By: Blanco, Guillen (Senate Sponsor - Zaffirini) H.B. No. 391
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2019;
April 29, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on
Education; May 15, 2019, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0;
May 15, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 391 By: Powell
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to student access to public school instructional materials
and technology.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 26.006, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(c) A student's parent is entitled to request that the
school district or open-enrollment charter school the student
attends allow the student to take home any instructional materials
used by the student. Subject to the availability of the
instructional materials, the district or school shall honor the
request. A student who takes home instructional materials must
return the instructional materials to school at the beginning of
the next school day if requested to do so by the student's teacher.
A school district or open-enrollment charter school must provide
the instructional materials to the student in printed format if the
student does not have reliable access to technology at the
student's home. In this subsection, "instructional material" has
the meaning assigned by Section 31.002.
(d) The requirement under Subsection (c) to provide to a
student instructional materials in a printed format does not
require a school district or open-enrollment charter school to
purchase printed copies of instructional materials that the
district or school otherwise would not purchase. A district or
school may comply with Subsection (c) by providing the student a
printout of the relevant electronic instructional materials.
SECTION 2. Section 26.006, Education Code, as amended by
this Act, applies beginning with the 2019-2020 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, 2019.
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