89R10957 TSS-D
By: Howard H.B. No. 2377
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to funding for projects that improve the physical and
mental health of public school students and enhance the safety of
public schools in this state; authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle I, Title 2, Education Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 47A to read as follows:
CHAPTER 47A. STATE SCHOOL HEALTH AND SAFETY FUND AND GRANTS
Sec. 47A.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Corporation" means the Texas Permanent School
Fund Corporation established under Chapter 43.
(2) "Fund" means the state school health and safety
fund established under Section 7, Article VII, Texas Constitution.
(3) "Program" means the school health and safety grant
program.
Sec. 47A.002. DEPOSITS TO FUND BY COMMISSIONER.
Notwithstanding any other law, including Section 48.265, if the
commissioner determines that the amount appropriated for a state
fiscal year for purposes of administering the Foundation School
Program exceeds the amount to which school districts and
open-enrollment charter schools are entitled under Chapters 46, 48,
and 49 for that year, the commissioner shall deposit a portion of
that excess, up to 100 percent, to the credit of the fund.
Sec. 47A.003. USES OF FUND. Money in the fund may only be
used to provide grants to school districts and open-enrollment
charter schools to improve the physical and mental health of
students and enhance school safety under Section 47A.005.
Sec. 47A.004. ADMINISTRATION OF FUND. (a) The corporation
shall hold and invest the fund with the objective of maintaining
sufficient liquidity to meet the needs of the fund while striving to
maximize returns. In managing the assets of the fund, through
procedures and subject to restrictions the corporation considers
appropriate, the corporation may acquire, exchange, sell,
supervise, manage, or retain any type of investment that a person of
ordinary prudence, discretion, and intelligence, exercising
reasonable care, skill, and caution, would acquire, exchange, sell,
supervise, manage, or retain in light of the fund's investment
objective.
(b) The corporation may charge a fee not to exceed the
amount necessary to cover the costs estimated to be incurred by the
corporation in managing and investing the fund. The fee may be
assessed on the available balance of the fund each fiscal year.
Sec. 47A.005. SCHOOL HEALTH AND SAFETY GRANTS. (a) The
commissioner shall establish a school health and safety grant
program using proceeds of the fund to reimburse a school district or
open-enrollment charter school for student health-related
expenditures or expenditures required for the implementation of a
school safety plan that has been approved by the agency.
(b) The amount of grants awarded to a school district or
open-enrollment charter school under the program for a school year
may not exceed $10 million.
(c) The total amount of grants awarded under the program for
a school year may not exceed $500 million.
(d) If the amount of grant requests under the program
exceeds the amount permitted under Subsection (c) in a school year,
the commissioner shall proportionately reduce the amount of each
grant in an amount necessary to limit the total amount of grants
provided to the amount permitted under Subsection (c).
(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (b) and subject to the
limitation under Subsection (c), if excess funds are available for
a school year, the commissioner may provide additional grants to
school districts and open-enrollment charter schools that incurred
eligible expenses in an amount that exceeded the amount in
Subsection (b).
Sec. 47A.006. RULES. The commissioner, in consultation
with the corporation, may adopt rules as necessary to implement
this chapter.
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, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (c-2) to
read as follows:
(a) A [Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), a] school
district is entitled to an annual allotment of $200 [equal to the
sum of the following amounts or a greater amount provided by
appropriation:
[(1) $10] for each student in average daily attendance
[, plus $1 for each student in average daily attendance per every
$50 by which the district's maximum basic allotment under Section
48.051 exceeds $6,160, prorated as necessary; and
[(2) $15,000 per campus].
(b) A school district must use funds received under this
section as follows:
(1) 50 percent must be used to improve the physical and
mental health of district students; and
(2) 50 percent must be used [Funds allocated under
this section must be used] to improve 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].
(c-2) Subsection (c-1) does not apply to the provision of
behavioral health services or programming.
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 described by
Subsection (b)(2) of that section only for the purposes provided by
that subsection [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. Section 48.115(a-1), Education Code, is
repealed.
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. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
(b) Section 1 of this Act takes effect January 1, 2026, but
only if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 89th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2025, creating the state school
health and safety fund to provide financial support for projects
that improve the physical and mental health of public school
students and enhance the safety of public schools in this state is
approved by the voters. If that constitutional amendment is not
approved by the voters, Section 1 of this Act has no effect.