Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4814 Compare Versions

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Version 2 (New)

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1	1		By: Gerdes H.B. No. 4814
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4	6		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	7		AN ACT
6	8		relating to the display of and allowance for non-human behaviors in
7	9		Texas schools.
8	10		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	11		SECTION 1. This bill may be referred to as the Forbidding
10	12		Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education or
11	13		F.U.R.R.I.E.S Act.
12	14		SECTION 2. Section 31.007, Education Code, is amended by
13	15		amending Subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:
14	16		(a) The board of trustees of an independent school district
15	17		shall, with the advice of its district-level committee established
16	18		under Subchapter F, Chapter 11, adopt a student code of conduct for
17	19		the district. The student code of conduct must be posted and
18	20		prominently displayed at each school campus or made available for
19	21		review at the office of the campus principal. In addition to
20	22		establishing standards for student conduct, the student code of
21	23		conduct must:
22	24		(1) specify the circumstances, in accordance with this
23	25		subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom,
24	26		campus, disciplinary alternative education program, or vehicle
25	27		owned or operated by the district;
26	28		(2) specify conditions that authorize or require a
27	29		principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student
28	30		to a disciplinary alternative education program;
29	31		(3) outline conditions under which a student may be
30	32		suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by
31	33		Section 37.007;
32	34		(4) specify that consideration will be given, as a
33	35		factor in each decision concerning suspension, removal to a
34	36		disciplinary alternative education program, expulsion, or
35	37		placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program,
36	38		regardless of whether the decision concerns a mandatory or
37	39		discretionary action, to:
38	40		(A) self-defense;
39	41		(B) intent or lack of intent at the time the
40	42		student engaged in the conduct;
41	43		(C) a student's disciplinary history;
42	44		(D) a disability that substantially impairs the
43	45		student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's
44	46		conduct;
45	47		(E) a student's status in the conservatorship of
46	48		the Department of Family and Protective Services; or
47	49		(F) a student's status as a student who is
48	50		homeless;
49	51		(5) provide guidelines for setting the length of a
50	52		term of:
51	53		(A) a removal under Section 37.006; and
52	54		(B) an expulsion under Section 37.007;
53	55		(6) address the notification of a student's parent or
54	56		guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by
55	57		the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary
56	58		alternative education program, or expulsion;
57	59		(7) prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit
58	60		lists and ensure that district employees enforce those
59	61		prohibitions;
60	62		(8) provide, as appropriate for students at each grade
61	63		level, methods, including options, for:
62	64		(A) managing students in the classroom, on school
63	65		grounds, and on a vehicle owned or operated by the district;
64	66		(B) disciplining students; and
65	67		(C) preventing and intervening in student
66	68		discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making
67	69		hit lists; [and]
68	70		(9) include an explanation of the provisions regarding
69	71		refusal of entry to or ejection from district property under
70	72		Section 37.105, including the appeal process established under
71	73		Section 37.105(h); and
72	74		(10) prohibit any non-human behavior by a student,
73	75		including presenting himself or herself, on days other than exempt
74	76		days, as anything other than a human being.
75	77		(b) In this section:
76	78		(1) "Bullying" has the meaning assigned by Section
77	79		37.0832.
78	80		(2) "Harassment" means threatening to cause harm or
79	81		bodily injury to another student, engaging in sexually intimidating
80	82		conduct, causing physical damage to the property of another
81	83		student, subjecting another student to physical confinement or
82	84		restraint, or maliciously taking any action that substantially
83	85		harms another student's physical or emotional health or safety.
84	86		(3) "Hit list" means a list of people targeted to be
85	87		harmed, using:
86	88		(A) a firearm, as defined by Section 46.01(3),
87	89		Penal Code;
88	90		(B) a knife, as defined by Section 46.01(7),
89	91		Penal Code; or
90	92		(C) any other object to be used with intent to
91	93		cause bodily harm.
92	94		(4) "Student who is homeless" has the meaning assigned
93	95		to the term "homeless children and youths" under 42 U.S.C. Section
94	96		11434a.
95	97		(5) "Exempt day" means:
96	98		(A) Halloween, or any singular school day within
97	99		one calendar week of Halloween, as designated by the school
98	100		district or school campus as a "Halloween Day";
99	101		(B) school dress-up or activity days on which
100	102		students are encouraged to wear costumes and garments that are
101	103		otherwise different from the district or school's normally accepted
102	104		dress code, provided that:
103	105		(i) there are not more than five such days
104	106		in a school year;
105	107		(ii) the theme is based on an era in human
106	108		history, a specific holiday, or a specific school event; and
107	109		(iii) the theme of the day is not solely or
108	110		primarily related to the history or celebration of a biological or
109	111		artificial species other than homo sapiens; and
110	112		(C) a day that the student must rehearse,
111	113		perform, or attend an event that would otherwise require the
112	114		student to dress in costume if the student is a school mascot or is
113	115		involved in district funded or sponsored theatre organization.
114	116		(6) "Non-Human Behavior" means any type of behavior or
115	117		accessory displayed by a student in a school district other than
116	118		behaviors or accessories typically displayed by a member of the
117	119		homo sapiens species including:
118	120		(A) using a litter box for the passing of stool,
119	121		urine, or other human byproducts;
120	122		(B) a personal or outward display, except during
121	123		a school play or by a school mascot, through surgical or superficial
122	124		means of features that are non-human such as:
123	125		(i) tails;
124	126		(ii) leashes, collars, other accessories
125	127		designed for pets;
126	128		(iii) fur, other than naturally occurring
127	129		human hair or a wig made to look like human hair;
128	130		(iv) artificial, animal-like ears; or
129	131		(v) other physiological features that have
130	132		not historically been assigned to the homo sapiens species through
131	133		a means of natural biological development;
132	134		(C) barking, meowing, hissing, or other animal
133	135		noises that are not human speech; and
134	136		(D) licking oneself or others for the purpose of
135	137		grooming or maintenance.
136	138		(7) "Human being" means a biological entity that
137	139		belongs to the species homo sapien.
138	140		SECTION 3. Section 37.002, Education Code, is amended by
139	141		adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
140	142		(f) Limiting a student to engaging only in human behaviors
141	143		is not a violation of this section.
142	144		SECTION 4. Subchapter Z, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
143	145		amended by adding Section 29.905 to read as follows:
144	146		Sec. 25.905. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN NON-HUMAN ACTIVITIES
145	147		AND BEHAVIORS. (a) "Exempt day" and "Human being" have the
146	148		definitions provided in Section 37.001.
147	149		(b) A student has an obligation to learn, grow, and advance
148	150		as a human child. A student may not, during school hours, a planned
149	151		district activity, or on school property:
150	152		(1) engage in any non-human behaviors as defined by
151	153		Chapter 37.001 (6) Education Code; or
152	154		(2) present himself or herself, on days other than
153	155		exempt days, as anything other than a human being.
154	156		(c) A student or group of students may not create an
155	157		organization under Subchapter E, Chapter 25, Education Code, for
156	158		the purposes of circumventing the regulations in this chapter
157	159		unless the organization is federally recognized.
158	160		SECTION 5. Subdivision 261.001(1), Family Code, is amended
159	161		to read as follows:
160	162		(1) "Abuse" includes the following acts or omissions
161	163		by a person:
162	164		(A) mental or emotional injury to a child that
163	165		results in an observable and material impairment in the child's
164	166		growth, development, or psychological functioning, including, in
165	167		an education setting, allowing or encouraging the child to develop
166	168		a dependance on or a belief that non-human behaviors are societally
167	169		acceptable;
168	170		(B) causing or permitting the child to be in a
169	171		situation in which the child sustains a mental or emotional injury
170	172		that results in an observable and material impairment in the
171	173		child's growth, development, or psychological functioning;
172	174		(C) physical injury that results in substantial
173	175		harm to the child, or the genuine threat of substantial harm from
174	176		physical injury to the child, including an injury that is at
175	177		variance with the history or explanation given and excluding an
176	178		accident or reasonable discipline by a parent, guardian, or
177	179		managing or possessory conservator that does not expose the child
178	180		to a substantial risk of harm;
179	181		(D) failure to make a reasonable effort to
180	182		prevent an action by another person that results in physical injury
181	183		that results in substantial harm to the child;
182	184		(E) sexual conduct harmful to a child's mental,
183	185		emotional, or physical welfare, including conduct that constitutes
184	186		the offense of continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled
185	187		individual under Section 21.02, Penal Code, indecency with a child
186	188		under Section 21.11, Penal Code, sexual assault under Section
187	189		22.011, Penal Code, or aggravated sexual assault under Section
188	190		22.021, Penal Code;
189	191		(F) failure to make a reasonable effort to
190	192		prevent sexual conduct harmful to a child;
191	193		(G) compelling or encouraging the child to engage
192	194		in sexual conduct as defined by Section 43.01, Penal Code,
193	195		including compelling or encouraging the child in a manner that
194	196		constitutes an offense of trafficking of persons under Section
195	197		20A.02(a)(7) or (8), Penal Code, solicitation of prostitution under
196	198		Section 43.021, Penal Code, or compelling prostitution under
197	199		Section 43.05(a)(2), Penal Code;
198	200		(H) causing, permitting, encouraging, engaging
199	201		in, or allowing the photographing, filming, or depicting of the
200	202		child if the person knew or should have known that the resulting
201	203		photograph, film, or depiction of the child is obscene as defined by
202	204		Section 43.21, Penal Code, or pornographic;
203	205		(I) the current use by a person of a controlled
204	206		substance as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, in a
205	207		manner or to the extent that the use results in physical, mental, or
206	208		emotional injury to a child;
207	209		(J) causing, expressly permitting, or
208	210		encouraging a child to use a controlled substance as defined by
209	211		Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code;
210	212		(K) causing, permitting, encouraging, engaging
211	213		in, or allowing a sexual performance by a child as defined by
212	214		Section 43.25, Penal Code;
213	215		(L) knowingly causing, permitting, encouraging,
214	216		engaging in, or allowing a child to be trafficked in a manner
215	217		punishable as an offense under Section 20A.02(a)(5), (6), (7), or
216	218		(8), Penal Code, or the failure to make a reasonable effort to
217	219		prevent a child from being trafficked in a manner punishable as an
218	220		offense under any of those sections; or
219	221		(M) forcing or coercing a child to enter into a
220	222		marriage.
221	223		SECTION 6. Section 26.011, Education Code, is amended by
222	224		adding Subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f) to read as follows:
223	225		(c) A complainant who has a reasonable belief that a school
224	226		or school district or an employee of the school or school district
225	227		is committing a violation of Section 29.9051 or Section 21.0031(g),
226	228		Education Code, or Section 21.006(1), Education Code if the
227	229		violation is covered by Section 261.001(A), Family Code, may also
228	230		choose to file a complaint with the attorney general.
229	231		(d) If the attorney general determines that a school
230	232		district, or an employee of the district named in a complaint
231	233		received under Subsection (c) is violating this chapter, the
232	234		attorney general may file a petition for a writ of mandamus to
233	235		compel the governmental entity to comply with this chapter.
234	236		(e) A mandamus action under Subsection (d) must be filed in:
235	237		(1) the county in which the school or school district
236	238		is primarily located in; or
237	239		(2) Travis County if the school or school district is
238	240		an entity primarily operated by a statewide organization.
239	241		(f) If the attorney general finds an educator, education
240	242		administrator, school support staff, or a contractor who operates
241	243		for the school district in a role similar to a an educator,
242	244		education administrator, or school support staff in violation of
243	245		21.0031(g) Education Code, or 21.006(1) Education Code if the
244	246		violation is covered by Section 261.001(A) Family Code, the
245	247		attorney general may levy a fine against the district not to exceed
246	248		$10,000 for a first violation or $25,000 for any subsequent
247	249		violations.
248	250		SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
249	251		a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
250	252		provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
251	253		Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
252	254		Act takes effect September 1, 2025.