Sec. 48.273.  FOUNDATION SCHOOL FUND TRANSFERS.  (a)  In this section:
(1)  "Category 1 school district" means a school district having a wealth per student of less than one-half of the statewide average wealth per student.
(2)  "Category 2 school district" means a school district having a wealth per student of at least one-half of the statewide average wealth per student but not more than the statewide average wealth per student.
(3)  "Category 3 school district" means a school district having a wealth per student of more than the statewide average wealth per student.
(4)  "Wealth per student" means the taxable property values reported by the comptroller to the commissioner under Section 48.256 divided by the number of students in average daily attendance.
(b)  Payments from the foundation school fund to each category 1 school district shall be made as follows:
(1)  15 percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day of September of a fiscal year;
(2)  80 percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in eight equal installments to be made on or before the 25th day of October, November, December, January, March, May, June, and July; and
(3)  five percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day of February.
(c)  Payments from the foundation school fund to each category 2 school district shall be made as follows:
(1)  22 percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day of September of a fiscal year;
(2)  18 percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day of October;
(3)  9.5 percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day of November;
(4)  7.5 percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day of April;
(5)  five percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day of May;
(6)  10 percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day of June;
(7)  13 percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day of July; and
(8)  15 percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day of August.
(d)  Payments from the foundation school fund to each category 3 school district shall be made as follows:
(1)  45 percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day of September of a fiscal year;
(2)  35 percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day of October; and
(3)  20 percent of the yearly entitlement of the district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the 25th day of August.
(e)  The amount of any installment required by this section may be modified to provide a school district with the proper amount to which the district may be entitled by law and to correct errors in the allocation or distribution of funds.  If an installment under this section is required to be equal to other installments, the amount of other installments may be adjusted to provide for that equality.  A payment under this section is not invalid because it is not equal to other installments.
(f)  Previously unpaid additional funds from prior fiscal years owed to a district shall be paid to the district together with the September payment of the current fiscal year entitlement.
(g)  The commissioner shall make all annual Foundation School Program payments under this section for purposes described by Sections 45.252(a)(1) and (2) before the deadline established under Section 45.263(b) for payment of debt service on bonds.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the commissioner may make Foundation School Program payments under this section after the deadline established under Section 45.263(b) only if the commissioner has not received notice under Section 45.258 concerning a district's failure or inability to pay matured principal or interest on bonds.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995.  Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 426, Sec. 31, eff. June 9, 1995;  Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 6.03, eff. Sept. 1, 1997;  Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 201, Sec. 35, eff. Sept. 1, 2003;  Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1310, Sec. 4, eff. June 20, 2003.
Amended by: 
Acts 2006, 79th Leg., 3rd C.S., Ch. 5 (H.B. 1), Sec. 1.06, eff. August 1, 2009.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1328 (H.B. 3646), Sec. 61, eff. September 1, 2009.
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., 1st C.S., Ch. 4 (S.B. 1), Sec. 1.01, eff. September 28, 2011.
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1410 (S.B. 758), Sec. 1, eff. June 14, 2013.
Transferred, redesignated and amended from Education Code, Section 42.259 by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 943 (H.B. 3), Sec. 1.042, eff. September 1, 2019.