TEA writes a plain-language parents’ rights guide

The text as introduced · 812 words

89R14637 KRM-D

By: Hefner
H.B. No. 4381

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to parental rights and required notification in public

education; authorizing an administrative penalty.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 38, Education Code, is

amended by adding Section 38.041 to read as follows:

Sec. 38.041. NOTICE OF PARENTAL RIGHTS. (a) The agency

shall create and maintain a comprehensive, easily understood

document that informs a parent of the parent's rights and options

regarding the health of the parent's child.

(b) The document created under Subsection (a) must:

(1) include information regarding a parent's right to:

(A) withhold consent for or exempt the parent's

child from certain health-related activities and instruction;

(B) access health-related information relating

to the parent's child, including:

(i) counseling records;

(ii) psychological records;

(iii) health and immunization information;

(iv) teacher and school counselor

evaluations;

(v) reports of behavioral patterns;

(vi) records relating to assistance

provided for learning difficulties, including information

collected regarding any intervention strategies used with the

child; and

(vii) any other health records or

health-related information under the Family Educational Rights and

Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g);

(C) review health-related instructional

materials;

(D) remove the parent's child temporarily from a

class or other school activity that conflicts with the parent's

religious or moral beliefs;

(E) exempt the parent's child from

health-related screenings or evaluations conducted by a school;

(F) exempt the parent's child from immunization

requirements for medical reasons or reasons of conscience,

including a religious belief; and

(G) withhold consent for or decline

health-related services and treatment, including:

(i) psychiatric or psychological

examinations, tests, and treatment; and

(ii) the use of psychotropic medication as

defined by Section 266.001, Family Code;

(2) include information on how to exercise parental

rights described by Subdivision (1); and

(3) be:

(A) written in plain language;

(B) provided in English and Spanish;

(C) updated annually to reflect any relevant

change in applicable law; and

(D) made publicly available on the agency's

Internet website.

(c) Before the first instructional day of each school year,

a school district or open-enrollment charter school shall, with

respect to the document created under Subsection (a):

(1) post or update, as applicable, the document on the

district's or school's Internet website;

(2) e-mail the document to the parent of each child

enrolled at the district or school;

(3) include the document in any enrollment materials

provided to a child enrolled at the district or school; and

(4) to the extent practicable, provide the document in

a parent's native language.

(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school

shall provide notice to the parent of each child enrolled at the

district or school of:

(1) all health-related services offered at the

district or school campus the child attends, including mental

health counseling, health screenings, and vaccination clinics; and

(2) a health screening or clinic not later than the

20th day before the date the screening or clinic is conducted at the

district or school.

(e) The agency shall develop and require a school district

or open-enrollment charter school administrator, nurse, counselor,

teacher, and any other relevant staff to complete a training on the

parental rights described by Subsection (b).

(f) The agency shall develop a complaint procedure under

which the agency shall:

(1) require a school district or open-enrollment

charter school to report any complaints received concerning a

violation of this section;

(2) address and investigate each complaint; and

(3) inform the complainant of the agency's

determinations and findings, including any disciplinary action

taken.

(g) If the commissioner determines that a school district or

open-enrollment charter school has violated this section, the

agency may:

(1) withhold state money from the district or school

for the state fiscal year following the state fiscal year in which

the district or school violated this section;

(2) assess an administrative penalty against the

district or school; and

(3) take any other action the agency considers

necessary.

(h) A school district or open-enrollment charter school

shall publish an annual report on the district's or school's

Internet website that describes the number of complaints reported

under Subsection (f).

(i) The agency shall audit and periodically conduct site

visits of school districts and open-enrollment charter schools to

ensure compliance with this section.

(j) The agency may collaborate with the Health and Human

Services Commission and Department of State Health Services as

necessary to implement this section.

(k) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to

implement 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.