S.B. No. 1231
AN ACT
relating to providing certain public and private school
administrators with information regarding certain child abuse and
neglect investigations and allegations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 261.105(d), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) If the department initiates an investigation and
determines that the abuse or neglect does not involve a person
responsible for the child's care, custody, or welfare, the
department shall refer the report to a law enforcement agency for
further investigation. If the department determines that the
abuse or neglect involves an employee of a public or private
elementary or secondary school, and that the child is a student at
the school, the department shall orally notify the superintendent
of the school district, the director of the open-enrollment charter
school, or the chief executive officer of the private school in
which the employee is employed about the investigation.
SECTION 2. Section 261.308(d), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The department shall release information regarding a
person alleged to have committed abuse or neglect to persons who
have control over the person's access to children, including, as
appropriate, the Texas Education Agency, the State Board for
Educator Certification, the local school board or the school's
governing body, the superintendent of the school district, [or] the
public school principal or director, the director of the
open-enrollment charter school, or the chief executive officer of
the private school if the department determines that:
(1) the person alleged to have committed abuse or
neglect poses a substantial and immediate risk of harm to one or
more children outside the family of a child who is the subject of
the investigation; and
(2) the release of the information is necessary to
assist in protecting one or more children from the person alleged to
have committed abuse or neglect.
SECTION 3. Sections 261.406(a) and (b), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) On receipt of a report of alleged or suspected abuse or
neglect of a child in a public or private school [under the
jurisdiction of the Texas Education Agency], the department shall
perform an investigation as provided by this chapter.
(b) The department shall send a copy of the completed report
of the department's investigation to the Texas Education Agency or,
in the case of a private school, the school's chief executive
officer. On request, the department shall provide a copy of the
completed report of the department's investigation to the State
Board for Educator Certification, the local school board or the
school's governing body, the superintendent of the school district,
[and] the public school principal or director, or the chief
executive officer of the private school, unless the principal, [or]
director, or chief executive officer is alleged to have committed
the abuse or neglect, for appropriate action. On request, the
department shall provide a copy of the report of investigation to
the parent, managing conservator, or legal guardian of a child who
is the subject of the investigation and to the person alleged to
have committed the abuse or neglect. The report of investigation
shall be edited to protect the identity of the persons who made the
report of abuse or neglect. Except as otherwise provided by this
subsection [Other than the persons authorized by the section to
receive a copy of the report], Section 261.201(b) applies to the
release of the report relating to the investigation of abuse or
neglect under this section and to the identity of the person who
made the report of abuse or neglect.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1231 passed the Senate on
April 4, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1231 passed the House on
May 22, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, two
present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor