Thompson Bill Ties A Campus Badge To One Consortium Contract

The text as introduced · 698 words

89R8549 JDK-D

By: Thompson
H.B. No. 2880

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to providing a designation for school district campuses

that take certain action to address the mental and behavioral

health and well-being of students.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 33, Education Code, is

amended by adding Section 33.917 to read as follows:

Sec. 33.917. ADVANCING WELLNESS AND RESILIENCY IN EDUCATION

(AWARE) CAMPUS. (a) In this section, "school climate" has the

meaning assigned by Section 38.351(d).

(b) The agency shall designate a school district campus as

an Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education (AWARE) Campus if

the campus applies and qualifies for the designation under this

section.

(c) To qualify as an Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in

Education (AWARE) Campus, a school district campus must:

(1) employ a school counselor who spends at least 80

percent of the counselor's total work time on duties included in a

comprehensive school counseling program developed under Section

33.005;

(2) maintain formal community partnerships with

community-based mental and behavioral health care providers to

increase student and family access to care, including by

contracting with:

(A) a local mental health authority; and

(B) the Texas Child Mental Health Care

Consortium;

(3) offer training for campus staff members on issues

related to the mental and behavioral health and well-being of

students as required by Sections 21.451, 22.904, 38.036, and 38.351

and maintain documentation of the completion of the training;

(4) as part of the safe and supportive school program

implemented under Section 37.115, provide a systemic and

coordinated multitiered support system that addresses school

climate, the social and emotional domain, psychological safety, and

mental and behavioral health, which must include:

(A) a multidisciplinary team for the

coordination of campus multitiered support system strategies;

(B) the maintenance of a resource list of

available school-based, school-connected, and community-based

mental and behavioral health and well-being interventions and

supports available to students and families;

(C) a referral pathway for mental and behavioral

health and well-being interventions and supports available to

students and families in need of additional support outside of

school; and

(D) methods to objectively measure positive

school climate in the school; and

(5) maintain on the campus's Internet website an

easily accessible web page that includes information on how to

access school-based and community-based mental and behavioral

health and well-being interventions and supports available to

students and families, including:

(A) counseling and other mental and behavioral

health and well-being support services, including out-of-school

time programs;

(B) community-based mental and behavioral health

and well-being support services; and

(C) district referral procedures and parental

rights related to students accessing mental and behavioral health

and well-being support services, including information on:

(i) parental consent guidelines and

requirements under Sections 33.003, 38.010, and 38.053;

(ii) parental access to medical records

under Section 38.0095;

(iii) coordinated health programs

available under Section 38.013;

(iv) the prohibition on the use of a

parent's refusal to consent to a psychiatric evaluation or

examination as grounds to take certain actions against a child and

the permissible actions under Section 38.016;

(v) the district's trauma-informed care

policy under Section 38.036;

(vi) the identification of health-related

concerns under Section 38.057;

(vii) educational materials provided in

accordance with a procedure developed under Section 38.351(i-1);

and

(viii) the consent required for services to

minors under Section 113.0152, Health and Safety Code.

(d) To comply with a requirement under Subsection (c)(3),

(4), or (5), a school district campus may partner with the district

to provide:

(1) training required under Subsection (c)(3);

(2) a requirement for the multitiered support system

under Subsection (c)(4); or

(3) if the campus does not have an Internet website, a

web page that meets the requirements of Subsection (c)(5).

(e) The agency shall adopt rules as necessary to administer

this section.

SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026

school year.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives

a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as

provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this

Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this

Act takes effect September 1, 2025.