During the House Public Education Committee meeting Tuesday, March 21, 2023, the committee voted out the following bills, on which testimony was heard March 14. These bills will now go to the full House for consideration:
- HB 579 (Burns) would allow parents of students with significant cognitive disabilities to exempt their children from state assessments.
- CSHB 890 (Keith Bell), as originally filed (the substitute bill is not yet available), would require the grievance process to include an initial administrative hearing, an opportunity for appeal of the initial administrative hearing, and requires resolution of any complaint within 120 calendar days after the complaint was filed.
- HB 920 (Klick) would make a variety of changes to the law governing administration of medications for respiratory distress on public and private school campuses. (See a full summary by searching for HB 920 on TASA’s Bill Tracker.)
- HB 1002 (Price) would add chiropractors and physical therapists to the list of individuals who may serve on a public school concussion oversight team and who may determine if a student needs to be pulled from an interscholastic athletic activity on the basis of a suspected concussion.
- HB 1067 (VanDeaver) would adjust timelines around petitions to annex property from school districts by other school districts and clarify that a board’s failure to adopt a resolution after being presented with a petition is considered disapproval of the petition.
- CSHB 1416 (Keith Bell) would change HB 4545 (87th Legislature) governing accelerated instruction and supplemental instruction for students who do not perform satisfactorily on certain assessments. On March 14, Rep. Bell laid out this substitute bill. Read a summary of that testimony.
- HB 1789 (Buckley) relates to the application of nepotism prohibitions to a person appointed or employed by a school district as a bus driver.
- HB 1955 (Buckley) relates to establishing residency for purposes of admission into public schools.
The committee also heard testimony for the first time on the bills listed here, which were all left pending. The following two bills are of note:
- HB 1605 (Buckley) is related to instructional material and technology, the adoption and revision of essential knowledge and skills of the public school foundation curriculum, and creating allotments for the procurement of certain instructional materials under the Foundation School Program; and authorizing a fee. Public testimony varied from “for,” “against,” or “on,” meaning the testifier(s) had recommendations or considerations on the bill. TASA, TACS, and IMCAT submitted written testimony “on” the bill. The fiscal note for HB 1605 as filed indicates a negative impact of $843,366,801 through the biennium ending August 31, 2025. TEA anticipates the need for 58 FTEs to implement the bill, which was left pending.
- HB 2162 (Dutton) addresses various aspects of reading instruction and dyslexia intervention in public schools and open-enrollment charter schools. Find a full summary by searching for HB 2162 in TASA’s Bill Tracker. TASA and several other education organizations submitted written testimony in opposition to the bill as filed. The bill was left pending.
