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The following bills were passed by the 87th Texas Legislature and have been sent to and/or signed by the governor. For bills sent to the governor within 10 days of final adjournment, the governor has until 20 days after final adjournment to sign the bill, veto it, or allow it to become law without a signature. If the governor neither vetoes nor signs the bill within the allotted time, the bill becomes law.

Please note that some bills were changed in conference committee in the final days of the session, so the following summaries were prepared with the information available. Look for final bill language/provisions to be outlined in TASA’s final bill summary, which the Governmental Relations staff produces following each legislative session. 

  • HB 159 by Rep. Mary Gonzalez adds to requirements for educator preparation programs and staff development related to serving students with disabilities.
  • HB 189 by Rep. Terry Canales requires that open-enrollment charter school governing bodies follow the same procedures as the board of trustees of a school district when making a severance payment to a superintendent or administrator upon early termination of his/her contract.
  • New (sent to governor May 31): HB 246 by Rep. Andrew Murr defines sexual contact, as it related to offenses of improper relationships between educators and students, as acts committed with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person that involved: touching by an employee of a public or private primary or secondary school of the anus, breast, or any part of the genitals of a person enrolled at the school or a student participant in an educational activity; or touching of any part of the body of a person enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school or a student participant with the anus, breast, or any part of the genitals of an employee of the school.
  • New (sent to governor May 31): HB 547 by Rep. James Frank authorizes a public school that participated in an activity sponsored by the University Interscholastic League (UIL) to provide a home-schooled student who otherwise meets UIL eligibility standards with the opportunity to participate in the activity on behalf of the school in the same manner that the school provides that opportunity to its enrolled students. A home-schooled student means a student who predominantly received instruction in a general elementary or secondary education program that was provided by the parent, or a person standing in parental authority, in or through the child’s home. The bill includes provisions that specify the academic proficiency requirements in order for a home-school student to participate in a UIL activity. A home-schooled student cannot participate in a league activity during the remainder of any school year during which the student was previously enrolled in a public school. The UIL cannot prohibit a home-schooled student from participating in league activities in the manner authorized by the bill. The bill establishes limitations on regulation of an education program provided to a home-schooled student, subject only to applicable UIL eligibility requirements.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): HB 572 by House Public Education Committee Chair Harold Dutton creates a study on competency based educational programs best suited for non-traditional student populations. See the conference committee report.
  • HB 690 by Rep. Will Metcalf adds school safety training to the courses the State Board of Education requires school board trustees to complete. The board would have to develop the curriculum and training materials in coordination with the Texas School Safety Center by January 1, 2022.
  • HB 699 by Rep. Jon Rosenthal requires a school district to excuse a student from attending school for an absence resulting from a serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment that made the student’s attendance infeasible, if the student or the student’s parent or guardian provided a certification from a licensed Texas physician specifying the student’s illness and the anticipated period of the student’s absence relating to the illness or related treatment.
  • HB 725 by Rep. Jared Patterson extends eligibility for free public school pre-K programs to a child at least 3 years old living in Texas who was or had been in foster care in another state or territory.
  • New (sent to governor May 31): HB 750 by Rep. DeWayne Burns requires a school district to post on the district’s internet website, if the district has a website, the employment policy adopted by the district’s board of trustees and the full text of any regulations referenced in the policy. A school district must make available any forms referenced in the policy: on an intranet website that is maintained by the district and accessible to district employees; or if the district does not maintain an intranet website, at a district administrative office designated by the district.
  • Signed by governor: HB 773 by Rep. Gary VanDeaver adds an indicator in the student achievement domain of the public school accountability system for students who successfully completed a program of study in career and technical education.
  • HB 785 by Rep. Alma Allen requires a review at least annually of behavior improvement or behavioral intervention plans for students with disabilities who were receiving special education services. The bill also requires a behavioral assessment when a disciplinary action regarding such a student resulted in a change in the student’s placement under federal law. It requires a school district to provide written notice to a parent when a school used a restraint on such students.
  • HB 999 by Rep. Diego Bernal (Senate sponsor Sen. Jose Menendez), as finally passed, provides that an individual graduation committee may determine that a student is qualified to graduate without considering performance on any end-of-course (EOC) state assessment if the student is a senior during the 2020-21 school year. District leaders should follow local policy regarding graduation ceremony participation. It takes immediate effect.
  • HB 1080 by Rep. Jared Patterson requires the UIL to ensure that its rules did not exclude from eligibility for participation in a UIL activity a student who met the following criteria: received outpatient mental health services from a mental health facility; and was enrolled in a school district or open-enrollment charter school or otherwise received public education services from a district or school.
  • HB 1147 by Rep. Dan Huberty adds enlistment in the Texas National Guard to the list of actions through which a graduate can demonstrate military readiness.
  • New (sent to governor May 31): HB 1252 by Rep. Joe Moody prohibits the commissioner of education or the Texas Education Agency from adopting or enforcing a rule that established a shorter period than the maximum timeline designated under federal law for filing a due process complaint alleging a violation of state or federal special education laws and requesting an impartial due process hearing. The commissioner of education must amend rules as necessary to comply with the provisions of the bill as soon as practicable after the bill’s effective date.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): HB 1525 by Rep. Dan Huberty started out as a “cleanup” bill from the passage of HB 3 in 2019 but ended up becoming a 64-page bill covering school finance and other public education matters. Get the details.
  • HB 1603 by Rep. Dan Huberty (identical to SB 177 by Sen. Kel Seliger) repeals the expiration date for the requirement that districts and charter schools establish individual graduation committees at the end of or after the junior year of a student who has failed to pass up to two end-of-course exams, as well as the expiration date for related reporting requirements by schools. HB 1603 also repeals the September 1, 2023, expiration date for provisions establishing: that a student who has failed to pass the Algebra I or English II end-of-course exam but receives a proficient score on the Texas Success Initiative diagnostic assessment for the corresponding subject satisfies the requirement; and that criteria be established for the graduation of certain former students who entered the 9th grade before the 2011-2012 school year and have not performed satisfactorily on a required exam after at least three attempts.
  • HB 1788 by Rep. Cole Hefner grants school districts, charter schools, or private schools, as well as the security personnel they employ, immunity from liability for any damages resulting from a reasonable action taken by security personnel to maintain the safety of a school campus, including action relating to possession or use of a firearm. “Security personnel” is defined to include: a school district peace officer; a school marshal; a school resource officer; and a retired peace officer who has been hired by a school district, open-enrollment charter school, or private school to provide security services or who volunteers to provide security services to the school. The bill grants immunity to a district, charter school, or private school for any damages resulting from a reasonable action taken by a district or school employee who has written permission from the district’s board of trustees or the school’s governing board to carry a firearm on campus. The statutory immunity provided by the bill would be in addition to and would not preempt the common law doctrine of official and governmental immunity. To the extent that another statute provided greater immunity to a district, charter school, or private school than the bill, that statute would prevail.
  • HB 2022 by Rep. Drew Darby requires TRS to provide one opportunity outside of statutory enrollment periods for an otherwise eligible retiree to re-enroll in a health benefit plan offered under the group program. The bill would allow re-enrollment for a TRS retiree: who was eligible to enroll in Medicare; whose initial enrollment was voluntarily terminated on or after January 1, 2017, and on or before December 31, 2019; and who opted to re-enroll on or before December 31, 2023. The re-enrollment provision would expire September 1, 2024.
  • New (sent to governor May 31): HB 2256 by Rep. Bobby Guerra requires the State Board for Educator Certification to establish a bilingual special education certificate to ensure there are teachers with special training in providing instruction to students of limited English proficiency with disabilities. The bill specifies eligibility requirements and requirements for the skills-based course of instruction in providing instruction to students of limited English proficiency with disabilities. SBEC must propose rules establishing and prescribing an examination for a bilingual special education certificate and put in place standards to govern the approval and renewal of approval of educator preparation programs for bilingual special education certification.
  • New (sent to governor May 31): HB 2287 by Rep. Senfronia Thompson allows the Collaborative Task Force on Public School Mental Health Services, or TEA on behalf of the task force, to request data from or consult with: school districts; open-enrollment charter schools; regional education service centers; local mental health authorities; and other entities that possess information relevant to the task force’s duties. In requesting data or consulting with permitted entities, the task force and agency could not disclose a student’s medical or educational information and would have to ensure any request or consultation complied with required privacy and confidentiality of student information. By the 60th business day after the date on which an entity received a request for data from the task force or TEA, the entity would have to provide the requested data.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): HB 2519 by Rep. Drew Darby changes the composition of the 15-member State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) to include representatives of small and mid-size districts. The bill prohibits the SBEC from suspending or revoking the certificate of a teacher who fails to timely file a written resignation but files a written resignation not later than the 30th day before the first day of instruction of the following school year. It requires a school district that submits a complaint regarding a teacher to SBEC to promptly notify the teacher of the complaint.
  • New (sent to governor May 31): HB 2681 by Rep. Terry Wilson requires a teacher of the Bible electives to hold a certificate in certain subjects that qualify the teacher to teach at the grade level at which the course is offered.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): HB 2721 by Rep. Eddie Lucio III prohibits a student who is enrolled in a school district or who participates in a University Interscholastic League competition from participation in any future extracurricular activity sponsored or sanctioned by the school district or the University Interscholastic League if the state executive committee of the league determines that the student intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly caused bodily injury to a person serving as referee, judge, or other official of an extracurricular activity in retaliation for or as a result of the person’s actions taken in performing the duties of a referee, judge, or other official of the extracurricular activity.
  • HB 3207 by Rep. Abel Herrero prohibits TRS from withholding a monthly benefit payment from a retiree due to a resumption of service if the retiree is employed in a Texas public educational institution in a position in an area subject to a disaster declaration under the Texas Disaster Act of 1975 while the declaration is in effect. That prohibition applies only to employment on or after the bill’s effective date. The bill requires TRS to adopt rules to implement the bill’s provisions.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): HB 3261 by Rep. Dan Huberty requires that STAAR exams be administered electronically unless the commissioner determines otherwise. The bill creates a matching grant program for schools to acquire the necessary infrastructure to take assessments online and allows schools to use the instructional materials allotment for services, equipment, and technology infrastructure necessary to take online tests and training of personnel to administer online exams.
  • HB 3456 by Rep. James White includes the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Texas School for the Deaf, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, and adult education programs as part of the foundation school program and exempts the institutions from the 5% reductions requested by the Legislative Budget Board.
  • HB 3489 by Rep. Tan Parker requires TEA, in consultation with the Health and Human Services Commission, develop and distribute model health and safety guidelines that school districts and open-enrollment charter schools may use to determine best practices for the effective integration of digital devices in public schools; requires the school board of each school district or the governing body of each open-enrollment charter school to adopt a policy for the effective integration of digital devices in the district or school; authorizes each school district or open-enrollment charter school that adopts the guidelines to implement the guidelines in a manner that best meets the district’s or charter school’s individual needs and the individual needs of students in the district or school, including students with intellectual or physical disabilities; and requires a school district or open-enrollment charter school, if the district or charter school adopts the guidelines, to post the guidelines publicly on the district’s or charter school’s website.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): HB 3597 by Rep. Will Metcalf updates language in law regarding a school safety plan to protect against a train derailment, requiring school safety and security memoranda of understanding to be shared with the Texas School Safety Center, and providing for Texas State University access to certain criminal history record information.
  • HB 3610 by Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins would exempt from taxation any property leased or purchased by a charter holder with funds received from the state after September 1, 2001, for open-enrollment charter school funding. Under the bill, an open-enrollment charter school would be considered a political subdivision for purposes of: state law exempting political subdivisions from property taxation if the property was used for public purposes; and with respect to property purchased, leased, constructed, renovated, or improved with state funds after September 1, 2001, state law providing certain rights of action of a subdivision.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): HB 3932 by Rep. Diego Bernal establishes the State Advisory Council on Educational Opportunity for Military Children.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): HB 3979 by Rep. Steve Toth makes several changes to how civics are taught in public schools, outlining issues that can and cannot be taught in classrooms. The bill prohibits anyone from compelling a teacher to discuss current events or controversial issues; prohibits requiring, or making part of a course, affiliation with any organization engaged in lobbying for legislation at any level of government or in social or public policy advocacy; and prohibits school districts and teachers requiring or rewarding students taking part in political activism or lobbying. 
  • New (sent to governor June 1): HB 4124 by Rep. Gina Hinojosa relates to student enrollment in certain special-purpose districts and the allotment under the public school finance system for those districts. See the conference committee report.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): HB 4509 by Rep. Greg Bonnen requires the State Board of Education and each school district to require the teaching of informed American patriotism in the adoption of instructional materials for kindergarten through grade 12, including the founding documents of the United States.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): HB 4545 by House Public Education Committee Chair Harold Dutton removes statutory requirements that students in grades 5 and 8 pass their required reading and math exams for promotion to the next grade. The bill establishes requirements for districts to provide accelerated learning to students who fail an exam. It creates a grant program to help schools increase their instructional rigor and provides outcomes funding for schools that met a certain level of student improvement on the exams.
  • HCR 1 by Rep. Phil Stephenson resolves that the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby support prayers, including the use of the word “God,” at public gatherings and displays of the Ten Commandments in public educational institutions and other government buildings.
  • SB 89 by Sen. Jose Menendez establishes the COVID-19 Special Education Recovery Act, which would require a school district to prepare a supplement to include with the written statement of the IEP developed for the child. The bill would apply to each child enrolled in a district’s special education program during the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school year.
  • SB 123 by Sen. Nathan Johnson requires the State Board of Education to integrate the following personal skills into applicable state curriculum standards adopted for kindergarten through grade 12: self-management skills; interpersonal skills; and responsible decision-making skills. The bill includes those skills among the contents of the character education program that each public school district and open-enrollment charter school is required to adopt. The bill’s provisions apply beginning with the 2022-2023 school year.
  • SB 168 by Sen. Cesar Blanco establishes active shooter drill requirements for school districts that choose to implement such drills. Per SB 168, policies adopted by school districts must: prohibit active shooter drills from simulating actual shootings; provide adequate notice to parents including the date and the content of the drill; require an announcement to faculty and students that a drill is about to start; establish age appropriate standards for content that are developed by a team including teachers, mental health professional, law enforcement officers, and others and that also incorporate trauma-informed practices to address the well being of students participating in the drill; and provide for tracking data regarding efficacy and impact of active shooter drills conducted by the district (including any symptoms of indicators of trauma among student participants.) SB 168 also requires open-enrollment charter schools who conduct active shooter drills to adhere to the same requirements.
  • SB 179 by Sen. Eddie Lucio requires each school district board of trustees to adopt a policy that requires a school counselor to spend at least 80% of the counselor’s total work time on duties included in the school’s comprehensive school counseling program. Time spent administering or providing other assistance in connection with state testing, except time spent interpreting test data, is not to be considered time spent on counseling. Each school in the district must implement the policy beginning with the 2021-2022 school year and maintain a copy of it in the school office available on request to district employees, parents, and the public. If a school board determines that, because of staffing needs in the district or at a campus, a counselor could not meet the 80% threshold, the policy must: include the reasons why the counselor could not meet the 80% threshold; list the duties the counselor was expected to perform that were not components of the counseling program; and set the percentage of work time that the counselor is required to spend on components of the counseling program. A district cannot include a provision in a school counselor’s employment contract that conflicts with the board policy as specified in the bill. Each district must annually assess its compliance with the policy and, on request by the education commissioner, provide a written copy of the assessment on or before a specified date. The commissioner must adopt rules to implement the compliance policy.
  • SB 202 by Sen. Charles Schwertner provides that an employer that reports the employment of a retiree to TRS is ultimately responsible for payment of the employer contributions to TRS and to the TRS-Care trust fund for that retiree, if applicable. The employer may not directly or indirectly pass that cost on to the retiree through any means designed to recover the cost. The bill’s changes in law apply beginning with the 2021‑2022 school year and apply to a retiree regardless of whether the person retired from employment before, on, or after the bill’s effective date.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 204 by Sen. Charles Schwertner allows districts to transport students to and from their campuses from other districts’ attendance zones without an interlocal agreement if the school earns accountability ratings/scores of at least C/70 and has the same or better accountability rating than the district from which the student is transferring.
  • SB 226 by Sen. Angela Paxton requires that the minimum academic qualifications for educator certification include instruction in virtual learning and virtual instruction that covers best practices in assessing students receiving virtual instruction, based on academic progress, and in developing a virtual learning curriculum.
  • SB 239 by Sen. Beverly Powell requires the Department of State Health Services, using existing resources and not later than August 31, 2022, to develop and implement a disease prevention information system for dissemination of immunization information during a declared state of disaster or local state of disaster. The bill requires DSHS, during a declared state of disaster or local state of disaster, to ensure that educational materials regarding immunizations are available to local health authorities in Texas for distribution to the following: public and private schools; child-care facilities as defined by reference to the Human Resources Code; community centers offering youth services and programs; community centers offering services and programs to vulnerable populations, including communities of color, low-income individuals, and elderly individuals; local health care providers; and veterans homes, as defined by reference to the Natural Resources Code. The bill requires the educational materials to include the most recent immunization schedules by age as recommended by the CDC and locations, if any, of local health care providers that offer immunizations.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 279 by Rep. Chuy Hinojosa requires that student IDs (grades 6 through 12 and higher education institutions) include contact information for suicide prevention hotlines.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 288 by Sen. Kel Seliger prevents the loss of benefits of and the payment of certain employer contributions for certain retirees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas who resume service. See the conference committee report.
  • SB 289 by Sen. Kel Seliger authorizes a public school district to excuse a student who is 15 years of age or older from attending school to visit a driver’s license office to obtain a driver’s license or learner license, provided that the district verifies the student’s visit to the driver’s license office in accordance with procedures adopted by the district. The bill caps the number of absences a student may have excused for such a purpose during the period the student is enrolled in high school for each such purpose at one. The bill applies beginning with the 2021‑2022 school year.
  • SB 338 by Rep. Beverly Powell allows a school district, after reviewing the uniform general conditions adopted by the Texas Facilities Commission for building construction contracts, to adopt uniform general conditions to be incorporated in all district building construction contracts.
  • Signed by governor: SB 346 by Sen. Angela Paxton extends eligibility to participate in the Jobs and Education for Texans (JET) grant program to an open-enrollment charter school or eligible nonprofit organization, as defined by the bill, that has entered into a partnership with a public junior college, public technical institute, or public state college for the purpose of promoting career and technical education or offering dual credit courses to the charter school’s students.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 348 by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst entitles a parent to observe virtual instruction while the parent’s child is participating in virtual or remote learning to the same extent the parent would be entitled to observe in-person instruction of the child. The bill specifies that a parent’s entitlement to review all teaching materials, instructional materials, and other teaching aids used in the child’s classroom includes review of those materials and aids while the child is participating in virtual or remote learning. 
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 369 by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst requires the form adopted by a public school district or open-enrollment charter school for purposes of exemption from the financial aid application requirement to provide a student or the student’s parent or other person standing in parental relation, as applicable, the opportunity to decline to complete and submit a financial aid application. The bill prohibits a school counselor from indicating that a student has not complied with the financial aid application requirement if the district or charter school fails to provide such a form to the applicable person. The bill specifies that a school counselor of a district or charter school may not indicate the manner in which the student complied with the requirement, except as necessary for compliance with commissioner of education rule.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 445 by Sen. Bryan Hughes allows school bus drivers to use flashing warning lights when delivering food or technology to students.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 462 by Sen. Eddie Lucio, as passed by the Senate, permits a district to use funds from its transportation allotment to transport meals or instructions materials, and allows that the district be reimbursed on a per-mile basis for transporting a meal or instructional materials to a student’s residence or other location designated by the district for the duration of a declared disaster.
  • SB 481 by Rep. Lois Kolkhorst allows a student enrolled in a public school district that provided notice to the student’s parent of the district’s intent to offer only virtual instruction for more than one grading period during a school year to transfer for that school year to another school district that: offered in-person instruction; and accepted the student’s transfer.
  • SB 483 by Sen. Charles Schwertner requires the governing bodies of ERS and TRS, not later than December 31 of each even-numbered year, to each submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and each member of the legislature a report that details and compares the assumed rate of return and the annualized actual time-weighted rate of return achieved by the respective retirement system for the most recent one-year, five-year, 10-year, and 20-year fiscal periods. The report may be combined with any other report required by law and must include the following elements: for each period, an estimate of what the market value of the invested assets of the fund would have been as of the most recent fiscal year end had the system achieved the applicable assumed rate of return; and a comparison of each estimate and the actual market value of the invested assets in the fund as of the most recent fiscal year end.
  • SB 560 by Sen. Eddie Lucio requires TEA, in collaboration with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Workforce Commission, to develop a strategic plan related to bilingual and dual-language education. The plan must set tangible goals and establish timelines to: increase the number of educators certified in bilingual education instruction; increase the number of dual language immersion one-way and two-way program models used in public schools; educate families and school district employees about the importance of bilingual education in early childhood; adopt a uniform process for identifying students in pre-K through 12th grade of limited English proficiency, monitoring the bilingual learning of students, and collecting data regarding the identification and monitoring; and increase the number of bilingual and multilingual high school graduates. The bill specifies requirements for developing the plan, including studying the use of the Bilingual Target Language Proficiency Test to certify educators. TEA must submit the plan to the governor, lieutenant governor, House speaker, and each member of the standing committees of the Senate and House of Representatives with primary jurisdiction over public education by December 1, 2022. The bill’s provisions expire January 1, 2023.
  • SB 741 by Sen. Brian Birdwell revises the requirements for regulations adopted by a school’s governing entity to establish where a school marshal, private school marshal, or public junior college school marshal could carry or possess a handgun. The regulations no longer have to prohibit a marshal with primary duties involving regular, direct contact with students from carrying a handgun. The bill requires that written regulations regarding the carrying and possession of a handgun must provide that the marshal can carry a concealed handgun on the marshal’s person or store the gun on the school’s premises in a locked or secured safe or other locked and secure location. The current authority of school marshals to access a handgun under certain circumstances that would justify the use of deadly force under the Penal Code was revised to authorize the marshal to use the handgun during those situations.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 746 by Sen. Borris Miles requires the parent of a student enrolled in a public school district to provide in writing to the district, on the student’s enrollment in the district and not later than two weeks after the beginning of each school year, the parent’s address, phone number, and email address. If a parent’s contact information changes during the school year, the parent must provide their updated information to the district in writing not later than two weeks after the date the information changes.
  • SB 776 by Sen. Eddie Lucio requires the UIL to ensure that students with intellectual disabilities have an opportunity to participate in team athletic activities by establishing and maintaining an inclusive sports program. UIL must adopt rules as necessary to establish, maintain, and expand the inclusive sports program.
  • Signed by governor: SB 785 by Sen. Brandon Creighton makes all school marshal licenses expire on August 31 occurring after the second anniversary of licensure to create a unified expiration date.
  • Signed by governor: SB 788 by Sen. Brandon Creighton requires TEA, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and the Texas Workforce Commission to jointly develop and make available a model data-sharing agreement for public schools and public and private institutions of higher education to share that information with entities authorized to receive that information for use in ongoing system evaluation and improvement purposes or whose employees or contractors are school officials for purposes of FERPA. 
  • SB 797 by Sen. Bryan Hughes requires a public elementary or secondary school or a public institution of higher education to display in a conspicuous place in each building of the school or institution a durable poster or framed copy of the U.S. national motto, “In God We Trust,” if the poster or framed copy meets certain requirements and was donated for display or purchased from private donations and made available to the school or institution.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 801 by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst requires TEA to develop an agriculture education program for elementary school students to encourage appreciation and improve students’ understanding of agriculture. The bill requires TEA, in developing the program, to coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and nonprofit organizations with expertise in agriculture education, as identified by TEA. The bill requires TEA to develop a list of agriculture education programs approved by TEA and the State Board of Education that may be used as part of the curriculum for elementary school students. A program included on the list must be available to an elementary school at no cost to the public school district or open‑enrollment charter school.
  • Signed by governor: SB 879 by Sen. Eddie Lucio revises the student population criteria that qualify a public school district or open-enrollment charter school for designation as a dropout recovery school.
  • SB 1063 by Sen. Carol Alvarado revises the social studies curriculum requirements for the foundation high school program to give a student the option to complete one-half credit in personal financial literacy and economics as an alternative to one-half credit in just economics. The bill requires the State Board of Education, in adopting rules regarding curriculum requirements for the program, to ensure that a personal financial literacy and economics course taken to comply with the social studies curriculum requirement allocates instruction time as follows: two-thirds of instruction time to instruction in personal financial literacy; and one-third of instruction time to instruction in economics. SB 1063 requires TEA to do the following: develop a list of free, open-source, and publicly available curricula that may be used by a public school district to provide a personal financial literacy and economics course that satisfies the applicable curriculum requirement; and seek, accept, and spend any federal or private grant funds and gifts that are available for the purpose of providing a personal financial literacy and economics course as part of the foundation high school program. SB 1063 applies beginning with the 2022-2023 school year.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 1095 by Sen. Brandon Creighton requires a public school district to notify the parent of each district student enrolled in grade 9 or above of the following information each school year: the availability of career and technology education programs or other work-based education programs in the district, including any internship, externship, or apprenticeship programs or a P-TECH program; the availability of subsidies based on financial need available for fees paid to take college advanced placement (AP) tests or international baccalaureate (IB) examinations; and the qualifications for enrolling in district programs under which a student may earn college credit or in career and technology education programs or other work-based education programs in the district.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 1109 by Sen. Royce West requires the SBOE to adopt rules requiring students to receive instruction on the prevention of child abuse, family violence, and dating violence at least once in middle or junior high school and at least twice in high school as part of health curriculum standards. The bill also requires school boards, as part of their already required dating violence policy, to include a clear statement that dating violence is not tolerated at school; reporting procedures and guidelines for students who are victims of dating violence; and information regarding curricula relating to dating violence. The policy must also, to the extent possible, require the district to make available age-appropriate educational materials that include information on the dangers of dating violence and resources to students seeking help.
  • SB 1116 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt requires a county that held or provided election services for an election and maintained a website or a city or independent school district that held an election and maintained a website to post, as applicable: the results of each election; the total number of votes cast; and the total number of votes cast for each candidate or for or against each measure. This information must be posted as soon as practicable after the election and be accessible without having to make more than two selections or view more than two network locations after accessing the county, city, or district website homepage, as applicable.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 1191 by Sen. Kel Seliger amends the Occupations Code to clarify that the term “school resource officer” does not include a peace officer who provides law enforcement at a public school or public school event only for extracurricular activities.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 1232 by Senate Education Committee Chair Larry Taylor sets out provisions relating to the management and investment of the Permanent School Fund.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 1267 by Sen. Royce West amends various laws governing continuing education and training requirements for educators and school personnel, including professional development for mathematics, cybersecurity, and student counseling. See the conference committee report.
  • SB 1277 by Sen. Royce West requires any agreement between a public school district and public institution of higher education providing for a dual credit program to designate at least one employee of the district or institution as responsible for providing academic advising to a student who enrolls in a dual credit course under the program before the student begins the course.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 1351 by Sen. Borris Miles permits a school district or open-enrollment charter school to donate food to a nonprofit organization through a person who is directly and officially affiliated with the campus, including through a parent of a student enrolled.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 1356 by Sen. Bryan Hughes creates a program to facilitate public school tutoring by active and retired teachers. Under the bill, the commissioner of education would receive applications from nonprofit teacher organizations, which would facilitate tutoring of K-12 students by their members. Interested teachers may tutor on a for-hire or voluntary basis, in person or online. Rehire penalties would not count against tutors who are retired teachers.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 1365 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt relates to the participation by members of nonprofit teacher organizations in a tutoring program for public school students and related retirement benefits for certain tutors participating in the program. See the conference committee report.
  • SB 1444 by Senate Education Committee Chair Larry Taylor authorizes an entity participating in the uniform group health coverage program for active school employees, effective September 1, 2022, to elect to discontinue its participation in the program by providing written notice to TRS not later than December 31 of the year preceding the first day of the plan year in which the election would be effective.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 1590 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt requires the rules proposed by the State Board for Educator Certification that provide flexible options for persons for any field-based experience or internship required for certification to include options for candidate observations that provide for the following: two observations to occur in person and two additional observations to occur in virtual settings that are equivalent in rigor to in-person options for observation; or three observations to occur in person.
  • SB 1615 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt renames the adult high school diploma and industry certification charter school program as the adult high school charter school program. The bill expands the scope of the program from a sole charter granted to a single nonprofit entity charter holder to a regulatory framework for similar charters that may be granted to additional nonprofit entities, subject to certain expansion restrictions.
  • SB 1677 by Sen. Dawn Buckingham authorizes the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to eliminate by rule a reporting requirement under which the THECB collects or receives data or information for purposes of inclusion in a report required by the Education Code if the commissioner of higher education determines that the THECB has access to an alternative means of collecting data or receiving information sufficient for that purpose. The bill repeals provisions relating to the following: a TEA and THECB plan to increase enrollment in public institutions of higher education from certain public school districts; and annual affordability and access reports produced by each institution of higher education.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 1696 by Sen. Angela Paxton transfers the duty to report to the applicable entity any cyber attack or other cybersecurity incident against the cyberinfrastructure of a public school district from the district’s cybersecurity coordinator to the district and extends the reporting requirement to an open-enrollment charter school. The bill requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA), in coordination with the Department of Information Resources, to establish and maintain a system to coordinate the anonymous sharing of information concerning cyber attacks or other cybersecurity incidents between participating schools and the state. The bill authorizes TEA, in establishing the system, to contract with a qualified third party to administer the system and requires the commissioner of education to adopt rules as necessary to implement the bill’s provisions.
  • SB 1697 by Sen. Angela Paxton permits a parent or guardian to elect for a student to repeat a grade or a course from the 2021-2022 school year. A parent could elect for a student to repeat prekindergarten or enroll in kindergarten if the student would have been eligible to enroll in prekindergarten during the previous school year and had not yet enrolled in kindergarten. A parent could elect for a student to repeat kindergarten or enroll in kindergarten if the student would have been eligible to enroll in kindergarten in the previous school year and had not yet enrolled in first grade. For grades 1 through 8, a parent could elect for a student to repeat the grade in which the student was enrolled during the previous school year. For courses taken for high school credit, a parent could elect for a student to repeat any course in which the student was enrolled during the previous school year. A parent could not elect for a student to repeat a high school course if the district or charter school determined the student had met all of the requirements for graduation. The bill’s provisions for repeating grades 4 through 8 and retaking high school courses expire September 1, 2022. A parent would have to make an election under provisions of SB 1697 in writing to a school district or charter school, as applicable. If a district or charter school disagreed with a parent’s election, it would have to convene a retention committee and meet with the parent to discuss retention.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 1716 by Senate Education Committee Chair Larry Taylor provides families of Texas public school students receiving special education services with a $1,500 stipend to obtain services, curriculum, equipment or other supplies. The bill instructs TEA to select one or more education service centers to administer the program, creates an expiration for the program of September 2024, and requires ARD committees to provide to parents a list of approved supplemental special education services provided by TEA-approved providers and instructions regarding how to access the stipends.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 1888 by Sen. Brandon Creighton amends the Education Code to remove provisions relating to a pilot program for the award of high school diplomas to students who demonstrate early readiness for college and repeals the Early High School Graduation Scholarship Program. To replace those programs, the bill establishes the Texas First Scholarship Program and requires TEA, in coordination with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), to establish the Texas First Early High School Completion Program to allow public high school students who demonstrate early readiness for college to graduate early from high school.
  • SB 1955 by Sen. Larry Taylor exempts learning pods from any ordinance, rule, regulation, policy, or guideline adopted by a local governmental entity that applies to a school district campus or child-care facility. The bill defines “learning pod” to mean a group of children who, based on the voluntary association of the children’s parents, meet together at various times and places to participate in or enhance the children’s academic studies, including participation in an activity or service provided to the children in exchange for payment.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 2050 by Sen. Jose Menendez as substituted, requires school boards to adopt a cyberbullying and bullying prevention and mediation policy and directs TEA to create a minimum standard that districts could adopt. The substitute also requires PEIMS to include bully and cyberbullying incidents in district/charter annual reports.
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 2066 by Sen. Jose Menendez amends the Education Code, for purposes of bilingual education and special language programs and the statutory references to those programs and applicable students, to replace the term “student of limited English proficiency” with the term “emergent bilingual student.”
  • New (sent to governor June 1): SB 2081 by Sen. Jose Menendez prohibits the following entities from enrolling more than 22 students in a prekindergarten class: a public school district, subject to certain exceptions; a private entity operating a district’s prekindergarten program under a contract; and a private provider contracted to provide services or equipment for a district program. The bill establishes that this prekindergarten class size limit does not apply to an open-enrollment charter school or a campus or program operated under a campus or campus program charter.
  • SB 2158 by Sen. Donna Campbell requires TEA to provide all school districts and open-enrollment charter schools with inkless, in-home fingerprint and DNA identification kits to be distributed through the district or school on request to the parent or legal custodian of any kindergarten, elementary, or middle school student. A parent or legal custodian who received a fingerprint and DNA identification kit could submit the kit to federal, state, tribal, or local law enforcement to help locate and return a missing or trafficked child.
  • Signed by governor: SCR 17 by Sen. Bryan Hughes resolves that the 87th Legislature respectfully urge the U.S. Congress to repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision of the Social Security Act.