89R8549 JDK-D
By: Thompson H.B. No. 2880
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to providing a designation for school district campuses
that take certain action to address the mental and behavioral
health and well-being of students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 33, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 33.917 to read as follows:
Sec. 33.917. ADVANCING WELLNESS AND RESILIENCY IN EDUCATION
(AWARE) CAMPUS. (a) In this section, "school climate" has the
meaning assigned by Section 38.351(d).
(b) The agency shall designate a school district campus as
an Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education (AWARE) Campus if
the campus applies and qualifies for the designation under this
section.
(c) To qualify as an Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in
Education (AWARE) Campus, a school district campus must:
(1) employ a school counselor who spends at least 80
percent of the counselor's total work time on duties included in a
comprehensive school counseling program developed under Section
33.005;
(2) maintain formal community partnerships with
community-based mental and behavioral health care providers to
increase student and family access to care, including by
contracting with:
(A) a local mental health authority; and
(B) the Texas Child Mental Health Care
Consortium;
(3) offer training for campus staff members on issues
related to the mental and behavioral health and well-being of
students as required by Sections 21.451, 22.904, 38.036, and 38.351
and maintain documentation of the completion of the training;
(4) as part of the safe and supportive school program
implemented under Section 37.115, provide a systemic and
coordinated multitiered support system that addresses school
climate, the social and emotional domain, psychological safety, and
mental and behavioral health, which must include:
(A) a multidisciplinary team for the
coordination of campus multitiered support system strategies;
(B) the maintenance of a resource list of
available school-based, school-connected, and community-based
mental and behavioral health and well-being interventions and
supports available to students and families;
(C) a referral pathway for mental and behavioral
health and well-being interventions and supports available to
students and families in need of additional support outside of
school; and
(D) methods to objectively measure positive
school climate in the school; and
(5) maintain on the campus's Internet website an
easily accessible web page that includes information on how to
access school-based and community-based mental and behavioral
health and well-being interventions and supports available to
students and families, including:
(A) counseling and other mental and behavioral
health and well-being support services, including out-of-school
time programs;
(B) community-based mental and behavioral health
and well-being support services; and
(C) district referral procedures and parental
rights related to students accessing mental and behavioral health
and well-being support services, including information on:
(i) parental consent guidelines and
requirements under Sections 33.003, 38.010, and 38.053;
(ii) parental access to medical records
under Section 38.0095;
(iii) coordinated health programs
available under Section 38.013;
(iv) the prohibition on the use of a
parent's refusal to consent to a psychiatric evaluation or
examination as grounds to take certain actions against a child and
the permissible actions under Section 38.016;
(v) the district's trauma-informed care
policy under Section 38.036;
(vi) the identification of health-related
concerns under Section 38.057;
(vii) educational materials provided in
accordance with a procedure developed under Section 38.351(i-1);
and
(viii) the consent required for services to
minors under Section 113.0152, Health and Safety Code.
(d) To comply with a requirement under Subsection (c)(3),
(4), or (5), a school district campus may partner with the district
to provide:
(1) training required under Subsection (c)(3);
(2) a requirement for the multitiered support system
under Subsection (c)(4); or
(3) if the campus does not have an Internet website, a
web page that meets the requirements of Subsection (c)(5).
(e) The agency shall adopt rules as necessary to administer
this section.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
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, 2025.