89R14637 KRM-D
By: Hefner H.B. No. 4381
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to parental rights and required notification in public
education; authorizing an administrative penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 38, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 38.041 to read as follows:
Sec. 38.041. NOTICE OF PARENTAL RIGHTS. (a) The agency
shall create and maintain a comprehensive, easily understood
document that informs a parent of the parent's rights and options
regarding the health of the parent's child.
(b) The document created under Subsection (a) must:
(1) include information regarding a parent's right to:
(A) withhold consent for or exempt the parent's
child from certain health-related activities and instruction;
(B) access health-related information relating
to the parent's child, including:
(i) counseling records;
(ii) psychological records;
(iii) health and immunization information;
(iv) teacher and school counselor
evaluations;
(v) reports of behavioral patterns;
(vi) records relating to assistance
provided for learning difficulties, including information
collected regarding any intervention strategies used with the
child; and
(vii) any other health records or
health-related information under the Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g);
(C) review health-related instructional
materials;
(D) remove the parent's child temporarily from a
class or other school activity that conflicts with the parent's
religious or moral beliefs;
(E) exempt the parent's child from
health-related screenings or evaluations conducted by a school;
(F) exempt the parent's child from immunization
requirements for medical reasons or reasons of conscience,
including a religious belief; and
(G) withhold consent for or decline
health-related services and treatment, including:
(i) psychiatric or psychological
examinations, tests, and treatment; and
(ii) the use of psychotropic medication as
defined by Section 266.001, Family Code;
(2) include information on how to exercise parental
rights described by Subdivision (1); and
(3) be:
(A) written in plain language;
(B) provided in English and Spanish;
(C) updated annually to reflect any relevant
change in applicable law; and
(D) made publicly available on the agency's
Internet website.
(c) Before the first instructional day of each school year,
a school district or open-enrollment charter school shall, with
respect to the document created under Subsection (a):
(1) post or update, as applicable, the document on the
district's or school's Internet website;
(2) e-mail the document to the parent of each child
enrolled at the district or school;
(3) include the document in any enrollment materials
provided to a child enrolled at the district or school; and
(4) to the extent practicable, provide the document in
a parent's native language.
(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
shall provide notice to the parent of each child enrolled at the
district or school of:
(1) all health-related services offered at the
district or school campus the child attends, including mental
health counseling, health screenings, and vaccination clinics; and
(2) a health screening or clinic not later than the
20th day before the date the screening or clinic is conducted at the
district or school.
(e) The agency shall develop and require a school district
or open-enrollment charter school administrator, nurse, counselor,
teacher, and any other relevant staff to complete a training on the
parental rights described by Subsection (b).
(f) The agency shall develop a complaint procedure under
which the agency shall:
(1) require a school district or open-enrollment
charter school to report any complaints received concerning a
violation of this section;
(2) address and investigate each complaint; and
(3) inform the complainant of the agency's
determinations and findings, including any disciplinary action
taken.
(g) If the commissioner determines that a school district or
open-enrollment charter school has violated this section, the
agency may:
(1) withhold state money from the district or school
for the state fiscal year following the state fiscal year in which
the district or school violated this section;
(2) assess an administrative penalty against the
district or school; and
(3) take any other action the agency considers
necessary.
(h) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
shall publish an annual report on the district's or school's
Internet website that describes the number of complaints reported
under Subsection (f).
(i) The agency shall audit and periodically conduct site
visits of school districts and open-enrollment charter schools to
ensure compliance with this section.
(j) The agency may collaborate with the Health and Human
Services Commission and Department of State Health Services as
necessary to implement this section.
(k) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to
implement 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.