86R3539 JES-F
By: Taylor S.B. No. 1893
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a trauma-informed care policy for school districts and
open-enrollment charter schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 11.252(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Each school district shall have a district improvement
plan that is developed, evaluated, and revised annually, in
accordance with district policy, by the superintendent with the
assistance of the district-level committee established under
Section 11.251. The purpose of the district improvement plan is to
guide district and campus staff in the improvement of student
performance for all student groups in order to attain state
standards in respect to the achievement indicators adopted under
Section 39.053(c). The district improvement plan must include
provisions for:
(1) a comprehensive needs assessment addressing
district student performance on the achievement indicators, and
other appropriate measures of performance, that are disaggregated
by all student groups served by the district, including categories
of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sex, and populations served by
special programs, including students in special education programs
under Subchapter A, Chapter 29;
(2) measurable district performance objectives for
all appropriate achievement indicators for all student
populations, including students in special education programs
under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, and other measures of student
performance that may be identified through the comprehensive needs
assessment;
(3) strategies for improvement of student performance
that include:
(A) instructional methods for addressing the
needs of student groups not achieving their full potential;
(B) methods for addressing the needs of students
for special programs, including:
(i) suicide prevention programs, in
accordance with Subchapter O-1, Chapter 161, Health and Safety
Code, which includes a parental or guardian notification procedure;
(ii) conflict resolution programs;
(iii) violence prevention programs; and
(iv) dyslexia treatment programs;
(C) dropout reduction;
(D) integration of technology in instructional
and administrative programs;
(E) discipline management;
(F) staff development for professional staff of
the district;
(G) career education to assist students in
developing the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary for a
broad range of career opportunities; and
(H) accelerated education;
(4) strategies for providing to middle school, junior
high school, and high school students, those students' teachers and
school counselors, and those students' parents information about:
(A) higher education admissions and financial
aid opportunities;
(B) the TEXAS grant program and the Teach for
Texas grant program established under Chapter 56;
(C) the need for students to make informed
curriculum choices to be prepared for success beyond high school;
and
(D) sources of information on higher education
admissions and financial aid;
(5) resources needed to implement identified
strategies;
(6) staff responsible for ensuring the accomplishment
of each strategy;
(7) timelines for ongoing monitoring of the
implementation of each improvement strategy;
(8) formative evaluation criteria for determining
periodically whether strategies are resulting in intended
improvement of student performance; [and]
(9) the policy under Section 38.0041 addressing sexual
abuse and other maltreatment of children; and
(10) the trauma-informed care policy under Section
38.036.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 38, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 38.036 to read as follows:
Sec. 38.036. TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE POLICY. (a) Each school
district and open-enrollment charter school shall adopt and
implement a policy requiring the integration of trauma-informed
practices in each school environment. A district must include the
policy in the district improvement plan required under Section
11.252.
(b) A policy required by this section must address:
(1) using resources developed by the agency, methods
for:
(A) increasing staff and parent awareness of
trauma-informed care; and
(B) implementation of trauma-informed practices
and care by district and campus staff; and
(2) available counseling options for students
affected by trauma or grief.
(c) The methods under Subsection (b)(1) for increasing
awareness and implementation of trauma-informed care must include
training as provided by this subsection. The training:
(1) must be provided:
(A) through a program selected from the list of
recommended best practice-based programs and research-based
practices established under Section 161.325, Health and Safety
Code; and
(B) as part of any new employee orientation for
all new school district and open-enrollment charter school
educators; and
(2) may be:
(A) provided annually to all school district or
open-enrollment charter school employees; and
(B) included in staff development under Section
21.451.
(d) For any training under Subsection (c), each school
district and open-enrollment charter school shall maintain records
that include the name of each district or charter school staff
member who participated in the training.
(e) If a school district or open-enrollment charter school
determines that the district or charter school does not have
sufficient resources to provide the training required under
Subsection (c), the district or charter school may partner with a
community mental health organization to provide training that meets
the requirements of Subsection (c) at no cost to the district or
charter school.
(f) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
administer this section.
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020
school year.
SECTION 4. 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.