Creighton DEI Bill Reaches Policies That Merely Reference Race

The text as introduced · 2,530 words

By: Creighton
S.B. No. 1565

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a school district's grievance procedure and to certain

public school requirements and prohibitions regarding instruction

and diversity, equity, and inclusion duties and the loss of funding

for public schools that fail to comply with those provisions.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 1, Education Code, is amended by adding

Section 1.007 to read as follows:

Sec. 1.007. COMPLIANCE WITH MANDATORY POLICY. (a) In this

section, "public elementary or secondary school" means a school

district and a district, campus, program, or school operating under

a charter under Chapter 12.

(b) A public elementary or secondary school, the school's

governing body, and the school's employees shall implement and

comply with each policy the school is required to adopt under this

code or other law.

SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 11, Education Code, is

amended by adding Section 11.005 to read as follows:

Sec. 11.005. PROHIBITION ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND

INCLUSION DUTIES. (a) In this section, "diversity, equity, and

inclusion duties" means:

(1) influencing hiring or employment practices with

respect to race, sex, color, or ethnicity except as necessary to

comply with state or federal antidiscrimination laws;

(2) promoting differential treatment of or providing

special benefits to individuals on the basis of race, color, or

ethnicity;

(3) developing or implementing policies, procedures,

or training programs that reference race, color, ethnicity, gender

identity, or sexual orientation except as necessary to comply with

state or federal law;

(4) compelling, requiring, inducing, or soliciting

any person to provide a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement

or giving preferential consideration to any person based on the

provision of a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement; and

(b) Except as required by state or federal law, a school

district:

(1) may not assign diversity, equity, and inclusion

duties to any person; and

(2) shall prohibit a district employee, contractor, or

volunteer from engaging in diversity, equity, and inclusion duties.

(c) A school district shall adopt a policy and procedure for

the appropriate discipline, including termination, of a district

employee or contractor who engages in or assigns to another person

diversity, equity, and inclusion duties.

(d) Nothing in this section may be construed to limit or

prohibit a school district from acknowledging or teaching the

significance of state and federal holidays or commemorative months

and how those holidays or months fit into the themes of history and

the stories of this state and the United States of America in

accordance with the essential knowledge and skills adopted under

Subchapter A, Chapter 28.

SECTION 3. Section 12.104(b), Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(b) An open-enrollment charter school is subject to:

(1) a provision of this title establishing a criminal

offense;

(2) the provisions in Chapter 554, Government Code;

and

(3) a prohibition, restriction, or requirement, as

applicable, imposed by this title or a rule adopted under this

title, relating to:

(A) the Public Education Information Management

System (PEIMS) to the extent necessary to monitor compliance with

this subchapter as determined by the commissioner;

(B) criminal history records under Subchapter C,

Chapter 22;

(C) reading instruments and accelerated reading

instruction programs under Section 28.006;

(D) accelerated instruction under Section

28.0211;

(E) high school graduation requirements under

Section 28.025;

(F) special education programs under Subchapter

A, Chapter 29;

(G) bilingual education under Subchapter B,

Chapter 29;

(H) prekindergarten programs under Subchapter E

or E-1, Chapter 29, except class size limits for prekindergarten

classes imposed under Section 25.112, which do not apply;

(I) extracurricular activities under Section

33.081;

(J) discipline management practices or behavior

management techniques under Section 37.0021;

(K) health and safety under Chapter 38;

(L) the provisions of Subchapter A, Chapter 39;

(M) public school accountability and special

investigations under Subchapters A, B, C, D, F, G, and J, Chapter

39, and Chapter 39A;

(N) the requirement under Section 21.006 to

report an educator's misconduct;

(O) intensive programs of instruction under

Section 28.0213;

(P) the right of a school employee to report a

crime, as provided by Section 37.148;

(Q) bullying prevention policies and procedures

under Section 37.0832;

(R) the right of a school under Section 37.0052

to place a student who has engaged in certain bullying behavior in a

disciplinary alternative education program or to expel the student;

(S) the right under Section 37.0151 to report to

local law enforcement certain conduct constituting assault or

harassment;

(T) a parent's right to information regarding the

provision of assistance for learning difficulties to the parent's

child as provided by Sections 26.004(b)(11) and 26.0081(c) and (d);

(U) establishment of residency under Section

25.001;

(V) school safety requirements under Sections

37.0814, 37.108, 37.1081, 37.1082, 37.1083, 37.1084, 37.1085,

37.1086, 37.109, 37.113, 37.114, 37.1141, 37.115, 37.207, and

37.2071 and Subchapter J, Chapter 37;

(W) the early childhood literacy and mathematics

proficiency plans under Section 11.185;

(X) the college, career, and military readiness

plans under Section 11.186; [ and ]

(Y) parental options to retain a student under

Section 28.02124 ; and

(Z) diversity, equity, and inclusion duties

under Section 11.005 .

SECTION 4. Section 26.011, Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 26.011. LOCAL GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE [ COMPLAINTS ].

(a) The board of trustees of each school district shall adopt a

grievance procedure under which the board shall :

(1) address each grievance [ complaint ] that the board

receives concerning a violation of the prohibition under Section

11.005 or of a right guaranteed by this chapter :

(A) if the grievance is filed not later than six

school weeks after the date on which the parent received notice of

an incident giving rise to the grievance; or

(B) regardless of whether the grievance was filed

during the period prescribed by Paragraph (A) if the grievance was

informally brought to the attention of school district personnel

during that period;

(2) allow a parent at any time before a final decision

by the board to provide additional evidence regarding the parent's

grievance; and

(3) allow a parent to file more than one grievance at

the same time .

(b) The board of trustees of a school district is not

required by Subsection (a) or Section 11.1511(b)(13) to address a

grievance [ complaint ] that the board receives concerning a

student's participation in an extracurricular activity that does

not involve a violation of a right guaranteed by this chapter. This

subsection does not affect a claim brought by a parent under the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400

et seq.) or a successor federal statute addressing special

education services for a child with a disability.

(c) The board of trustees of a school district shall ensure

a grievance procedure adopted under Subsection (a):

(1) authorizes a parent to file a grievance with the

principal of the district campus the parent's child attends or the

person designated by the district to receive grievances for that

campus;

(2) requires that a principal or the person designated

by the district to receive grievances for a campus:

(A) acknowledge receipt of a grievance under

Subdivision (1) not later than two school business days after

receipt of the grievance; and

(B) not later than the 14th school business day

after receipt of a grievance described by Subdivision (1), provide

to the parent who submitted the grievance written documentation of

the decision regarding the issue that gave rise to the grievance,

including:

(i) an explanation of the findings that

contributed to the decision;

(ii) notification regarding the parent's

right to appeal the decision; and

(iii) the timeline for appealing the

decision;

(3) requires that, if a parent appeals a decision

under Subdivision (2) not later than the 14th school business day

after receiving notice of the decision, the superintendent or the

superintendent's designee provide to the parent not later than the

14th school business day after receipt of the appeal written

documentation of the decision regarding the issue that gave rise to

the grievance, including:

(A) an explanation of the findings that

contributed to the decision;

(B) notification regarding the parent's right to

appeal the decision; and

(C) the timeline for appealing the decision;

(4) requires that, if a parent appeals a decision

under Subdivision (3) not later than the 14th school business day

after receiving notice of the decision, the board hear the

grievance in a closed session at the board's next regular meeting

that occurs on or after the 14th school business day after the date

the board receives notice of the appeal; and

(5) requires that, not later than the 10th school

business day after the date of a board meeting described by

Subdivision (4), the board provide to the parent written

documentation of the board's decision regarding the issue that gave

rise to the grievance, including notice that the parent may appeal

to the commissioner in writing under Section 7.057, if applicable.

(d) The parties may mutually agree to adjust the timeline

for the procedure under this section.

(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (d), if a grievance

submitted under this section involves an employee who is on

documented leave that is scheduled to begin or has begun before the

grievance is submitted, the district may alter the timeline for the

procedure under this section to make a reasonable accommodation for

the employee's leave. The district must provide notice of the

change to the parent who submitted the grievance.

SECTION 5. Chapter 26, Education Code, is amended by adding

Sections 26.0111 and 26.0112 to read as follows:

Sec. 26.0111. GRIEVANCE HEARING BEFORE HEARING EXAMINER.

(a) This section applies only to a grievance regarding a violation

of:

(1) Section 11.005, 28.0022, or 28.004 or Chapter 38

or the implementation of those provisions by a school district; or

(2) Chapter 551, Government Code, involving school

district personnel.

(b) If a parent has exhausted the parent's options under the

local grievance procedure established by the board of trustees of a

school district under Section 26.011 regarding a grievance to which

this section applies, and the grievance is not resolved to a

parent's satisfaction, the parent may file a written request with

the commissioner for a hearing before a hearing examiner under this

section not later than the 30th school business day after the date

on which the board of trustees of the district resolved the parent's

grievance under Section 26.011. The parent must provide the

district with a copy of the request and must provide the

commissioner with a copy of the district's resolution of the

grievance. The parties may agree in writing to extend by not more

than 10 school business days the deadline for requesting a hearing.

(c) The commissioner shall assign a hearing examiner to

review the grievance in the manner provided by Section 21.254. The

hearing examiner has the powers described by Sections 21.255 and

21.256 and shall conduct the hearing in the manner provided by those

sections as if the parent were a teacher.

(d) Not later than the 60th business day after the date on

which the commissioner receives a parent's written request for a

hearing, the hearing examiner shall complete the hearing and make a

written recommendation that includes proposed findings of fact and

conclusions of law. The recommendation of the hearing examiner is

final and may not be appealed.

(e) Sections 21.257(c), (d), and (e) apply to a hearing

under this section in the same manner as a hearing conducted under

Subchapter F, Chapter 21.

(f) The costs of the hearing examiner, the court reporter,

the original hearing transcript, and any hearing room costs, if the

hearing room is not provided by the school district, shall be paid

by the school district if the hearing examiner finds in favor of the

parent.

(g) Notwithstanding Subsection (d), if a parent fails to

appear at a hearing under this section, the hearing examiner is not

required to complete the hearing and may not make a recommendation

in favor of the parent.

Sec. 26.0112. TESTIMONY BEFORE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.

If the commissioner adopts the recommendation of a hearing examiner

finding against a school district under Section 26.0111 in at least

five grievances to which that section applies involving the

district during a school year, the superintendent of the school

district must appear before the State Board of Education to testify

regarding the hearing examiner's findings and the frequency of

grievances against the district.

SECTION 6. Section 28.0022, Education Code, is amended by

amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsection (h) to read as

follows:

(f) This section does not create a private cause of action

against a teacher, administrator, or other employee of a school

district or open-enrollment charter school. [ A school district or

open-enrollment charter school may take appropriate action

involving the employment of any teacher, administrator, or other

employee based on the individual's compliance with state and

federal laws and district policies. ]

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

shall adopt a policy and procedure for the appropriate discipline,

including termination, of a district or school employee or

contractor who engages in or assigns to another person an act

prohibited by this section.

SECTION 7. Subchapter A, Chapter 48, Education Code, is

amended by adding Section 48.013 to read as follows:

Sec. 48.013. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH CERTAIN LAWS

REQUIRED. (a) Not later than September 30 of each year, the

superintendent of a school district or open-enrollment charter

school shall certify to the agency that the district or school is in

compliance with this section and Sections 11.005 and 28.0022.

(b) The certification required by Subsection (a) must:

(1) be:

(A) approved by a majority vote of the board of

trustees of the school district or the governing body of the

open-enrollment charter school at a public meeting that includes an

opportunity for public testimony and for which notice was posted on

the district's or school's Internet website at least seven days

before the date on which the meeting is held; and

(B) submitted electronically to the agency; and

(2) include:

(A) a description of the policies and procedures

required by Sections 11.005(c) and 28.0022(h) and the manner in

which district or school employees and contractors were notified of

those policies and procedures;

(B) any existing policies, programs, procedures,

or trainings that were altered to ensure compliance with this

section or Section 11.005 or 28.0022; and

(C) any cost savings resulting from actions taken

by the school district or open-enrollment charter school to comply

with this section.

(c) The agency shall post each certification received under

Subsection (a) on the agency's Internet website.

SECTION 8. Section 11.005, Education Code, as added by this

Act, and Sections 12.104(b) and 28.0022, Education Code, as amended

by this Act, apply beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.

SECTION 9. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this

section, 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.

(b) Section 48.013, Education Code, as added by this Act,

takes effect September 1, 2025.