Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1984, had not transferred statutorily dedicated taxes from the available school fund to the foundation school fund. That amount, minus any amount the schools do receive from the available school fund, shall be set apart as a separate account in the foundation school fund and appropriated to those schools for educational purposes. (f-1) The commissioner shall determine the total amount that the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Texas School for the Deaf would have received from school districts in accordance with this section if the following provisions had not reduced the districts' share of the cost of providing education services: (1) H.B. No. 1, Acts of the 79th Legislature, 3rd Called Session, 2006; (2) Subsection (b-1) of this section; (3) Section 45.0032; (4) Section 48.255; and (5) Section 48.2551. (f-2) The amount determined under Subsection (f-1), minus any amount the schools do receive from school districts, shall be set aside as a separate account in the foundation school fund and appropriated to those schools for educational purposes. (g) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to implement 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. 6, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Amended by: Acts 2006, 79th Leg., 3rd C.S., Ch. 5 (H.B. 1), Sec. 1.10, eff. May 31, 2006. Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 943 (H.B. 3), Sec. 1.005, eff. September 1, 2019. Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 943 (H.B. 3), Sec. 1A.002, eff. September 1, 2020. Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1065 (H.B. 2), Sec. 4.45, eff. June 20, 2025. Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1137 (S.B. 568), Sec. 45, eff. June 20, 2025.