By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 369
(In the Senate - Filed January 15, 2021; March 9, 2021, read
first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 19, 2021,
reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 19, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 369 By: Schwertner
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the requirement to submit a financial aid application
as a condition of high school graduation for public school
students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 28.0256(a), (c), (d), and (e),
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Before graduating from high school, each student must
complete and submit a free application for federal student aid
(FAFSA) or a Texas application for state financial aid (TASFA),
except as otherwise provided by Subsection (b).
(c) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
shall adopt a form to be used for purposes of Subsection (b). The
form must [be]:
(1) be approved by the agency; [and]
(2) provide the student or the student's parent or
other person standing in parental relation, as applicable, the
opportunity to decline to complete and submit a financial aid
application, as provided by Subsection (b); and
(3) be made available in English, Spanish, and any
other language spoken by a majority of the students enrolled in a
bilingual education or special language program under Subchapter B,
Chapter 29, in the district or school.
(d) If a school counselor notifies a school district or
open-enrollment charter school whether a student has complied with
this section for purposes of determining whether the student meets
high school graduation requirements under Section 28.025, the
school counselor may only indicate whether the student has complied
with this section and may not indicate the manner in which the
student complied, except as necessary for the district or school to
comply with rules adopted under Subsection (e)(2). A school
counselor may not indicate that a student has not complied with this
section if the school district or open-enrollment charter school
fails to provide the form adopted under Subsection (c) to the
student or the student's parent or other person standing in
parental relation to the student.
(e) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
implement this section, including rules to:
(1) establish:
(A) a timeline for:
(i) the distribution to students of the
free application for federal student aid or Texas application for
state financial aid and the form adopted under Subsection (c); and
(ii) the submission of a form under
Subsection (b);
(B) standards regarding the information that a
school district or open-enrollment charter school must provide to
students regarding:
(i) in accordance with Section
33.007(b)(5), instructions for filling out the free application for
federal student aid or Texas application for state financial aid;
and
(ii) the options available to a student
under Subsection (b) if the student wishes to decline to complete
and submit a financial aid application; and
(C) the method by which a student must provide to
a school district or open-enrollment charter school proof that the
student has completed and submitted the free application for
federal student aid or Texas application for state financial aid as
required by this section;
(2) require each school district and open-enrollment
charter school to report to the agency:
(A) the number of students who completed and
submitted a financial aid application under Subsection (a); and
(B) the number of students who received an
exception from complying with Subsection (a) under Subsection (b);
and
(3) ensure compliance with federal law regarding
confidentiality of student educational information, including the
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C.
Section 1232g), and any state law relating to the privacy of student
information.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022
school year.
SECTION 3. 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, 2021.
* * * * *