Senate Bill 213 was successfully passed and signed into law in the 85th legislative session and extends individual graduation committees for students who have not been successful are more than two EOC exams. Additionally, SB 213 allows for TSI math to replace Algebra I EOC and TSI reading to replace EOC English II if students attain the required college readiness score on each exam.
The original bill, Senate Bill 149, introduced in the regular session of the 84th Texas Legislature and signed into law effective immediately by Governor Abbott on May 11, 2015, has revised the state’s assessment graduation requirements for students enrolled in the 11th or 12th grade for the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, or 2016-2017 school years. A student who has failed the end-of-course (EOC) assessment graduation requirements for no more than two courses may receive a Texas high school diploma if the student has qualified to graduate by means of a unanimous Individual Graduation Committee (IGC) determination. The graduation committees are tasked with evaluating students’ academic performance and must establish additional conditions for graduation such as a senior project or a portfolio along with remedial coursework to help them determine student proficiency in an EOC-tested course or courses.
To be clear, this bill does not guarantee that a student who has not passed one or two EOC exams will automatically graduate. It provides a student the opportunity to graduate if the IGC can determine that the student has demonstrated suitable proficiency in the subject of the failed EOC. Decisions of the committee to certify a student for graduation must be unanimous and the decisions of the IGC may not be appealed.
Students who would like to be considered for the SB213 projects can contact their school counselor.
Contacts:
Lucia Borrego
Chief Academic Officer
Email Lucia Borrego
Adrian Estorga
Instructional Officer- Secondary Math
Email Adrian Estorga
Jeannette Limon
Instructional Officer- Secondary ELAR
Email Jeannette Limon
Frank McDonald
Instructional Officer- Secondary Science
Email Frank McDonald
Dr. Kim Baxter
Instructional Officer- Secondary Social Studies
Email Dr. Kim Baxter
