Holt Bill Bars Bond Money For Student Devices

The text as introduced · 1,353 words

90R1796 AMF-D

By: Holt
H.B. No. 492

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to electronic devices in public schools, including

standards for electronic devices and software applications used by

a public school and a prohibition on a school district issuing bonds

for the purchase of electronic devices to be provided or

transferred to a student.

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

SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter C, Chapter 32,

Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER C. TRANSFER OF DATA PROCESSING EQUIPMENT AND ELECTRONIC

DEVICES TO STUDENTS ; USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES BY STUDENTS

SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 32, Education Code, is

amended by adding Section 32.1015 to read as follows:

Sec. 32.1015. USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES DURING

INSTRUCTIONAL TIME. (a) A school district or open-enrollment

charter school:

(1) shall restrict the use of an electronic device

provided to a student by the district or school during

instructional time to instruction in career and technology

education or technology applications that requires the use of the

device or instruction in how to use technology generally, including

instruction in how to use the device; and

(2) may not require or permit the use of an electronic

device provided to a student by the district or school during

instructional time for instruction in a subject in the foundation

curriculum under Section 28.002(a)(1).

(b) This section does not apply to a student:

(1) using a calculator for educational purposes in a

mathematics course; or

(2) enrolled in a hybrid or virtual course or program

under Chapter 30B or other law using an electronic device to attend

or participate in class.

SECTION 3. The heading to Section 32.102, Education Code,

is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 32.102. AUTHORITY FOR TRANSFER .

SECTION 4. Section 32.1021, Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 32.1021. STANDARDS. The agency shall adopt standards

for permissible electronic devices and software applications used

by a school district or open-enrollment charter school. In adopting

the standards, the agency must:

(1) minimize data collection conducted on students

through electronic devices and software applications;

(2) ensure direct and informed parental consent is

required for a student's use of a software application, other than a

software application necessary for the administration of:

(A) an assessment instrument under Subchapter B,

Chapter 39; or

(B) an assessment relating to college, career, or

military readiness for which student performance is considered in

evaluating a school district's performance under Section 39.054;

(3) ensure software applications do not conduct mental

health assessments or other assessments unrelated to educational

curricula that are intended to collect information about students

without direct and informed parental consent;

(4) ensure that parents are provided the resources

necessary to understand cybersecurity risks and online safety

regarding their child's use of electronic devices before the child

uses an electronic device at the child's school;

(5) specify periods of time during which an electronic

device transferred to a student must be deactivated in the interest

of student safety;

(6) consider necessary adjustments by age level to the

use of electronic devices in the classroom to foster development of

students' abilities regarding spending school time and completing

assignments without the use of an electronic device;

(7) require a district or school to install on each

electronic device provided to a student an Internet filter that

blocks and prohibits, including from unsolicited pop-ups,

installations, or downloads:

(A) [ consider appropriate restrictions on

student access to ] social media websites or applications ;

(B) an Internet website or application that

includes a messaging platform that is primarily used for

peer-to-peer communication and enables the student to communicate

with a person outside the student's classroom; and

(C) pornographic, obscene, or violent materials

or applications, as defined by the agency [ with an electronic

device transferred to a student by a district or school ];

(8) require a district or school, before using a

social media application for an educational purpose, to determine

that an alternative application that is more secure and provides

the same educational functionality as the social media application

is unavailable for that educational purpose;

(9) consider the required use of an Internet filter

capable of notifying appropriate school administrators, who are

then required to notify the student's parent, if a student accesses

inappropriate or concerning content or words, including content

related to:

(A) self-harm;

(B) suicide;

(C) violence to others; or

(D) illicit drugs;

(10) assign to the appropriate officer of a district

or school the duty to receive complaints or concerns regarding

student use of electronic devices, including cybersecurity and

online safety concerns, from district or school staff, other

students, or parents; and

(11) provide methods by which a district or school may

ensure an operator, as that term is defined by Section 32.151, that

contracts with the district or school to provide software

applications complies with Subchapter D.

SECTION 5. The heading to Section 32.103, Education Code,

is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 32.103. ELIGIBILITY FOR TRANSFER ; PREFERENCE.

SECTION 6. Section 32.104, Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 32.104. REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANSFER. Before

transferring data processing equipment or an electronic device to a

student, a school district or open-enrollment charter school must:

(1) adopt rules governing transfers under this

subchapter, including provisions for technical assistance to the

student by the district or school;

(2) determine that the transfer serves a public

purpose and benefits the district or school;

(3) remove from the equipment any offensive,

confidential, or proprietary information, as determined by the

district or school;

(4) adopt rules establishing programs promoting

parents as partners in cybersecurity and online safety that involve

parents in students' use of transferred equipment or electronic

devices; and

(5) for the transfer of an electronic device to be used

for an educational purpose, install an Internet filter that blocks

and prohibits Internet websites, [ pornographic or obscene ]

materials , or applications described by Section 32.1021(7) [ ,

including from unsolicited pop-ups, installations, and downloads ].

SECTION 7. Section 45.001, Education Code, is amended by

amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as

follows:

(a) The governing board of an independent school district,

including the city council or commission that has jurisdiction over

a municipally controlled independent school district, the

governing board of a rural high school district, and the

commissioners court of a county, on behalf of each common school

district under its jurisdiction, may:

(1) subject to Subsection (a-1), issue bonds for:

(A) the construction, acquisition, and equipment

of school buildings in the district;

(B) the acquisition of property or the

refinancing of property financed under a contract entered under

Subchapter A, Chapter 271, Local Government Code, regardless of

whether payment obligations under the contract are due in the

current year or a future year;

(C) the purchase of the necessary sites for

school buildings;

(D) the purchase of new school buses;

(E) the retrofitting of school buses with

emergency, safety, or security equipment; and

(F) the purchase or retrofitting of vehicles to

be used for emergency, safety, or security purposes; and

(2) levy, pledge, assess, and collect annual ad

valorem taxes sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on the

bonds as or before the principal and interest become due, subject to

Section 45.003.

(a-1) Bonds may not be issued under Subsection (a) for the

acquisition or update of an electronic device, as that term is

defined by Section 32.101, to be provided or transferred to a

student for the student's exclusive use.

SECTION 8. (a) Subchapter C, Chapter 32, Education Code, as

amended by this Act, applies beginning with the 2027-2028 school

year.

(b) Section 45.001, Education Code, as amended by this Act,

applies only to a bond issued by a school district on or after

September 1, 2027.

SECTION 9. 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, 2027.