89R16121 ANG-D
By: Meyer H.B. No. 4874
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the policies and procedures of a public school's threat
assessment and safe and supportive school team and threat
assessment review team.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.115(a), Education Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (1-a) to read as follows:
(1-a) "Review team" means a threat assessment review
team established by the board of trustees of a school district under
this section.
SECTION 2. Section 37.115, Education Code, is amended by
reenacting and amending Subsection (c), as amended by Chapters 896
(H.B. 3) and 948 (S.B. 1720), Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2023, and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c) The board of trustees of each school district shall
establish a threat assessment and safe and supportive school team
and a threat assessment review team to serve at each campus of the
district and shall adopt policies and procedures for the teams and
review teams.
(c-1) A [The] team must be composed of at least three
members and is responsible for developing and implementing the safe
and supportive school program under Subsection (b) at the district
campus served by the team. The policies and procedures adopted
under this section must:
(1) be consistent with the model policies and
procedures developed by the Texas School Safety Center;
(2) require each team and review team to complete
training provided by the Texas School Safety Center or a regional
education service center regarding evidence-based threat
assessment programs;
(3) require each team and review team established
under Subsection (c) [this section] to report the information
required under Subsection (k) regarding the team's or review
team's, as applicable, activities to the agency; [and]
(4) provide for:
(A) a district employee who reports a potential
threat to a team to elect for the employee's identity to be
confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
Government Code, except as necessary for the team, the district, or
law enforcement to investigate the potential threat; and
(B) the district to maintain a record of the
identity of a district employee who elects for the employee's
identity to be confidential under Paragraph (A); and
(5) [(4)] require each district campus to establish a
clear procedure for a student to report concerning behavior
exhibited by another student for assessment by the team or other
appropriate school employee.
SECTION 3. Section 37.115, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (f-3), (h-1), and (h-2) and amending Subsection
(h) to read as follows:
(f-3) Before a team may conduct a threat assessment of an
individual, at least two-thirds of the members of the team must
agree that a threat assessment is necessary.
(h) On a determination that a student or other individual
poses a serious risk of violence to self or others, a team must
immediately report that determination to the campus's review team
for review of the determination.
(h-1) On confirmation by a campus's review team under
Subsection (h) that a student or other individual poses a serious
risk of violence to self or others, a team shall immediately report
the team's determination to the superintendent. If the individual
is a student, the superintendent shall immediately attempt to
inform the parent or person standing in parental relation to the
student. The requirements of this subsection do not prevent an
employee of the school from acting immediately to prevent an
imminent threat or respond to an emergency.
(h-2) A campus's review team shall review any threat
assessment of a student conducted by the team serving that campus to
determine whether information related to the threat assessment
should be included in the student's disciplinary or other school
records.
SECTION 4. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 89th Legislature, Regular Session, 2025,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
school year.
SECTION 6. 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.