1. (a) Applicant eligibility. A school district or open-enrollment charter school may apply for authorization to operate a High School Equivalency Program (HSEP) if the district or charter school:

   1. (1) was operating a General Educational Development (GED) in-school pilot program on May 1, 2001, as authorized by the agency; and
   2. (2) had at least one student enrolled in the GED in-school pilot program during the 2000-2001 school year.
2. (b) Cooperative HSEP criteria. A cooperative of school districts or open-enrollment charter schools may apply for permission to operate a cooperative HSEP if it operates pursuant to a written agreement, had at least one student enrolled during the 2000-2001 school year, and had at least one member with an approved HSEP on May 1, 2001. An approved cooperative HSEP may not accept students from any school district or open-enrollment charter school that was not a member of the cooperative on May 1, 2001. The fiscal agent of a cooperative HSEP is responsible for complying with all requirements of this subchapter.

3. (c) Application process.

   1. (1) As part of the application process, a district or charter school must provide information regarding the operation of the in-school GED pilot program during the preceding five years. If the program has been in operation for less than five years, the district or school must provide information for the year(s) the program has been in operation.

   2. (2) Reported historical information disaggregated by ethnicity, age, gender, and socioeconomic status will include, but not be limited to:

      1. (A) the total number of students served in the program;
      2. (B) the number of program participants who passed the high school equivalency examination; and
      3. (C) when available, information on students' subsequent attendance in postsecondary educational programs.
   3. (3) The agency shall make available to eligible school districts and open-enrollment charter schools an application form that must be completed and submitted to the agency for approval.

Source Note:The provisions of this §89.1405 adopted to be effective November 27, 2001, 26 TexReg 9620.