| 1 | | - | By: King, et al. S.B. No. 1207 |
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| 1 | + | By: King, Sparks S.B. No. 1207 |
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| 2 | + | (In the Senate - Filed February 10, 2025; February 28, 2025, |
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| 3 | + | read first time and referred to Committee on Education K-16; |
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| 4 | + | March 26, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 11, |
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| 5 | + | Nays 0; March 26, 2025, sent to printer.) |
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| 6 | + | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 2 | 7 | | |
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| 3 | 8 | | |
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| 4 | 9 | | |
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| 5 | 10 | | |
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| 6 | 11 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 7 | 12 | | AN ACT |
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| 8 | 13 | | relating to instruction on adoption in the parenting and paternity |
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| 9 | 14 | | awareness program in public schools. |
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| 10 | 15 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 16 | | SECTION 1. Sections 28.002(p) and (p-2), Education Code, |
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| 12 | 17 | | are amended to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 18 | | (p) The State Board of Education, in conjunction with the |
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| 14 | 19 | | office of the attorney general, shall develop a parenting and |
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| 15 | 20 | | paternity awareness program that a school district shall use in the |
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| 16 | 21 | | district's high school health curriculum. A school district may |
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| 17 | 22 | | use the program developed under this subsection in the district's |
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| 18 | 23 | | middle or junior high school curriculum. At the discretion of the |
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| 19 | 24 | | district, a teacher may modify the suggested sequence and pace of |
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| 20 | 25 | | the program at any grade level. The program must: |
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| 21 | 26 | | (1) address parenting skills and responsibilities, |
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| 22 | 27 | | including child support and other legal rights and responsibilities |
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| 23 | 28 | | that come with parenthood; |
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| 24 | 29 | | (2) include information related to adoption, |
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| 25 | 30 | | including information about: |
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| 26 | 31 | | (A) the differences between private adoption and |
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| 27 | 32 | | foster care; |
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| 28 | 33 | | (B) the process for adopting a child privately or |
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| 29 | 34 | | through the state foster care system; and |
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| 30 | 35 | | (C) adoption as an alternative to becoming a |
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| 31 | 36 | | parent and the process for placing a child for adoption; |
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| 32 | 37 | | (3) address relationship skills, including money |
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| 33 | 38 | | management, communication skills, and marriage preparation; and |
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| 34 | 39 | | (4) [(3)] in district middle, junior high, or high |
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| 35 | 40 | | schools that do not have a family violence prevention program, |
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| 36 | 41 | | address skills relating to the prevention of family violence. |
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| 37 | 42 | | (p-2) A school district may develop or adopt research-based |
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| 38 | 43 | | programs and curriculum materials for use in conjunction with the |
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| 39 | 44 | | program developed under Subsection (p). The programs and |
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| 40 | 45 | | curriculum materials may provide instruction in: |
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| 41 | 46 | | (1) child development; |
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| 42 | 47 | | (2) parenting skills, including child abuse and |
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| 43 | 48 | | neglect prevention; [and] |
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| 44 | 49 | | (3) the information regarding adoption described by |
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| 45 | 50 | | Subsection (p)(2); and |
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| 46 | 51 | | (4) assertiveness skills to prevent teenage |
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| 47 | 52 | | pregnancy, abusive relationships, and family violence. |
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| 48 | 53 | | SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026 |
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| 49 | 54 | | school year. |
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| 50 | 55 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 51 | 56 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 52 | 57 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 53 | 58 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 54 | 59 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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