Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2740 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		86R4673 EAS-F
2		-	By: Meyer~~, Leach, et al.~~ H.B. No. 2740
	2	+	By: Meyer H.B. No. 2740
3	3
4	4
5	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6		AN ACT
7	7		relating to providing certain public and private school
8	8		administrators with information regarding certain child abuse and
9	9		neglect investigations and allegations.
10	10		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11		SECTION 1. Section 261.105(d), Family Code, is amended to
12	12		read as follows:
13	13		(d) If the department initiates an investigation and
14	14		determines that the abuse or neglect does not involve a person
15	15		responsible for the child's care, custody, or welfare, the
16	16		department shall refer the report to a law enforcement agency for
17	17		further investigation. If the department determines that the
18	18		abuse or neglect involves an employee of a public or private
19	19		elementary or secondary school, and that the child is a student at
20	20		the school, the department shall orally notify the superintendent
21	21		of the school district, the director of the open-enrollment charter
22	22		school, or the chief executive officer of the private school in
23	23		which the employee is employed about the investigation.
24	24		SECTION 2. Section 261.308(d), Family Code, is amended to
25	25		read as follows:
26	26		(d) The department shall release information regarding a
27	27		person alleged to have committed abuse or neglect to persons who
28	28		have control over the person's access to children, including, as
29	29		appropriate, the Texas Education Agency, the State Board for
30	30		Educator Certification, the local school board or the school's
31	31		governing body, the superintendent of the school district, [or] the
32	32		public school principal or director, the director of the
33	33		open-enrollment charter school, or the chief executive officer of
34	34		the private school if the department determines that:
35	35		(1) the person alleged to have committed abuse or
36	36		neglect poses a substantial and immediate risk of harm to one or
37	37		more children outside the family of a child who is the subject of
38	38		the investigation; and
39	39		(2) the release of the information is necessary to
40	40		assist in protecting one or more children from the person alleged to
41	41		have committed abuse or neglect.
42	42		SECTION 3. Sections 261.406(a) and (b), Family Code, are
43	43		amended to read as follows:
44	44		(a) On receipt of a report of alleged or suspected abuse or
45	45		neglect of a child in a public or private school [under the
46	46		jurisdiction of the Texas Education Agency], the department shall
47	47		perform an investigation as provided by this chapter.
48	48		(b) The department shall send a copy of the completed report
49	49		of the department's investigation to the Texas Education Agency or,
50	50		in the case of a private school, the school's chief executive
51	51		officer. On request, the department shall provide a copy of the
52	52		completed report of the department's investigation to the State
53	53		Board for Educator Certification, the local school board or the
54	54		school's governing body, the superintendent of the school district,
55	55		[and] the public school principal or director, or the chief
56	56		executive officer of the private school, unless the principal, [or]
57	57		director, or chief executive officer is alleged to have committed
58	58		the abuse or neglect, for appropriate action. On request, the
59	59		department shall provide a copy of the report of investigation to
60	60		the parent, managing conservator, or legal guardian of a child who
61	61		is the subject of the investigation and to the person alleged to
62	62		have committed the abuse or neglect. The report of investigation
63	63		shall be edited to protect the identity of the persons who made the
64	64		report of abuse or neglect. Except as otherwise provided by this
65	65		subsection [Other than the persons authorized by the section to
66	66		receive a copy of the report], Section 261.201(b) applies to the
67	67		release of the report relating to the investigation of abuse or
68	68		neglect under this section and to the identity of the person who
69	69		made the report of abuse or neglect.
70	70		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.