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HB 121 Dukes / Hinojosa
Requires districts to adopt and implement a dating violence policy that is to include a definition of dating violence (including intentional use of physical, sexual, verbal, or emotional abuse to harm, threaten, intimidate or control another person in a dating relationship) and address safety planning, enforcement of protective order, alternatives to protective orders, training for teachers and administrators, counseling for students and awareness education.
HB 278 Madden / Hinojosa
Revises a provision in current law to eliminate the ability of districts to make violations of school policy a Class C misdemeanor. Under the revision, only a violation of rules providing for the operation and parking of vehicles on school property is a criminal offense.
HB 323 Hamilton / Lucio
Provides that new buses purchased on or after Sept. 1, 2010, must be equipped with three-point seat belts. Districts would not be required to retrofit their existing fleet of buses, and the new requirement will only be enforced if the state provides funding. SBOE will develop an instructional program on the proper use of seat belts.
HB 401 Brown, Betty / Zaffirini
Adds to the current law prohibiting sexual contact between a school employee and a student to include online solicitation of a minor, regardless of the minor's age. Adds to the current law prohibiting online solicitation of a minor to include text messages and other electronic message services or systems.
HB 426 Madden / Zaffirini
Requires TEA to adopt minimum standards for the operation of disciplinary alternative education programs (DAEPs), including standards relating to: student/teacher ratios; student health and safety; reporting of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of students; training for teachers in behavior management and safety procedures; and planning for a student's transition from a disciplinary alternative education program to a regular campus.
HB 776 Dutton / Janek
Authorizes a peace officer to bring a juvenile in custody to the student’s assigned campus if the principal, principal's designee, or a campus peace officer agrees to assume responsibility for the child for the rest of the day.
HB 1059 Parker / Nelson
Requires school districts with a website to post information on required and recommended vaccinations, specifically including the influenza vaccine. Districts must also post links to resources regarding vaccinations, including Texas health agency websites.
HB 1098 Bonnen / Hegar
Provides that the HPV vaccine is not required for admission to public school. The bill preempts all contrary executive orders of the governor.
HB 2112 Patrick, Diane / Hegar
Makes it an offense if a person intentionally exhibits, or uses a firearm, or threatens to do so, in a manner intended to cause alarm or personal injury to another person or to damage school property in or on any property, including a parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area owned by a private or public school, or on a school bus being used to transport children to or from school-sponsored activities of a private or public school.
HB 2455 Cook, Byron / Seliger
Requires that a student required to make a court appearance receive an excused absence for that time, including time spent traveling. This allows school districts to receive attendance funding when students are absent from school because they are required to attend court.
HB 2532 Patrick, Diane / Shapiro
Allows a school board to expel a student and place the student in a JJAEP or DAEP if the student is charged with engaging in certain conduct defined as a felony offense regardless of whether the incident occurred on or off school property. This placement continues until the student graduates from high school, the charges are dismissed or reduced to a misdemeanor offense, or the student completes the term of the placement or is assigned to another program, and continues to apply to the student even if the student transfers to another district.
Requires that districts assess basic math and reading skills of students placed in a DAEP for 90 or more days, once at the initial placement of the student and again on or near the date of departure.
Requires TEA to explore alternative methods of evaluating the effectiveness of DAEPs including indicators relating to student academic growth, course completion, and behavior improvement. Includes the TCTA-initiated language regarding notification to teachers and placement of registered sex offenders; see SB 6 summary for more information.
HB 3190 Giddings / Carona
Provides that a person may not operate a school bus if the person has been convicted of any driving while intoxicated offenses within the previous 10 years. Defines "multifunction school activity bus" and prohibits this type of bus from being painted National School Bus Glossy Yellow in order to differentiate between multifunction school activity buses and regular school buses. Requires bus drivers to wear seat belts if available. Prohibits operation of a school bus if the number of people exceeds design capacity or if the door is open. Requires a school bus evacuation training program and requires a school district to train students and teachers in emergency school bus evacuation at least twice a year.
HB 3457 Hochberg / Zaffirini
Prohibits idling of a school bus with a diesel engine while parked at a school or school event, except for the minimum time necessary to heat or cool the bus before departure (but not while students are boarding or disembarking), or as necessary to accommodate needs of special education students (even if students are boarding or disembarking).
Last Action: Vetoed by the governor
HB 3618 Raymond / Zaffirini
Creates a pilot program to prevent and detect obesity and Type 2 diabetes in school districts in a county with a population under 600,000 located on the Texas-Mexico border. Participating districts measure the height, weight, and blood glucose levels of K-8 students at the beginning of the year and at a later date, and would track those measurements through an Internet-based data system. The entity administering the program would evaluate and analyze the data to determine the effectiveness of the program. The Department of State Health Services must employ one grant writer to assist districts.
HB 3659 Dunnam / Ellis, Rodney
Protects the identity of a student who is the victim of improper sexual contact by a school employee by prohibiting the name of the student from being released to the public.
SB 6 Zaffirini
Addresses penalties for sex offenders; includes TCTA-initiated language strengthening the notification process and timelines under which districts and employees are notified of potentially dangerous students, and requiring students who are registered sex offenders to be placed in a DAEP or JJAEP for at least one semester. If the student is not under court supervision of any kind, the district may place the student in a regular classroom, unless it is determined that such a placement is a threat to students or the teacher, will disrupt the educational process, or is otherwise not in the best interests of the students. The placement of the student is reviewed after one semester by a committee that includes a teacher from the school the student would be attending, the student’s parole/probation officer (if there is none, then a representative of a local juvenile probation department), an instructor from the AEP, a school district designee and a school counselor.
If a student transfers to a different district during the required alternative placement period, the new district may require an additional semester without reviewing the placement or may consider the time previously spent in a DAEP. The student’s placement in the AEP continues until it is determined that placement in the regular classroom is not a threat to students or teachers, will not disrupt the educational process, and is not contrary to the best interests of the students. Placement of a student receiving special education services must be reviewed by the ARD committee, which may request that the district convene a placement committee as described above to assist the ARD committee.
SB 7 Hinojosa / Eissler
Requires annual training in CPR and the use of an automatic external defibrillator (AED) for certain staff, students, and volunteers. At least one AED unit must be available at each campus in the district and at each UIL athletic competition. Beginning with the 2008-09 school year, instruction in CPR and AED usage will be included in the health curriculum TEKS. The commissioner of education will establish a pilot cardiovascular screening program for sixth graders at selected campuses.
SB 8 Janek / Flynn
Requires random testing for steroids for high school students participating in UIL athletic competitions. Testing will be administered at approximately 30% of high schools. Coaches in grades 7-12 must complete an educational program. UIL rules will address the period of time during which a student testing positive would be ineligible, and for students refusing testing. Test results are confidential. The state will pay for the testing.
SB 9 Shapiro / Branch
Requires national criminal background checks including fingerprinting for all employees (including substitute teachers), applicants, shared service providers, and contract employees who will have direct contact with students.
The bill requires a name-based criminal history record information review for student teachers and volunteers other than parents, guardians or grandparents of students enrolled in the district, except that one-time volunteers and volunteers who will be in the presence of a school employee would not be subject to background checks.
SBEC, upon receiving a report of an alleged incident of misconduct, is required to place a notice regarding the alleged incident on the educator's public certification records. SBEC may suspend or revoke a certificate or permit of a person who has been convicted of certain offenses, including moral turpitude; sexual or physical abuse of a minor; a felony offense involving the possession, transfer, sale, or distribution of a controlled substance; illegal transfer, appropriation or use of school district funds or property; or an attempt to obtain a teaching certificate in a fraudulent manner.
TEA will review criminal history information and notify districts if a person may not be hired or must be discharged.
Contract employees must have national criminal background checks if they have continuing duties related to the contracting services or if they will have direct contact with students, unless there is no service provider available, in which case a district employee must accompany the contract employee.
A school district shall discharge or refuse to hire an applicant or employee convicted of a felony under Title 5 of the Penal Code (offenses against a person, such as murder, assault, kidnapping and sexual offenses), an offense requiring registration as a sex offender, an equivalent offense under the law of another state or federal law, or any offense where the victim is under 18 or is registered in public school. An exception exists for an employee who has worked for the district for at least 30 years and has complied with all the terms of the conviction.
Districts can pass the cost of the criminal background checks on to employees and others. Districts could also charge for volunteer name-based background checks.
SBEC must obtain all the required checks no later than Sept. 1, 2011.
A TCTA-initiated amendment provides that teacher certification information (such as exam scores) is confidential. A Senate addition allows disclosure of exam scores if the educator has failed the test more than 5 times.
SB 82 Van de Putte / Eissler
Requires the commissioner of education to develop an extracurricular activities safety training program, that must be satisfactorily completed by each coach, trainer and sponsor of an athletic activity; a physician employed by the district or volunteering to assist with an athletic activity, unless the physician’s continuing education coursework includes emergency medicine; and marching band directors. The program must include certification by the Red Cross, American Heart Association, or other similar association, or the UIL. The program will include training in emergency action planning, CPR, communicating effectively with 9-1-1 and emergency personnel, recognizing symptoms of potentially catastrophic injuries, and the risks of diet supplements.
Students participating in extracurricular athletic activities must complete forms regarding their medical history. Coaches and trainers are prohibited from encouraging or allowing students to participate in any potentially dangerous athletic technique that would unnecessarily endanger their health (specifically including the use of a helmet or other equipment as a weapon). Coaches/trainers must ensure that students are adequately hydrated and those requiring prescribed asthma medication have access to it, that emergency lanes in the area are open and clear, and that heatstroke prevention materials are available. A student who becomes unconscious during an activity may not return to that practice or competition or participate in further activity until cleared by a physician.
SB 136 Nelson / Branch
Requires the Texas School Safety Center to develop a program that all Texas school districts may use to inform students and their parents about online safety.
SB 230 Harris / Dutton
Clarifies the “school officials” referred to in current law that addresses who must be notified by a parole or probation office when a student returns/transfers to a school. The officials to be notified are the superintendent or a person designated by the superintendent of the school district to which the student is returned or transfers.
SB 530 Nelson / Eissler
Requires that students in grades K – 5 must participate in physical activity for at least 30 minutes per day in P.E. or through a structured activity during daily recess, or for at least 135 minutes per week. This requirement began with the 2007-08 school year.
Students in grades 6, 7 and 8 must participate in physical activity at least 30 minutes per day for at least 4 semesters during these grade levels. The current P.E. exemption for middle school students who participate in rigorous extracurricular activities is retained. The rules for grades 6, 7, and 8 begin in the 2008 – 09 school year.
Students in grades 3-12 will have a physical assessment annually. School districts will compile the results of the assessments and provide results aggregated by grade level to TEA. Student and teacher names cannot be included. TEA will identify any correlation with student academic achievement, attendance, student obesity, discipline problems, and school meal programs.
SB 606 Ogden / Gattis
Provides that the name of a student or minor who is the victim of abuse or unlawful conduct by an educator is not public information.
SB 1456 Uresti / Castro
Requires TEA to maintain on its website links to information regarding the prevention of child abuse and to develop a training program related to the prevention of child abuse that a school district can use for staff development.
SB 1504 Van de Putte / Villarreal
Requires districts with schools located within 1,000 yards of a railroad track to establish a policy for responding to train derailments in the district's multihazard emergency operations plan.
Updated: 01/08/08
