By: Creighton S.B. No. 1565
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a school district's grievance procedure and to certain
public school requirements and prohibitions regarding instruction
and diversity, equity, and inclusion duties and the loss of funding
for public schools that fail to comply with those provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 1, Education Code, is amended by adding
Section 1.007 to read as follows:
Sec. 1.007. COMPLIANCE WITH MANDATORY POLICY. (a) In this
section, "public elementary or secondary school" means a school
district and a district, campus, program, or school operating under
a charter under Chapter 12.
(b) A public elementary or secondary school, the school's
governing body, and the school's employees shall implement and
comply with each policy the school is required to adopt under this
code or other law.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 11, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 11.005 to read as follows:
Sec. 11.005. PROHIBITION ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND
INCLUSION DUTIES. (a) In this section, "diversity, equity, and
inclusion duties" means:
(1) influencing hiring or employment practices with
respect to race, sex, color, or ethnicity except as necessary to
comply with state or federal antidiscrimination laws;
(2) promoting differential treatment of or providing
special benefits to individuals on the basis of race, color, or
ethnicity;
(3) developing or implementing policies, procedures,
or training programs that reference race, color, ethnicity, gender
identity, or sexual orientation except as necessary to comply with
state or federal law;
(4) compelling, requiring, inducing, or soliciting
any person to provide a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement
or giving preferential consideration to any person based on the
provision of a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement; and
(b) Except as required by state or federal law, a school
district:
(1) may not assign diversity, equity, and inclusion
duties to any person; and
(2) shall prohibit a district employee, contractor, or
volunteer from engaging in diversity, equity, and inclusion duties.
(c) A school district shall adopt a policy and procedure for
the appropriate discipline, including termination, of a district
employee or contractor who engages in or assigns to another person
diversity, equity, and inclusion duties.
(d) Nothing in this section may be construed to limit or
prohibit a school district from acknowledging or teaching the
significance of state and federal holidays or commemorative months
and how those holidays or months fit into the themes of history and
the stories of this state and the United States of America in
accordance with the essential knowledge and skills adopted under
Subchapter A, Chapter 28.
SECTION 3. Section 12.104(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) An open-enrollment charter school is subject to:
(1) a provision of this title establishing a criminal
offense;
(2) the provisions in Chapter 554, Government Code;
and
(3) a prohibition, restriction, or requirement, as
applicable, imposed by this title or a rule adopted under this
title, relating to:
(A) the Public Education Information Management
System (PEIMS) to the extent necessary to monitor compliance with
this subchapter as determined by the commissioner;
(B) criminal history records under Subchapter C,
Chapter 22;
(C) reading instruments and accelerated reading
instruction programs under Section 28.006;
(D) accelerated instruction under Section
28.0211;
(E) high school graduation requirements under
Section 28.025;
(F) special education programs under Subchapter
A, Chapter 29;
(G) bilingual education under Subchapter B,
Chapter 29;
(H) prekindergarten programs under Subchapter E
or E-1, Chapter 29, except class size limits for prekindergarten
classes imposed under Section 25.112, which do not apply;
(I) extracurricular activities under Section
33.081;
(J) discipline management practices or behavior
management techniques under Section 37.0021;
(K) health and safety under Chapter 38;
(L) the provisions of Subchapter A, Chapter 39;
(M) public school accountability and special
investigations under Subchapters A, B, C, D, F, G, and J, Chapter
39, and Chapter 39A;
(N) the requirement under Section 21.006 to
report an educator's misconduct;
(O) intensive programs of instruction under
Section 28.0213;
(P) the right of a school employee to report a
crime, as provided by Section 37.148;
(Q) bullying prevention policies and procedures
under Section 37.0832;
(R) the right of a school under Section 37.0052
to place a student who has engaged in certain bullying behavior in a
disciplinary alternative education program or to expel the student;
(S) the right under Section 37.0151 to report to
local law enforcement certain conduct constituting assault or
harassment;
(T) a parent's right to information regarding the
provision of assistance for learning difficulties to the parent's
child as provided by Sections 26.004(b)(11) and 26.0081(c) and (d);
(U) establishment of residency under Section
25.001;
(V) school safety requirements under Sections
37.0814, 37.108, 37.1081, 37.1082, 37.1083, 37.1084, 37.1085,
37.1086, 37.109, 37.113, 37.114, 37.1141, 37.115, 37.207, and
37.2071 and Subchapter J, Chapter 37;
(W) the early childhood literacy and mathematics
proficiency plans under Section 11.185;
(X) the college, career, and military readiness
plans under Section 11.186; [and]
(Y) parental options to retain a student under
Section 28.02124; and
(Z) diversity, equity, and inclusion duties
under Section 11.005.
SECTION 4. Section 26.011, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 26.011. LOCAL GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE [COMPLAINTS].
(a) The board of trustees of each school district shall adopt a
grievance procedure under which the board shall:
(1) address each grievance [complaint] that the board
receives concerning a violation of the prohibition under Section
11.005 or of a right guaranteed by this chapter:
(A) if the grievance is filed not later than six
school weeks after the date on which the parent received notice of
an incident giving rise to the grievance; or
(B) regardless of whether the grievance was filed
during the period prescribed by Paragraph (A) if the grievance was
informally brought to the attention of school district personnel
during that period;
(2) allow a parent at any time before a final decision
by the board to provide additional evidence regarding the parent's
grievance; and
(3) allow a parent to file more than one grievance at
the same time.
(b) The board of trustees of a school district is not
required by Subsection (a) or Section 11.1511(b)(13) to address a
grievance [complaint] that the board receives concerning a
student's participation in an extracurricular activity that does
not involve a violation of a right guaranteed by this chapter. This
subsection does not affect a claim brought by a parent under the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400
et seq.) or a successor federal statute addressing special
education services for a child with a disability.
(c) The board of trustees of a school district shall ensure
a grievance procedure adopted under Subsection (a):
(1) authorizes a parent to file a grievance with the
principal of the district campus the parent's child attends or the
person designated by the district to receive grievances for that
campus;
(2) requires that a principal or the person designated
by the district to receive grievances for a campus:
(A) acknowledge receipt of a grievance under
Subdivision (1) not later than two school business days after
receipt of the grievance; and
(B) not later than the 14th school business day
after receipt of a grievance described by Subdivision (1), provide
to the parent who submitted the grievance written documentation of
the decision regarding the issue that gave rise to the grievance,
including:
(i) an explanation of the findings that
contributed to the decision;
(ii) notification regarding the parent's
right to appeal the decision; and
(iii) the timeline for appealing the
decision;
(3) requires that, if a parent appeals a decision
under Subdivision (2) not later than the 14th school business day
after receiving notice of the decision, the superintendent or the
superintendent's designee provide to the parent not later than the
14th school business day after receipt of the appeal written
documentation of the decision regarding the issue that gave rise to
the grievance, including:
(A) an explanation of the findings that
contributed to the decision;
(B) notification regarding the parent's right to
appeal the decision; and
(C) the timeline for appealing the decision;
(4) requires that, if a parent appeals a decision
under Subdivision (3) not later than the 14th school business day
after receiving notice of the decision, the board hear the
grievance in a closed session at the board's next regular meeting
that occurs on or after the 14th school business day after the date
the board receives notice of the appeal; and
(5) requires that, not later than the 10th school
business day after the date of a board meeting described by
Subdivision (4), the board provide to the parent written
documentation of the board's decision regarding the issue that gave
rise to the grievance, including notice that the parent may appeal
to the commissioner in writing under Section 7.057, if applicable.
(d) The parties may mutually agree to adjust the timeline
for the procedure under this section.
(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (d), if a grievance
submitted under this section involves an employee who is on
documented leave that is scheduled to begin or has begun before the
grievance is submitted, the district may alter the timeline for the
procedure under this section to make a reasonable accommodation for
the employee's leave. The district must provide notice of the
change to the parent who submitted the grievance.
SECTION 5. Chapter 26, Education Code, is amended by adding
Sections 26.0111 and 26.0112 to read as follows:
Sec. 26.0111. GRIEVANCE HEARING BEFORE HEARING EXAMINER.
(a) This section applies only to a grievance regarding a violation
of:
(1) Section 11.005, 28.0022, or 28.004 or Chapter 38
or the implementation of those provisions by a school district; or
(2) Chapter 551, Government Code, involving school
district personnel.
(b) If a parent has exhausted the parent's options under the
local grievance procedure established by the board of trustees of a
school district under Section 26.011 regarding a grievance to which
this section applies, and the grievance is not resolved to a
parent's satisfaction, the parent may file a written request with
the commissioner for a hearing before a hearing examiner under this
section not later than the 30th school business day after the date
on which the board of trustees of the district resolved the parent's
grievance under Section 26.011. The parent must provide the
district with a copy of the request and must provide the
commissioner with a copy of the district's resolution of the
grievance. The parties may agree in writing to extend by not more
than 10 school business days the deadline for requesting a hearing.
(c) The commissioner shall assign a hearing examiner to
review the grievance in the manner provided by Section 21.254. The
hearing examiner has the powers described by Sections 21.255 and
21.256 and shall conduct the hearing in the manner provided by those
sections as if the parent were a teacher.
(d) Not later than the 60th business day after the date on
which the commissioner receives a parent's written request for a
hearing, the hearing examiner shall complete the hearing and make a
written recommendation that includes proposed findings of fact and
conclusions of law. The recommendation of the hearing examiner is
final and may not be appealed.
(e) Sections 21.257(c), (d), and (e) apply to a hearing
under this section in the same manner as a hearing conducted under
Subchapter F, Chapter 21.
(f) The costs of the hearing examiner, the court reporter,
the original hearing transcript, and any hearing room costs, if the
hearing room is not provided by the school district, shall be paid
by the school district if the hearing examiner finds in favor of the
parent.
(g) Notwithstanding Subsection (d), if a parent fails to
appear at a hearing under this section, the hearing examiner is not
required to complete the hearing and may not make a recommendation
in favor of the parent.
Sec. 26.0112. TESTIMONY BEFORE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
If the commissioner adopts the recommendation of a hearing examiner
finding against a school district under Section 26.0111 in at least
five grievances to which that section applies involving the
district during a school year, the superintendent of the school
district must appear before the State Board of Education to testify
regarding the hearing examiner's findings and the frequency of
grievances against the district.
SECTION 6. Section 28.0022, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsection (h) to read as
follows:
(f) This section does not create a private cause of action
against a teacher, administrator, or other employee of a school
district or open-enrollment charter school. [A school district or
open-enrollment charter school may take appropriate action
involving the employment of any teacher, administrator, or other
employee based on the individual's compliance with state and
federal laws and district policies.]
(h) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
shall adopt a policy and procedure for the appropriate discipline,
including termination, of a district or school employee or
contractor who engages in or assigns to another person an act
prohibited by this section.
SECTION 7. Subchapter A, Chapter 48, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 48.013 to read as follows:
Sec. 48.013. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH CERTAIN LAWS
REQUIRED. (a) Not later than September 30 of each year, the
superintendent of a school district or open-enrollment charter
school shall certify to the agency that the district or school is in
compliance with this section and Sections 11.005 and 28.0022.
(b) The certification required by Subsection (a) must:
(1) be:
(A) approved by a majority vote of the board of
trustees of the school district or the governing body of the
open-enrollment charter school at a public meeting that includes an
opportunity for public testimony and for which notice was posted on
the district's or school's Internet website at least seven days
before the date on which the meeting is held; and
(B) submitted electronically to the agency; and
(2) include:
(A) a description of the policies and procedures
required by Sections 11.005(c) and 28.0022(h) and the manner in
which district or school employees and contractors were notified of
those policies and procedures;
(B) any existing policies, programs, procedures,
or trainings that were altered to ensure compliance with this
section or Section 11.005 or 28.0022; and
(C) any cost savings resulting from actions taken
by the school district or open-enrollment charter school to comply
with this section.
(c) The agency shall post each certification received under
Subsection (a) on the agency's Internet website.
SECTION 8. Section 11.005, Education Code, as added by this
Act, and Sections 12.104(b) and 28.0022, Education Code, as amended
by this Act, apply beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.
SECTION 9. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, 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.
(b) Section 48.013, Education Code, as added by this Act,
takes effect September 1, 2025.