Texas Senate bill by Sen. Bettencourt establishes attendance calculation for adult education programs

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt aims to define how average daily attendance is calculated for adult education programs under Texas charter schools, seeking to standardize attendance measures based on enrollment duration, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the Senate, 11 Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, with no opposition.

Meanwhile, in the House, 54 Democrats and 70 Republicans voted in favor, while one Democrat and 13 Republicans voted against it.

Paul Bettencourt introduced the bill in the Texas Senate on Thursday, Feb. 20, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Bettencourt graduated from Texas A&M University with a BS.

Bettencourt, a Republican, was elected to the Texas State Senate in 2015 to represent the state’s 7th Senate district, replacing previous state senator Dan Patrick.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to adult high school charter program funding’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Education Code to establish how the average daily attendance (ADA) is calculated for adult education programs under Texas charter schools. It stipulates that students are considered to have a 100% attendance rate if they are enrolled for at least 75% of the school year. Students enrolled for at least 50% but less than 75% of the school year are considered present for three-quarters of the instructional days. Students enrolled for at least 25% but less than 50% are counted present for half of the school days, while those enrolled for at least 10% but less than 25% are counted for a quarter of the instructional days. The bill will take effect on Sept. 1, 2025.

The bill was co-authored by Sen. Donna Campbell (Republican – District 25) and Sen. Royce West (Democrat – District 23).

The bill received its final legislative approval on Friday, May 9, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday, May 24.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.