By: Hunter (Senate Sponsor - Hinojosa) H.B. No. 742
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2011;
May 9, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Education; May 19, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0;
May 19, 2011, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 742 By: Seliger
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to student information required to be provided at the time
of enrollment in public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 25.0022 to read as follows:
Sec. 25.0022. FOOD ALLERGY INFORMATION REQUESTED UPON
ENROLLMENT. (a) In this section, "severe food allergy" means a
dangerous or life-threatening reaction of the human body to a
food-borne allergen introduced by inhalation, ingestion, or skin
contact that requires immediate medical attention.
(b) On enrollment of a child in a public school, a school
district shall request, by providing a form or otherwise, that a
parent or other person with legal control of the child under a court
order:
(1) disclose whether the child has a food allergy or a
severe food allergy that, in the judgment of the parent or other
person with legal control, should be disclosed to the district to
enable the district to take any necessary precautions regarding the
child's safety; and
(2) specify the food to which the child is allergic and
the nature of the allergic reaction.
(c) A school district shall maintain the confidentiality of
information provided under this section, and may disclose the
information to teachers, school counselors, school nurses, and
other appropriate school personnel only to the extent consistent
with district policy under Section 38.009 and permissible under the
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C.
Section 1232g).
(d) Except as provided by Subsections (e) and (f),
information regarding a child's food allergy, regardless of how it
is received by the school or school district, shall be retained in
the child's student records but may not be placed in the health
record maintained for the child by the school district.
(e) If the school receives documentation of a food allergy
from a physician, that documentation shall be placed in the health
record maintained for the child by the school district.
(f) A registered nurse may enter appropriate notes about a
child's possible food allergy in the health record maintained for
the child by the school district, including a notation that the
child's student records indicate that a parent has notified the
school district of the child's possible food allergy.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012
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, 2011.
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