| 4 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 5 | 7 | | relating to providing certain public and private school |
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| 6 | 8 | | administrators with information regarding certain child abuse and |
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| 7 | 9 | | neglect investigations and allegations. |
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| 8 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Section 261.105(d), Family Code, is amended to |
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| 10 | 12 | | read as follows: |
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| 11 | 13 | | (d) If the department initiates an investigation and |
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| 12 | 14 | | determines that the abuse or neglect does not involve a person |
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| 13 | 15 | | responsible for the child's care, custody, or welfare, the |
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| 14 | 16 | | department shall refer the report to a law enforcement agency for |
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| 15 | 17 | | further investigation. If the department determines that the |
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| 16 | 18 | | abuse or neglect involves an employee of a public or private |
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| 17 | 19 | | elementary or secondary school, and that the child is a student at |
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| 18 | 20 | | the school, the department shall orally notify the superintendent |
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| 19 | 21 | | of the school district, the director of the open-enrollment charter |
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| 20 | 22 | | school, or the chief executive officer of the private school in |
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| 21 | 23 | | which the employee is employed about the investigation. |
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| 22 | 24 | | SECTION 2. Section 261.308(d), Family Code, is amended to |
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| 23 | 25 | | read as follows: |
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| 24 | 26 | | (d) The department shall release information regarding a |
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| 25 | 27 | | person alleged to have committed abuse or neglect to persons who |
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| 26 | 28 | | have control over the person's access to children, including, as |
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| 27 | 29 | | appropriate, the Texas Education Agency, the State Board for |
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| 28 | 30 | | Educator Certification, the local school board or the school's |
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| 29 | 31 | | governing body, the superintendent of the school district, [or] the |
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| 30 | 32 | | public school principal or director, the director of the |
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| 31 | 33 | | open-enrollment charter school, or the chief executive officer of |
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| 32 | 34 | | the private school if the department determines that: |
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| 33 | 35 | | (1) the person alleged to have committed abuse or |
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| 34 | 36 | | neglect poses a substantial and immediate risk of harm to one or |
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| 35 | 37 | | more children outside the family of a child who is the subject of |
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| 36 | 38 | | the investigation; and |
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| 37 | 39 | | (2) the release of the information is necessary to |
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| 38 | 40 | | assist in protecting one or more children from the person alleged to |
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| 39 | 41 | | have committed abuse or neglect. |
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| 40 | 42 | | SECTION 3. Sections 261.406(a) and (b), Family Code, are |
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| 41 | 43 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 42 | 44 | | (a) On receipt of a report of alleged or suspected abuse or |
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| 43 | 45 | | neglect of a child in a public or private school [under the |
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| 44 | 46 | | jurisdiction of the Texas Education Agency], the department shall |
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| 45 | 47 | | perform an investigation as provided by this chapter. |
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| 46 | 48 | | (b) The department shall send a copy of the completed report |
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| 47 | 49 | | of the department's investigation to the Texas Education Agency or, |
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| 48 | 50 | | in the case of a private school, the school's chief executive |
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| 49 | 51 | | officer. On request, the department shall provide a copy of the |
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| 50 | 52 | | completed report of the department's investigation to the State |
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| 51 | 53 | | Board for Educator Certification, the local school board or the |
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| 52 | 54 | | school's governing body, the superintendent of the school district, |
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| 53 | 55 | | [and] the public school principal or director, or the chief |
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| 54 | 56 | | executive officer of the private school, unless the principal, [or] |
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| 55 | 57 | | director, or chief executive officer is alleged to have committed |
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| 56 | 58 | | the abuse or neglect, for appropriate action. On request, the |
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| 57 | 59 | | department shall provide a copy of the report of investigation to |
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| 58 | 60 | | the parent, managing conservator, or legal guardian of a child who |
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| 59 | 61 | | is the subject of the investigation and to the person alleged to |
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| 60 | 62 | | have committed the abuse or neglect. The report of investigation |
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| 61 | 63 | | shall be edited to protect the identity of the persons who made the |
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| 62 | 64 | | report of abuse or neglect. Except as otherwise provided by this |
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| 63 | 65 | | subsection [Other than the persons authorized by the section to |
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| 64 | 66 | | receive a copy of the report], Section 261.201(b) applies to the |
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| 65 | 67 | | release of the report relating to the investigation of abuse or |
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| 66 | 68 | | neglect under this section and to the identity of the person who |
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| 67 | 69 | | made the report of abuse or neglect. |
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| 68 | 70 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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