Monitoring the Session

SB 784

peace officers’ kids get school transfers on request

Did not pass

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Sen. Phil KingRSenate 10

Initial review · graded Oct 20, 2026 · Headline, summary and grade are analysis of the bill text, not a finding about any person · How we grade

Caption

relating to the transfer of certain public school students who are children of peace officers.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Both districts must approve. No exceptions.

The bill requires a school district to transfer a peace officer's child to another campus in the same district or to any other Texas district when the officer asks, and both districts must approve the transfer without exception. It covers peace officers who are parents or guardians of public school students, plus the sending and receiving districts, including districts of innovation that can no longer opt out of this rule in new or renewed plans. On the ground, receiving districts cannot turn these students away or charge them tuition, starting with the 2025-2026 school year.

Labels

Labels: GOT HALFWAY. Passed the Senate on Apr 30, 2025. Died in the House: voted out of the Public Education committee 13-0, no floor vote.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB784 · 2025-01-15

SOLD BY

ITEM

relating to the transfer of certain public school students who are children of peace officers.

WHAT IT DOES

Both districts must approve. No exceptions.

The bill requires a school district to transfer a peace officer's child to another campus in the same district or to any other Texas district when the officer asks, and both districts must approve the transfer without exception. It covers peace officers who are parents or guardians of public school students, plus the sending and receiving districts, including districts of innovation that can no longer opt out of this rule in new or renewed plans. On the ground, receiving districts cannot turn these students away or charge them tuition, starting with the 2025-2026 school 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

  1. Received by the Secretary of the Senate
  2. Filed
  3. Read first time
  4. Referred to Education K-16
  5. Posting rule suspended
  6. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  7. Considered in public hearing
  8. Left pending in committee
  9. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  10. Considered in public hearing
  11. Vote taken in committee
  12. Reported favorably w/o amendments
  13. Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
  14. Committee report printed and distributed
  15. Placed on intent calendar
  16. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  17. Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
  18. Vote recorded in Journal
  19. Three day rule suspended
  20. Record vote
  21. Read 3rd time
  22. Passed
  23. Record vote
  24. Reported engrossed
  25. Received from the Senate
  26. Read first time
  27. Referred to Public Education
  28. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  29. Considered in public hearing
  30. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  31. Left pending in committee
  32. Considered in formal meeting
  33. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  34. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  35. Committee report distributed
  36. Committee report sent to Calendars
  37. Considered in Calendars
  38. Placed on General State Calendar
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

Senate · 31 yea · 0 nay

Sources

Senate: Final passage · Apr 30, 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

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Donors

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$30KErle Nye, Jr.$20,000Gideon Powell$20,000

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.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$30,300.00

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$30,300.00

Cash
$30,000.00
Paid by others
$300.00
Total
$30,300.00
fundraiser $300.00

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 12, 2024 to Sep 26, 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: 100982783, 101007450, 101026985.

Erle Nye, Jr.$20,000.00
Gideon Powell$20,000.00
Money

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

×

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$30,300.00

Cash
$30,000.00
Paid by others
$300.00
Total
$30,300.00
fundraiser $300.00

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 12, 2024 to Sep 26, 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: 100982783, 101007450, 101026985.

Votes3

Senate Apr 30, 2025

Yea
31
Nay
0
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
Not printed
Excused
Not printed
Names

Senate journal

Names were not printed. No individual positions are inferred.

Sources

Senator King moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 784 be placed on its third reading and final passage. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

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

  • Yea: 31 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: Not printed
  • Excused: Not printed

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

Senate Apr 30, 2025

Yea
31
Nay
0
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
Not printed
Excused
Not printed
Names

Senate journal

Names were not printed. No individual positions are inferred.

Sources

Senator King moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 784 be placed on its third reading and final passage. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

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

  • Yea: 31 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: Not printed
  • Excused: Not printed

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

Senate Apr 30, 2025

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.

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

Sources

The bill was read second time and was passed to engrossment by a viva voce vote.

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.

Witnesses18
For
15
Against
1
On
2
Names

For

  • Austin Police Association1 registration
  • Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT)1 registration
  • Harris County Deputies' Organization FOP #391 registration
  • Self2 registrations
  • Self; Grand Prairie Police Department1 registration
  • Self; Houston Police Officers’ Union1 registration
  • Self; Lake Dallas ISD1 registration
  • Self; Mansfield PD1 registration
  • Self; Prosper ISD Police Department1 registration
  • Self; Temple Police Department1 registration
  • Self; TEXAS ISD POLICE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION1 registration
  • Self; TMPA1 registration
  • Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops1 registration
  • Texas Police Chiefs Association1 registration

Against

  • Self1 registration

On

  • Texas Council of Administrators of Special Education (TCASE)1 registration
  • Texas Education Agency1 registration
Sources

18 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.

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.

Sources

Texas Senate · Filed Jan 15, 2025

05/26/2025 H Placed on General State Calendar

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

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

Sponsors

House committee · Public Education · Committee vote 13 aye, 0 nay, 2 absent · Out of committee

Senate committee · Education K-16 · Committee vote 10 aye, 0 nay, 1 absent · Out of committee

Subjects

Education--Primary & Secondary--Admission & Attendance

Fire Fighters & Police--General

PEACE OFFICERS

TRANSFER STUDENTS

Text

The text as introduced · 457 words

89R5485 CMO-D

By: King
S.B. No. 784

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the transfer of certain public school students who are

children of peace officers.

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

SECTION 1. Section 12A.004(a), Education Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a) A local innovation plan may not provide for the

exemption of a district designated as a district of innovation from

the following provisions of this title:

(1) a state or federal requirement applicable to an

open-enrollment charter school operating under Subchapter D,

Chapter 12;

(2) Subchapters A, C, D, and E, Chapter 11, except that

a district may be exempt from Sections 11.1511(b)(5) and (14) and

Section 11.162;

(3) transfers of students who are the children of

peace officers under Section 25.0344;

(4) [ (3) ] state curriculum and graduation

requirements adopted under Chapter 28; and

(5) [ (4) ] academic and financial accountability and

sanctions under Chapters 39 and 39A.

SECTION 2. Section 25.0344, Education Code, as added by

Chapter 322 (H.B. 1959), Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular

Session, 2023, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding

Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:

(b) On request of a peace officer who is a parent of or

person standing in parental relation to a student, the board of

trustees of a school district or the board's designee shall

transfer the student to :

(1) another district campus ; or

(2) any other [ to another ] school district in this

state, regardless of whether the sending district and the receiving

district have entered into [ under ] an agreement under Section

25.035.

(e) Notwithstanding any other law, both the sending

district and the receiving district must approve a transfer under

this section without exception.

(f) A school district may not charge a tuition fee under

Section 25.038 to a student who transfers to the district under this

section.

SECTION 3. Section 12A.004(a), Education Code, as amended

by this Act, applies only to a local innovation plan adopted or

renewed on or after the effective date of this Act. A local

innovation plan adopted or renewed before the effective date of

this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the plan was

adopted or renewed, and the former law is continued in effect for

that purpose.

SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026

school year.

SECTION 5. 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.