SB 204: Paxton’s bill on parental rights training for trustees

Caption

relating to a handbook on parental rights in education and training requirements on parental rights in education for a member of the board of trustees of a school district.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Plus a plain-language parental rights handbook from the Texas Education Agency.

The bill makes the State Board of Education require every school board trustee to take training on parents' rights in their child's education, and it orders the Texas Education Agency to write a plain-language parental rights handbook. It touches school district trustees, the State Board of Education, the Texas Education Agency, and parents who want to know their rights. Starting September 1, 2025, the training and handbook must be ready by January 1, 2026, sitting trustees must finish the training by April 1, 2026, and the handbook must be posted online in a searchable format and updated every year.

Labels

Labels: BACK FROM THE DEAD. Same text as a bill filed before that died: 88R SB 981 (Died in committee). Filed in 2 sessions, counting this one. Checked against 88R only.TRY NO. 2. Filed in 2 sessions: 88R and 89R. Checked against 88R only.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB204 · 2024-11-12

SOLD BY

Sen. Angela PaxtonRSenate 8

ITEM

relating to a handbook on parental rights in education and training requirements on parental rights in education for a member of the board of trustees of a school district.

WHAT IT DOES

Plus a plain-language parental rights handbook from the Texas Education Agency.

The bill makes the State Board of Education require every school board trustee to take training on parents' rights in their child's education, and it orders the Texas Education Agency to write a plain-language parental rights handbook. It touches school district trustees, the State Board of Education, the Texas Education Agency, and parents who want to know their rights. Starting September 1, 2025, the training and handbook must be ready by January 1, 2026, sitting trustees must finish the training by April 1, 2026, and the handbook must be posted online in a searchable format and updated every year.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version E · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version E · May 7, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

Nov 12, 2024Received by the Secretary of the Senate
Nov 12, 2024Filed
Feb 3, 2025Read first time
Feb 3, 2025Referred to Education K-16
Feb 27, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
Feb 27, 2025Considered in public hearing
Feb 27, 2025Testimony taken in committee
Feb 27, 2025Left pending in committee
Mar 13, 2025Considered in public hearing
Mar 13, 2025Vote taken in committee
Mar 17, 2025Reported favorably as substituted
Mar 17, 2025Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
Mar 17, 2025Committee report printed and distributed
Apr 10, 2025Placed on local & uncontested calendar
Apr 10, 2025Laid before the Senate
Apr 10, 2025Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
Apr 10, 2025Vote recorded in Journal
Apr 10, 2025Three day rule suspended
Apr 10, 2025Record vote
Apr 10, 2025Read 3rd time
Apr 10, 2025Passed
Apr 10, 2025Record vote
Apr 10, 2025Reported engrossed
Apr 14, 2025Received from the Senate
Apr 17, 2025Read first time
Apr 17, 2025Referred to Public Education
May 20, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
May 20, 2025Considered in public hearing
May 20, 2025Committee substitute considered in committee
May 20, 2025Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
May 20, 2025Left pending in committee
May 21, 2025Considered in formal meeting
May 21, 2025Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
May 21, 2025Considered in formal meeting
May 21, 2025Vote reconsidered in committee
May 21, 2025Recommended to be sent to Local & Consent
May 21, 2025Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
May 22, 2025Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
May 22, 2025Committee report distributed
May 23, 2025Comm. report sent to Local & Consent Calendar
May 27, 2025Considered in Local & Consent Calendars
May 28, 2025Placed on Local, Consent, and Res. Calendar
May 28, 2025Read 2nd time
May 28, 2025Passed to 3rd reading
May 28, 2025Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
May 28, 2025Read 3rd time
May 28, 2025Passed
May 28, 2025Record vote RV#3832
May 28, 2025Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
May 28, 2025Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
May 29, 2025House passage reported
May 29, 2025Reported enrolled
May 31, 2025Signed in the Senate
Jun 1, 2025Signed in the House
Jun 1, 2025Sent to the Governor
Jun 20, 2025Signed by the Governor
Jun 20, 2025Effective on 9/1/25

FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 138 yea · 3 nay

Senate · 27 yea · 3 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 28, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate: Final passage · Apr 10, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

All floor motions and other positions below.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Angela Paxton

Donors

James Stanton$47,500Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$40KGary Blake$30,000

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

Derived itemized flow · Oct 27, 2024 to Jun 30, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

James Stanton$47,500.00

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$40,000.00

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$40,000.00

Cash: $40,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $40,000.00

Also funds 124 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 11, 2024 to Jun 30, 2025. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100982305, 101012314.

Gary Blake$30,000.00

Money

Missing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.

×

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$40,000.00

Cash: $40,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $40,000.00

Also funds 124 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 11, 2024 to Jun 30, 2025. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100982305, 101012314.

Votes4

House May 28, 2025

Yea: 138
Nay: 3
Present, not voting: 2
Absent: 2
Excused: 5

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 3832

SB 204 (Lowe, Schatzline, and Toth - no) (138 - 3 - 2)

Shared roll motion

The following bills which were considered on second reading on the previous legislative day on the local, consent, and resolutions calendar were laid before the house, read third time, and passed by the following record vote (members registering votes and the results of the vote are shown following the bill number). (Record 3832): 141 Yeas, 0 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 138 (published)
Nay: 3 (published)
Present, not voting: 2 (published)
Absent: 2 (derived from named list)
Excused: 5 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 10, 2025

Final passage

Yea: 27
Nay: 3
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

The journal row lists three votes in order: passage to engrossment, suspension of the three-day rule, and final passage. This entry records final passage. Repeated tallies belong to separate votes.

Sources

CSSB 204 (Paxton) Relating to a handbook on parental rights in education and training requirements on parental rights in education for a member of the board of trustees of a school district. (viva voce vote) (27-3) "Nays" Eckhardt, Gutierrez, Miles (27-3) "Nays" Eckhardt, Gutierrez, Miles

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 27 (published)
Nay: 3 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 10, 2025

Suspension of the three-day rule

Yea: 27
Nay: 3
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

The journal row lists three votes in order: passage to engrossment, suspension of the three-day rule, and final passage. This entry records suspension of the three-day rule. Repeated tallies belong to separate votes.

Sources

CSSB 204 (Paxton) Relating to a handbook on parental rights in education and training requirements on parental rights in education for a member of the board of trustees of a school district. (viva voce vote) (27-3) "Nays" Eckhardt, Gutierrez, Miles (27-3) "Nays" Eckhardt, Gutierrez, Miles

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 27 (published)
Nay: 3 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 10, 2025

Passage to engrossment

Yea: Not printed
Nay: Not printed
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Names

Senate journal

Names were not printed. No individual positions are inferred.

The journal row lists three votes in order: passage to engrossment, suspension of the three-day rule, and final passage. This entry records passage to engrossment. Repeated tallies belong to separate votes.

Voice vote. No numeric tally or individual yeas are inferred.

Sources

CSSB 204 (Paxton) Relating to a handbook on parental rights in education and training requirements on parental rights in education for a member of the board of trustees of a school district. (viva voce vote) (27-3) "Nays" Eckhardt, Gutierrez, Miles (27-3) "Nays" Eckhardt, Gutierrez, Miles

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: Not printed
Nay: Not printed
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Witnesses88

For: 30
Against: 54
On: 4

Names

For

Association of Texas Professional Educators1 registration
Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission1 registration
Family Freedom Project1 registration
Parent Guidance Center1 registration
Self15 registrations
Self; Beacon Health Education Resources1 registration
Self; Citizens Commission on Human Rights1 registration
Self; Texans Wake Up1 registration
Self; Texas Eagle Forum1 registration
Self; Texas Family Project1 registration
Self; Texas Values2 registrations
Texas Values2 registrations
Texas Values Action1 registration
The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops1 registration

Against

Self49 registrations
Self; Equality Texas1 registration
Self; Moms Demand Action for gun sense laws and policies1 registration
Self; University democats ut1 registration
Self; Ut students2 registrations

On

Citizens Commission on Human Rights1 registration
TEA1 registration
Texas Education Agency2 registrations

Sources

88 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.

House witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.

Senate witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.

Fiscal

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version E · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version E · May 7, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

How this was graded

Analysis of text version I by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 20, 2026, against the published rubric.

FILED BEFORE

Filed 2 times: 88R and 89R. Checked against 88R only.

88R SB 981

by Sen. Paxton, same lead author · Died in committee · same text

Introduced text

Last action, Mar 3, 2023: Referred to Education

Relating to a handbook on parental rights in education and training requirements on parental rights in education for a member of the board of trustees of a school district.

Caption, 88R bill history

Sources

Texas Senate · Filed Nov 12, 2024

06/20/2025 E Effective on 9/1/25

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report · Engrossed · House Committee Report · Enrolled

Data snapshot Oct 26, 2026 at 4:20 AM CDT. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Companion

HB 1137 by Leo Wilson (identical)

Subjects

Education--Primary & Secondary--General

Education--School Districts

PARENTAL RIGHTS

STAFF DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING

EDUCATION AGENCY, TEXAS

EDUCATION, STATE BOARD OF

Text

The text as introduced · 326 words

89R783 JTZ-D

By: Paxton
S.B. No. 204

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a handbook on parental rights in education and training

requirements on parental rights in education for a member of the

board of trustees of a school district.

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

SECTION 1. Section 11.159, Education Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (b-2) to read as follows:

(b-2) The State Board of Education shall require a trustee

to complete training on the rights of a parent regarding the

education of the parent's child. The state board, with assistance

from the agency, shall develop the curriculum and materials for the

training.

SECTION 2. Chapter 26, Education Code, is amended by adding

Section 26.0025 to read as follows:

Sec. 26.0025. PARENTAL RIGHTS HANDBOOK. (a) The agency

shall create and maintain a handbook that explains all rights of a

parent regarding the education of the parent's child, including a

student's rights that the parent may enforce on the student's

behalf.

(b) The handbook must be:

(1) written in plain language;

(2) updated on an annual basis to reflect any relevant

changes in applicable law or agency guidance; and

(3) made publicly available in a searchable format on

the agency's Internet website.

SECTION 3. (a) Not later than January 1, 2026:

(1) the State Board of Education shall develop and

make available the training required by Section 11.159(b-2),

Education Code, as added by this Act; and

(2) the Texas Education Agency shall create the

parental rights in education handbook required by Section 26.0025,

Education Code, as added by this Act.

(b) Not later than April 1, 2026, a member of the board of

trustees of a school district who takes the oath of office before

January 1, 2026, shall complete the training on parental rights in

education required by Section 11.159(b-2), Education Code, as added

by this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

Verdict: No flags

The receipt

SOLD BY

ITEM

WHAT IT DOES

CHARGES

TOTAL

HISTORY

SIGNED FOR BY

Donors

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

House May 28, 2025

Senate Apr 10, 2025

Senate Apr 10, 2025

Senate Apr 10, 2025

For

Against

On

88R SB 981

Companion