Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2694 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R10295 AMF-D
2	2	By: Jones of Dallas H.B. No. 2694
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	relating to a notification requirement if a public school does not
7	7	have a nurse, school counselor, or librarian assigned to the school
8	8	during all instructional hours.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Section 25.096 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 25.096. PARENTAL NOTIFICATION CONCERNING NURSES,
13	13	SCHOOL COUNSELORS, AND LIBRARIANS. (a) In this section:
14	14	(1) "Librarian" means a person certified as a
15	15	librarian under Subchapter B, Chapter 21.
16	16	(2) "Nurse" means a person licensed under Chapter 301,
17	17	Occupations Code.
18	18	(3) "School counselor" means a person certified as a
19	19	school counselor under Subchapter B, Chapter 21.
20	20	(b) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (i), a public
21	21	school, including an open-enrollment charter school, that does not
22	22	have a full-time nurse, school counselor, or librarian or the
23	23	equivalent of a full-time nurse, school counselor, or librarian
24	24	assigned to be present at the school for more than 30 consecutive
25	25	instructional days during the same school year shall provide
26	26	written notice of the absence to the parent of or other person
27	27	standing in parental relation to each student enrolled in the
28	28	school.
29	29	(c) A school has the equivalent of a full-time nurse under
30	30	Subsection (b) if the school has two or more nurses assigned to the
31	31	school and all regular student instructional hours at the campus
32	32	during the regular school day are covered by the assignment of at
33	33	least one nurse.
34	34	(d) A school has the equivalent of a full-time school
35	35	counselor under Subsection (b) if the school has two or more school
36	36	counselors assigned to the school and all regular student
37	37	instructional hours at the campus during the regular school day are
38	38	covered by the assignment of at least one school counselor.
39	39	(e) A school has the equivalent of a full-time librarian
40	40	under Subsection (b) if the school has two or more librarians
41	41	assigned to the school and all regular student instructional hours
42	42	at the campus during the regular school day are covered by the
43	43	assignment of at least one librarian.
44	44	(f) The principal of the school shall provide the notice
45	45	required by Subsection (b) not later than the 30th instructional
46	46	day after the first day the school does not have a full-time nurse,
47	47	school counselor, or librarian assigned to be present at the
48	48	school.
49	49	(g) The school shall:
50	50	(1) make a good faith effort to ensure that the notice
51	51	required by this section is provided in a bilingual form to any
52	52	parent or other person standing in parental relation whose primary
53	53	language is not English; and
54	54	(2) retain a copy of any notice provided under this
55	55	section.
56	56	(h) A school may satisfy the notice requirement under
57	57	Subsection (f) by posting the notice on the school's Internet
58	58	website. Notice posted under this subsection must be accessible
59	59	from the home page of the Internet website by use of not more than
60	60	three links.
61	61	(i) This section does not apply to a school district or
62	62	open-enrollment charter school with a student enrollment of less
63	63	than 10,000 students.
64	64	SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
65	65	school year.
66	66	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
67	67	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
68	68	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
69	69	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
70	70	Act takes effect September 1, 2023.