Sec. 7.024.  INVESTMENT CAPITAL FUND.  (a)  The investment capital fund consists of money appropriated for purposes of the fund.  The agency shall administer the fund.  The purposes of this fund are to assist eligible public schools to implement practices and procedures consistent with deregulation and school restructuring in order to improve student achievement and to help schools identify and train parents and community leaders who will hold the school and the school district accountable for achieving high academic standards.
(b)  The commissioner may make grants from the fund to eligible schools.
(c)  A school is eligible to apply for a grant if the school has demonstrated a commitment to campus deregulation and to restructuring educational practices and conditions at the school by entering into a partnership with:
(1)  school staff;
(2)  parents of students at the school;
(3)  community and business leaders;
(4)  school district officers;
(5)  a nonprofit, community-based organization that has a demonstrated capacity to train, develop, and organize parents and community leaders into a large, nonpartisan constituency that will hold the school and the school district accountable for achieving high academic standards;  and
(6)  the agency.
(d)  A grant from the fund shall be made directly to the school and may be used for the training and development of school staff, parents, and community leaders in order that they understand and implement the academic standards and practices necessary for high academic achievement, appropriate strategies to deregulate and restructure the school in order to improve student achievement, and effective strategies to organize parents and community leaders into a large, nonpartisan constituency that will hold the school and the school district accountable for achieving high academic standards.  The grant may be used to implement strategies developed by the partners that are designed to enrich or extend student learning experiences outside of the regular school day.
(e)  The commissioner may make a grant of up to $50,000 each academic year to an eligible school.  Campus administration personnel of a school that receives a grant under this section are accountable to the commissioner of education and must demonstrate:
(1)  the responsible use of the grant to achieve campus deregulation and restructuring to improve academic performance;
(2)  a comprehensive plan to engage in ongoing development and training of teachers, parents, and community leaders to:
(A)  understand academic standards;
(B)  develop effective strategies to improve academic performance;  and
(C)  organize a large constituency of parents and community leaders to hold the school and school district accountable to achieve high academic standards;
(3)  ongoing progress in achieving higher academic performance;  and
(4)  ongoing progress in identifying, training, and organizing parents and community leaders who are holding the school and the school district accountable for achieving high academic standards.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995.  Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 937, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
Amended by: 
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1328 (H.B. 3646), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2009.