The Senate Education Committee has posted a public hearing notice for 9 a.m., Tuesday, May 18. The committee will hear testimony on the following bills:
HB 750 Burns SP: Perry
Would require a school district that has a website to post its district employment policy on its website.
HB 999 Bernal | et al. SP: Menéndez
Would allow an individual graduation committee to determine student qualifications for graduation without considering performance on any end-of-course assessment instruments. This would apply to all 12th grade students for the 2020-2021, 2021-2022, and 2022-2023 school years.
HB 1068 Allen | et al. SP: Lucio
Would allow a school district employee with available personal leave to use the leave for compensation for a day designated as a school holiday for which the employee would otherwise not receive compensation.
HB 1461 Parker | et al. SP: Creighton
Would require TRS to conduct a study to evaluate the use of health reimbursement accounts in conjunction with Medicare plans available through the individual marketplace as a means to provide health and pharmacy benefit coverage for certain retired school employees.
HB 2497 Parker | et al. SP: Creighton
Would establish the 1836 Project as an advisory committee to promote patriotic education and increase awareness of Texas values. Patriotic education would include the presentation of the history of the state’s founding and foundational principles, examination of how Texas has grown closer to those principles throughout its history, and explanation of why commitment to those principles is beneficial and justified.
HB 3261 Huberty SP: Taylor
Would authorize a matching grant program, allow funds from the instructional materials and technology allotment to be used for certain purposes, and modify the transition plan to electronically administer required assessment instruments, among other provisions.
HB 3449 Price SP: Perry
Would provide for the authorized inclusion of a licensed chiropractor or physical therapist on a concussion oversight team. It also expands the list of persons with authority to remove a student from practice or competition following a concussion.
HB 3489 Parker | et al. SP: Taylor
Would require TEA, in consultation with HHSC, to develop health and safety guidelines for best practices for the effective integration of digital devices in public schools. The guidelines must address divide usage for varying age ranges and developmental levels; amount of time a student spends using devices in the classroom; appropriate frequency of breaks from the use of devices; etc. The school board or governing body may decide whether the adopt the guidelines, and if they adopt them, may implement them in the manner that best meets their individual needs.
HB 3643 King, Ken | et al. SP: Taylor
Would create the Texas Commission on Virtual Education to develop and make recommendations regarding the delivery of virtual education in the public school system and state funding for virtual education under the Foundation School Program.
HB 3932 Bernal | et al. SP: Menéndez
Would require the Commissioner of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, in coordination with TEA, to establish the State Advisory Council on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. The goal of the council would be to provide coordination among state agencies, school district and military installations related to the state’s participation in and compliance with the compact and its activities. The bill establishes the members of the council; allows their meetings to be conducted in person or via telephone or other electronic communication; and requires that the council meet at least quarterly.
HB 2519 Darby | et al. SP: Zaffirini
The committee substitute shortens the timeline in which a teacher employed under a continuing contract may relinquish the position and leave the employment of the district at the end of a school year without penalty by filing with the board of trustees or its designee a written resignation not later than the 30th day (currently the deadline is the 45th day) before the first day of instruction of the following school year. The bill adds numerous steps a district must take if it submits a complaint regarding a teacher to SBEC. In addition, the bill directs SBEC, before imposing sanctions against a teacher for contract abandonment to consider any mitigating factors and allows SBEC to consider alternatives to sanctions including continuing education and training.
