By: Paxton, et al. S.B. No. 13
(In the Senate - Filed February 12, 2025;
February 13, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on
Education K-16; March 5, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 1;
March 5, 2025, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 13 By: King
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a school district's library materials and catalog, the
creation of local school library advisory councils, and parental
rights regarding public school library catalogs and access by the
parent's child to library materials.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 26.004(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A parent is entitled to access to all written records of
a school district concerning the parent's child, including:
(1) attendance records;
(2) test scores;
(3) grades;
(4) disciplinary records;
(5) counseling records;
(6) psychological records;
(7) applications for admission;
(8) health and immunization information;
(9) teacher and school counselor evaluations;
(10) reports of behavioral patterns; [and]
(11) records relating to assistance provided for
learning difficulties, including information collected regarding
any intervention strategies used with the child; and
(12) records relating to school library materials the
child obtains from a school library.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 33, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 33.020 to read as follows:
Sec. 33.020. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Harmful material" has the meaning assigned by
Section 43.24, Penal Code.
(2) "Indecent content" means content that portrays
sexual or excretory organs or activities in a way that is patently
offensive.
(3) "Library material" means any book, record, file,
or other instrument or document in a school district's library
catalog. The term does not include instructional material, as
defined by Section 31.002, or materials procured for the TexShare
consortium under Subchapter M, Chapter 441, Government Code.
(4) "Profane content" means content that includes
grossly offensive language that is considered a public nuisance.
SECTION 3. Section 33.021, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
follows:
(d) The standards adopted under Subsection (c) must:
(1) be reviewed and updated at least once every five
years; and
(2) include a collection development policy that:
(A) prohibits the possession, acquisition, and
purchase of:
(i) harmful material[, as defined by
Section 43.24, Penal Code];
(ii) library material rated sexually
explicit material by the selling library material vendor; [or]
(iii) library material that is pervasively
vulgar or educationally unsuitable as referenced in Board of
Education v. Pico [v. Board of Education], 457 U.S. 853 (1982);
(iv) library material containing indecent
content or profane content; or
(v) library material that refers a person
to an Internet website containing content prohibited under this
subsection, including by use of a link or QR code, as defined by
Section 443.001, Health and Safety Code;
(B) recognizes that obscene content is not
protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution;
(C) is required for all library materials
available for use or display, including material contained in
school libraries, classroom libraries, [and] online catalogs,
library mobile applications, and any other library catalog a
student may access;
(D) recognizes that parents are the primary
decision makers regarding a student's access to library material;
(E) encourages schools to provide library
catalog transparency;
(F) recommends schools communicate effectively
with parents regarding collection development; [and]
(G) prohibits the removal of material based
solely on the:
(i) ideas contained in the material; or
(ii) personal background of:
(a) the author of the material; or
(b) characters in the material; and
(H) demonstrates a commitment to compliance with
the Children's Internet Protection Act (Pub. L. No. 106-554),
including through the use of technology protection measures, as
defined by that Act.
(e) A school district may adopt local policies and
procedures in addition to the standards adopted under Subsection
(c) that do not conflict with the standards adopted under that
subsection or other requirements of this code.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 33, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 33.023, 33.024, 33.025, 33.026, and
33.027 to read as follows:
Sec. 33.023. PARENTAL ACCESS TO LIBRARY CATALOG AND ACCESS
BY THE PARENT'S CHILD TO CERTAIN LIBRARY MATERIALS. (a) A school
district or open-enrollment charter school shall adopt procedures
that provide for a parent of a child enrolled in the district or
school to:
(1) access the catalog of available library materials
at each school library in the district or school; and
(2) submit to the district or school a list of library
materials that the parent's child may not be allowed to check out or
otherwise access for use outside of the school library.
(b) The procedures adopted under Subsection (a)(2) must
allow for a parent to submit a list of library materials through:
(1) an electronic or physical form; or
(2) the district's or school's online library catalog
system.
(c) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
not allow a student to check out or otherwise use outside the school
library a library material the student's parent has included in a
list submitted under Subsection (a)(2).
Sec. 33.024. PARENTAL ACCESS TO STUDENT LIBRARY RECORDS.
Each school district and open-enrollment charter school that uses a
learning management system or an online learning portal shall,
through the system or portal, provide to each parent of a child
enrolled in the district or school a record of each time the
parent's child checks out or otherwise uses outside the school
library a library material. The record must include, as
applicable, the title, author, genre, and return date of the
library material.
Sec. 33.025. LOCAL SCHOOL LIBRARY ADVISORY COUNCIL. (a)
The board of trustees of each school district shall establish a
local school library advisory council to assist the district in
ensuring that local community values are reflected in each school
library catalog in the district.
(b) Except as provided by Section 33.026(d), a school
district must consider the recommendations of the local school
library advisory council before:
(1) adding library materials to a school library
catalog;
(2) removing library materials from a school library
catalog following a challenge under Section 33.027; or
(3) making changes to policies or guidelines related
to a school library catalog.
(c) The local school library advisory council's duties
include recommending:
(1) policies and procedures for the acquisition of
library materials consistent with local community values;
(2) to the board of trustees whether library materials
proposed for acquisition under Section 33.026 are appropriate for
each grade level of the school or campus for which the library
materials are proposed to be acquired;
(3) if feasible, joint use agreements or strategies
for collaboration between the school district and local public
libraries and community organizations;
(4) the removal of any library materials that the
council determines to be:
(A) harmful material or material containing
indecent content or profane content; or
(B) inconsistent with local community values;
(5) the policies and procedures for processing
challenges received under Section 33.027; and
(6) the action to be taken by the district in response
to a challenge received under Section 33.027.
(d) Any recommendation made by the local school library
advisory council must adhere to the library standards approved
under Section 33.021.
(e) The local school library advisory council must consist
of at least five members, with each member appointed by the board of
trustees, and with each trustee appointing an equal number of
members. A majority of the voting members of the council must be
persons who are parents of students enrolled in the district and who
are not employed by the district. One of those members shall serve
as chair of the council. The board of trustees may also appoint one
or more persons to serve as nonvoting members of the council from
any of the following groups:
(1) classroom teachers employed by the district;
(2) librarians employed by the district;
(3) school counselors certified under Subchapter B,
Chapter 21, employed by the district;
(4) school administrators employed by the district;
(5) the business community; and
(6) the clergy.
(f) The local school library advisory council shall meet at
least two times each year. For each meeting, the council shall:
(1) at least 72 hours before the meeting:
(A) post notice of the date, hour, place, and
subject of the meeting on a bulletin board in the central
administrative office of each campus in the school district; and
(B) ensure that the notice required under
Paragraph (A) is posted on the district's Internet website, if the
district has an Internet website;
(2) prepare and maintain minutes of the meeting that
state the subject and content of each deliberation and each vote,
order, decision, or other action taken by the council during the
meeting;
(3) make an audio or video recording of the meeting;
and
(4) not later than the 10th day after the meeting,
submit the minutes and audio or video recording of the meeting to
the district.
(g) As soon as practicable after receipt of the minutes and
audio or video recording under Subsection (f)(4), the school
district shall post the minutes and audio or video recording on the
district's Internet website, if the district has an Internet
website.
Sec. 33.026. ACQUISITION OF LIBRARY MATERIALS. (a) The
board of trustees of a school district shall adopt a policy for the
acquisition of library materials, including procedures for the
procurement of library materials and the receipt of donated library
materials. The policy must require the board to:
(1) approve all library materials that have been
donated to or that are to be procured by a school library in the
district, with the advice and recommendations of the district's
local school library advisory council established under Section
33.025;
(2) make the list of library materials that have been
donated to or that are proposed to be procured by a school library
accessible for review by the public for at least 30 days before
final approval;
(3) approve or reject the list of library materials
that have been donated to or that are proposed to be procured by a
school library in an open meeting; and
(4) ensure compliance with the library standards
approved under Section 33.021.
(b) Each member of the board of trustees of a school
district is entitled to:
(1) review each list of library materials that have
been donated to or that are proposed to be procured by a school
library in the district; and
(2) propose changes to each list described by
Subdivision (1) before the board votes to approve or reject the
list.
(c) A school district may not add a donated library material
to the school library catalog or otherwise make the donated library
material available for student use unless the board of trustees of
the district approves the addition of that donated library material
to the school library catalog for the grade levels for which the
material is intended.
(d) This section does not apply to library materials that
have been donated to or that are to be procured by a school library
that:
(1) replace a damaged copy of a library material with
the same International Standard Book Number that is currently in
the school library catalog;
(2) are additional copies of a library material with
the same International Standard Book Number that is currently in
the school library catalog; or
(3) have the same International Standard Book Number
and have been approved for the same grade levels by the board of
trustees of the school district from a previous proposed list of
library materials.
Sec. 33.027. CHALLENGE OR APPEAL REGARDING LIBRARY
MATERIALS; LOCAL SCHOOL LIBRARY ADVISORY COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS.
(a) A parent of or person standing in parental relation to a
student enrolled in a school district, a person employed by the
district, or a person residing in the district may submit:
(1) to the district a written challenge to any library
material in the catalog of a school library in the district using
the form adopted under Subsection (d); or
(2) to the district's board of trustees an appeal of an
action taken by the district in response to a written challenge
received under Subdivision (1).
(b) Not later than the fifth day after the date on which a
school district receives a written challenge under Subsection
(a)(1), the district shall provide a copy of the challenge to the
district's local school library advisory council established under
Section 33.025. The council shall make a recommendation for action
by the district not later than the 90th day after the date on which
the council receives the copy.
(c) If the procedures recommended by the local school
library advisory council and adopted by the board of trustees
permit the appointment of library material review committees that
consist of persons who are not members of the council to review
library materials challenged under Subsection (a)(1), the council
may base the council's recommendation for action to be taken by the
district under Subsection (b) on the recommendation of a library
material review committee if the committee consists of at least
five persons appointed by the board of trustees, a majority of whom
are parents of students enrolled in the school district and are not
employed by the district.
(d) The agency shall adopt and post on the agency's Internet
website a form to be used in making a written challenge under
Subsection (a)(1). Each school district shall post the form on the
district's Internet website, if the district has an Internet
website. The form shall require the person submitting the form to
identify how the challenged library material violates the library
standards approved under Section 33.021.
(e) In taking action on a written challenge submitted under
Subsection (a)(1) or an appeal under Subsection (a)(2), the board
of trustees of a school district shall consider:
(1) the advice of the district's local school library
advisory council; and
(2) whether the library material challenged under
Subsection (a)(1) or appealed under Subsection (a)(2) is suitable
for the subject and grade level for which the library material is
intended, including by considering:
(A) whether the library material adheres to the
library standards approved under Section 33.021; and
(B) reviews, if any, of the library material
conducted by academic experts specializing in the subject covered
by the library material or in the education of students in the
subject and grade level for which the library material is intended.
(f) A school district that receives a challenge to a library
material under Subsection (a)(1) shall prohibit students enrolled
in the district from accessing the library material until the
district takes action in response to the challenge.
(g) If a challenge to a library material submitted under
Subsection (a)(1) results in the board of trustees, with the
recommendation of the local school library advisory council,
removing the library material from a school library catalog, the
board shall notify each teacher assigned as the classroom teacher
at the grade level for which the library material was determined to
be not appropriate and instruct the teacher to remove any copy of
the library material from the teacher's classroom library, if
applicable.
(h) If a challenge to a library material submitted under
Subsection (a)(1) results in the board of trustees, with the
recommendation of the local school library advisory council, not
removing the library material from a school library catalog, the
board is not required to take any action in response to a written
challenge of the library material submitted before the second
anniversary of the date of the determination to not remove the
library material.
SECTION 5. It is the intent of the legislature that every
provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word
in this Act, and every application of the provisions in this Act to
every person, group of persons, or circumstances, is severable from
each other. If any application of any provision in this Act to any
person, group of persons, or circumstances is found by a court to be
invalid for any reason, the remaining applications of that
provision to all other persons and circumstances shall be severed
and may not be affected.
SECTION 6. Before the first day of the 2025-2026 school
year, the board of trustees of each school district shall:
(1) establish and appoint members of the local school
library advisory council as required by Section 33.025, Education
Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) adopt a policy for the acquisition of library
materials as required by Section 33.026, Education Code, as added
by this Act.
SECTION 7. Not later than April 1, 2026, the Texas State
Library and Archives Commission shall adopt the standards for
school library collection development as required under Section
33.021, Education Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 8. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
school year.
SECTION 9. 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 10. 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.
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