89R6030 TSS-D
By: Howard H.B. No. 2056
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the designation of a public school health officer and
the school health and safety allotment under the Foundation School
Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 38, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 38.047 to read as follows:
Sec. 38.047. SCHOOL HEALTH OFFICER. (a) The principal of
each school district campus shall designate an employee of the
campus as the campus's school health officer.
(b) The school health officer at a school district campus
may:
(1) manage and monitor school health initiatives and
the implementation of health requirements at the campus; and
(2) notwithstanding Section 22.052, administer
medication to students enrolled at the campus in compliance with
the rules adopted under Subsection (c) and other law.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall
adopt rules regarding the administration of medication to a student
by a school health officer under this section, including rules
providing a list of medications that a school health officer may
administer.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 48.115, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 48.115. SCHOOL HEALTH AND SAFETY ALLOTMENT.
SECTION 3. Section 48.115(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Funds allocated under this section must be used to
improve school district student health and school safety and
security, including costs associated with:
(1) securing school facilities in accordance with the
requirements of Section 37.351, including:
(A) improvements to school infrastructure;
(B) the use or installation of perimeter security
fencing conducive to a public school learning environment or
physical barriers, which may not include razor wire;
(C) exterior door and window safety and security
upgrades, including exterior door numbering and locking systems and
security film that provides resistance to a forced entry; and
(D) the purchase and maintenance of:
(i) security cameras and, if the district
has already installed security cameras, other security equipment,
including video surveillance as provided by Section 29.022; and
(ii) technology, including communications
systems or devices, such as silent panic alert devices, two-way
radios, or wireless Internet booster equipment, that facilitates
communication and information sharing between students, school
personnel, and first responders in an emergency;
(2) providing security for the district, including:
(A) employing school district peace officers,
private security officers, and school marshals; and
(B) collaborating with local law enforcement
agencies, such as entering into a memorandum of understanding for
the assignment of school resource officers to schools in the
district;
(3) school safety and security measures, including:
(A) active shooter and emergency response
training;
(B) prevention and treatment programs relating
to addressing adverse childhood experiences; and
(C) the prevention, identification, and
management of emergencies and threats, using evidence-based,
effective prevention practices and including:
(i) providing licensed counselors, social
workers, chaplains, and individuals trained in restorative
discipline and restorative justice practices;
(ii) providing mental health personnel and
support, including chaplains;
(iii) providing behavioral health
services, including services provided by chaplains;
(iv) establishing threat reporting
systems; and
(v) developing and implementing programs
focused on restorative justice practices, culturally relevant
instruction, and providing mental health support, including
support provided by chaplains;
(4) providing programs related to suicide prevention,
intervention, and postvention, including programs provided by
chaplains; [and]
(5) employing a school safety director and other
personnel to manage and monitor school safety initiatives and the
implementation of school safety requirements for the district; and
(6) providing school health officers for each district
campus as required by Section 38.047.
SECTION 4. Section 37.108(b-1), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b-1) In a school district's safety and security audit
required under Subsection (b), the district must certify that the
district used the funds provided to the district through the school
health and safety allotment under Section 48.115 only for the
purposes provided by that section.
SECTION 5. Section 37.117(c), Education Code, as added by
Chapter 1 (S.B. 838), Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2023, is amended to read as follows:
(c) To comply with this section, a school district or
open-enrollment charter school may:
(1) use funds provided to the district or school
through the school health and safety allotment under Section 48.115
or other available funds; and
(2) use the district's or school's customary
procurement process.
SECTION 6. Section 37.354(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The commissioner may authorize a school district to use
money provided to the district for the purpose of improving school
safety and security, including the school health and safety
allotment under Section 48.115 or any other funding or grant money
available to the district for that purpose, to comply with the
requirements of this subchapter.
SECTION 7. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt the rules regarding the
administration of medication to a student by a school health
officer required by Section 38.047, Education Code, as added by
this Act.
SECTION 8. It is the intent of the 89th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2025, that the amendments made by this Act be harmonized
with another Act of the 89th Legislature, Regular Session, 2025,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.