EVALUATING DROPOUT RECOVERY SCHOOLS.

(a) For purposes of evaluating performance under Section 39.053(c), the commissioner shall designate as a dropout recovery school a school district or an open-enrollment charter school or a campus of a district or of an open-enrollment charter school:

(1) that:

(A) serves students in grades 9 through 12 and has an enrollment of which at least 60 percent of the students are 16 years of age or older as of September 1 of the school year as reported for the fall semester Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) submission; or

(B) applies for and receives designation as a dropout recovery school in accordance with commissioner rule; and

(2) that meets the eligibility requirements for and is registered under alternative education accountability procedures adopted by the commissioner.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 39.053(c)(1)(B)(ix), the commissioner shall use the alternative completion rate under this subsection to determine the graduation rate indicator under Section 39.053(c)(1)(B)(ix) for a dropout recovery school. The alternative completion rate shall be the ratio of the total number of students who graduate, continue attending school into the next academic year, or receive a high school equivalency certificate to the total number of students in the longitudinal cohort of students.

(c) Notwithstanding Section 39.053(c)(1)(B)(ix), in determining the performance rating under Section 39.054 of a dropout recovery school, the commissioner shall include any student described by Section 39.053(g-1) who graduates or receives a high school equivalency certificate.

(d) Notwithstanding Section 39.053(c), for purposes of evaluating a dropout recovery school under the accountability procedures adopted by the commissioner to determine the performance rating of the school under Section 39.054, only the best result from the primary administration or any retake of an assessment instrument administered to a student in the school year evaluated may be considered.