Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB589 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R637 MEW-F
2	2	By: González of El Paso H.B. No. 589
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the use of public school counselors' work time.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 33.006, Education Code, is amended by
10	10	adding Subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g) to read as follows:
11	11	(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), the board of
12	12	trustees of each school district shall adopt a policy that requires
13	13	a school counselor to spend at least 80 percent of the school
14	14	counselor's total work time on duties that are components of a
15	15	counseling program developed under Section 33.005. For purposes of
16	16	this subsection, time spent in administering assessment
17	17	instruments or providing other assistance in connection with
18	18	assessment instruments, except time spent in interpreting data from
19	19	assessment instruments, is not considered time spent on counseling.
20	20	Each school in the district shall implement the policy. A copy of
21	21	the policy shall be maintained in the office of each school in the
22	22	district and made available on request during regular school hours
23	23	to district employees, parents of district students, and the
24	24	public.
25	25	(e) If the board of trustees of a school district determines
26	26	that, because of staffing needs in the district or at a school in
27	27	the district, a school counselor must spend less than 80 percent of
28	28	the school counselor's total work time on duties that are
29	29	components of a counseling program developed under Section 33.005,
30	30	the policy adopted under Subsection (d) shall:
31	31	(1) include the reasons why the counselor needs to
32	32	spend less than 80 percent of the counselor's work time on duties
33	33	that are components of the counseling program;
34	34	(2) list the duties the counselor is expected to
35	35	perform that are not components of the counseling program; and
36	36	(3) set the percentage of work time that the counselor
37	37	is required to spend on components of the counseling program.
38	38	(f) A school district may not include a provision in an
39	39	employment contract with a school counselor under Chapter 21 that
40	40	conflicts with the policy required by Subsection (d) or, except as
41	41	provided by Subsection (g), has the effect of authorizing a school
42	42	principal or school district superintendent to require a school
43	43	counselor to generally perform duties that are not primarily
44	44	related to a counseling function.
45	45	(g) A school district to which Subsection (e) applies may
46	46	not include a provision in an employment contract under Chapter 21
47	47	with an affected school counselor that has the effect of requiring
48	48	the counselor to generally perform a duty that is not primarily
49	49	related to a counseling function unless the duty is specified in the
50	50	district's policy under Subsection (e)(2).
51	51	SECTION 2. Section 7.028(a), Education Code, is amended to
52	52	read as follows:
53	53	(a) Except as provided by Section 21.006(k), 22.093(l),
54	54	22.096, 28.006, 29.001(5), 29.010(a), 38.003, 39.056(d-1), or
55	55	39.057, the agency may monitor compliance with requirements
56	56	applicable to a process or program provided by a school district,
57	57	campus, program, or school granted charters under Chapter 12,
58	58	including the process described by Subchapter F, Chapter 11, or a
59	59	program described by Subchapter B, C, D, E, F, H, or I, Chapter 29,
60	60	or Subchapter A, Chapter 37, only as necessary to ensure:
61	61	(1) compliance with federal law and regulations;
62	62	(2) financial accountability, including compliance
63	63	with grant requirements;
64	64	(3) data integrity for purposes of:
65	65	(A) the Public Education Information Management
66	66	System (PEIMS); and
67	67	(B) accountability under Chapters 39 and 39A; and
68	68	(4) qualification for funding under Chapter 48.
69	69	SECTION 3. Section 39.056, Education Code, is amended by
70	70	adding Subsection (d-1) to read as follows:
71	71	(d-1) Before a monitoring review, the commissioner shall
72	72	request that the school district scheduled for the review assess
73	73	the district's compliance with the policy adopted under Section
74	74	33.006(d) and provide a written copy of the assessment to the agency
75	75	on or before the date specified by the commissioner. As part of each
76	76	monitoring review, the agency shall interview a percentage of
77	77	district school counselors determined by the commissioner to assess
78	78	the district's compliance with the policy adopted under Section
79	79	33.006(d). The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement this
80	80	subsection.
81	81	SECTION 4. (a) Each school district shall implement a
82	82	policy adopted under Section 33.006(d), Education Code, as added by
83	83	this Act, beginning with the 2021-2022 school year.
84	84	(b) Sections 33.006(f) and (g), Education Code, as added by
85	85	this Act, apply only to a contract executed on or after the
86	86	effective date of this Act. A contract executed before the
87	87	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
88	88	date the contract was executed, and the former law is continued in
89	89	effect for that purpose.
90	90	(c) Section 7.028(a), Education Code, as amended by this
91	91	Act, and Section 39.056(d-1), Education Code, as added by this Act,
92	92	apply beginning with the 2021-2022 school year.
93	93	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
94	94	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
95	95	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
96	96	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
97	97	Act takes effect September 1, 2021.