H.B. No. 684
AN ACT
relating to the care of students with seizure disorders and the
training requirements for certain school personnel regarding
seizure recognition and related first aid.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as Sam's Law.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 38, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 38.032 and 38.033 to read as follows:
Sec. 38.032. SEIZURE MANAGEMENT AND TREATMENT PLAN. (a)
The parent or guardian of a student with a seizure disorder may seek
care for the student's seizures while the student is at school or
participating in a school activity by submitting to the school
district at which the student is enrolled a copy of a seizure
management and treatment plan developed by the student's parent or
guardian and the physician responsible for the student's seizure
treatment. The plan must be submitted to and reviewed by the
district:
(1) before or at the beginning of the school year;
(2) on enrollment of the student, if the student
enrolls in the district after the beginning of the school year; or
(3) as soon as practicable following a diagnosis of a
seizure disorder for the student.
(b) A seizure management and treatment plan must:
(1) identify the health care services the student may
receive at school or while participating in a school activity;
(2) evaluate the student's ability to manage and level
of understanding of the student's seizures; and
(3) be signed by the student's parent or guardian and
the physician responsible for the student's seizure treatment.
(c) The care of a student with a seizure disorder by a
district employee under a seizure management plan submitted under
this section is incident to or within the scope of the duties of the
employee's position of employment and involves the exercise of
judgment or discretion on the part of the employee for purposes of
Section 22.0511.
(d) The immunity from liability provided by Section 22.0511
applies to an action or failure to act by a district employee in
administering a medication, assisting with self-administration, or
otherwise providing for the care of a student under a seizure
management plan submitted for the student under Subsection (a).
Sec. 38.033. SEIZURE RECOGNITION AND RELATED FIRST AID
TRAINING. (a) A school nurse employed by a school district must
complete an agency-approved online course of instruction for school
nurses regarding managing students with seizure disorders that
includes information about seizure recognition and related first
aid.
(b) A school district employee, other than a school nurse,
whose duties at the school include regular contact with students
must complete an agency-approved online course of instruction for
school personnel regarding awareness of students with seizure
disorders that includes information about seizure recognition and
related first aid.
(c) The agency may approve an online course of instruction
provided by a nonprofit national foundation that supports the
welfare of individuals with epilepsy and seizure disorders to
satisfy the training required under Subsection (a) or (b). An
online course of instruction approved by the agency under this
subsection that is provided to a school district must be provided by
the nonprofit entity free of charge.
(d) The agency shall adopt rules as necessary to administer
this section.
SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2019, the Texas
Education Agency shall approve online courses of instruction to
satisfy the training requirements of Section 38.033, Education
Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies
beginning with the 2019-2020 school year.
SECTION 5. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 684 was passed by the House on April
16, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 684 on May 22, 2019, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 684 on May 26, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 143,
Nays 0, 2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 684 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 14, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
684 on May 26, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor