Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4391 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R11838 BDP-F
2	2	By: Talarico H.B. No. 4391
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the implementation of student and family engagement
8	8	plans by school districts.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Section 29.926 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 29.926. STUDENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT PLANS. (a) Each
13	13	school district shall develop and implement a student and family
14	14	engagement plan for students in each grade level from
15	15	prekindergarten through grade 12 to assist the district in:
16	16	(1) achieving and maintaining high levels of family
17	17	involvement and positive family attitudes toward education;
18	18	(2) strengthening relationships between students,
19	19	families, and teachers;
20	20	(3) creating positive outcomes by increasing positive
21	21	student engagement and developing the student's sense of connection
22	22	to the student's learning environment, including by ensuring that
23	23	the student is:
24	24	(A) actively involved in the student's academic
25	25	achievement; and
26	26	(B) positively motivated to attend school
27	27	regularly and graduate;
28	28	(4) creating opportunities for parents to engage with
29	29	and be directly involved in their child's education; and
30	30	(5) creating a communal campus environment that
31	31	includes students, families, teachers, district staff, and
32	32	community-based organizations that provide resources to students
33	33	for social-emotional and academic development.
34	34	(b) The student and family engagement plans must be based on
35	35	student and parent engagement strategies that:
36	36	(1) are based on empirical research;
37	37	(2) establish a system of communication, updated
38	38	annually based on a district assessment of parent and communication
39	39	needs, between students, families, and school districts that
40	40	includes mailed, electronic, and virtual communications, such as
41	41	phone calls, text messaging, and e-mail;
42	42	(3) provide support for students who are attending
43	43	school in-person or virtually through counselors, teachers, and
44	44	district staff;
45	45	(4) use diagnostic tools to evaluate the emotional,
46	46	behavioral, and cognitive engagement of students and communicate
47	47	the results to the family of the student;
48	48	(5) include regular meetings with interested persons,
49	49	including community-based organizations, throughout the school
50	50	year regarding the development and implementation of the engagement
51	51	plans;
52	52	(6) are proven to demonstrate significant positive
53	53	short-term and long-term outcomes for early childhood, elementary,
54	54	middle school, and high school education;
55	55	(7) include programs and interventions that engage a
56	56	family in supporting a student's learning at home;
57	57	(8) include programming that is accessible by students
58	58	who are bilingual and students of limited English proficiency;
59	59	(9) are proven to demonstrate solutions that build
60	60	long-lasting generational relationships between school districts
61	61	and families; and
62	62	(10) support virtual or remote learning by promoting
63	63	digital communication and literacy and by ensuring that students
64	64	have access to devices and broadband Internet throughout the
65	65	duration of a disaster declared by the president of the United
66	66	States under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
67	67	Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Section 5121 et seq.) or by the governor
68	68	under Chapter 418, Government Code.
69	69	(c) Each school district shall ensure that student and
70	70	family engagement plans are consistent with the public education
71	71	mission and objectives described by Section 4.001 and accessible to
72	72	students who are educationally disadvantaged.
73	73	(d) In developing student and family engagement plans, a
74	74	school district must collaborate with campus leaders, educators,
75	75	teachers, families, and students at all grade levels to include in
76	76	the student and family engagement plans the strategies described by
77	77	Subsection (b). A school district must provide for a student at the
78	78	middle or high school level to be directly involved in developing
79	79	student engagement plans.
80	80	(e) The agency shall offer administrative support and
81	81	resources to assist school districts with developing and
82	82	implementing student and family engagement plans as provided by
83	83	this section.
84	84	(f) Not later than the 30th instructional day following the
85	85	first day of school, each school district shall post the student and
86	86	family engagement plans on the district's Internet website.
87	87	(g) The agency shall collaborate with other state agencies,
88	88	including the Health and Human Services Commission, that provide
89	89	services for children to establish prioritized family engagement
90	90	strategies to be included in a school district's family engagement
91	91	plan.
92	92	(h) A parent-teacher organization, community group, or
93	93	faith-based institution may submit to the agency recommendations
94	94	regarding the establishment of family engagement strategies, and
95	95	the agency, in establishing the family engagement strategies, shall
96	96	consider any submitted recommendations.
97	97	(i) Each school district shall review the student and family
98	98	engagement plans annually and update the plans at least once every
99	99	five years.
100	100	SECTION 2. Section 29.168, Education Code, is repealed.
101	101	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
102	102	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
103	103	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
104	104	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
105	105	Act takes effect September 1, 2021.