| 1 | 1 | | 85R6883 MEW-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Blanco H.B. No. 1042 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to student access to public school instructional materials |
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| 8 | 8 | | and technology. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 26.006, Education Code, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read |
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| 12 | 12 | | as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (c) A student's parent is entitled to request that the |
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| 14 | 14 | | school district or open-enrollment charter school the student |
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| 15 | 15 | | attends allow the student to take home any instructional materials |
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| 16 | 16 | | used by the student. Subject to the availability of the |
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| 17 | 17 | | instructional materials, the district or school shall honor the |
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| 18 | 18 | | request. A student who takes home instructional materials must |
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| 19 | 19 | | return the instructional materials to school at the beginning of |
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| 20 | 20 | | the next school day if requested to do so by the student's teacher. |
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| 21 | 21 | | A school district or open-enrollment charter school must provide |
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| 22 | 22 | | the instructional materials to the student in printed book format |
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| 23 | 23 | | if the student does not have reliable access to technology at the |
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| 24 | 24 | | student's home. In this subsection, "instructional material" has |
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| 25 | 25 | | the meaning assigned by Section 31.002. |
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| 26 | 26 | | (d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school |
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| 27 | 27 | | must document each parental request made under Subsection (c) to |
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| 28 | 28 | | allow a student to take home instructional material used by the |
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| 29 | 29 | | student that the district or school denies. The documentation must |
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| 30 | 30 | | include the reasons for denying the request. Not later than the |
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| 31 | 31 | | 30th day after the date the district or school receives the request, |
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| 32 | 32 | | the district or school must report to the agency that the request |
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| 33 | 33 | | has been denied. |
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| 34 | 34 | | (e) Not later than September 1 of each year, the agency |
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| 35 | 35 | | shall submit an annual report to the legislature that includes the |
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| 36 | 36 | | number of parental requests made under Subsection (c) to allow a |
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| 37 | 37 | | student to take home instructional material used by the student |
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| 38 | 38 | | that each school district and open-enrollment charter school denied |
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| 39 | 39 | | and the reasons for the denial. |
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| 40 | 40 | | SECTION 2. Section 26.006, Education Code, as amended by |
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| 41 | 41 | | this Act, applies beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. |
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| 42 | 42 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 43 | 43 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 44 | 44 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 45 | 45 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 46 | 46 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |
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