By: Campbell, Creighton S.B. No. 2398
(In the Senate - Filed March 12, 2025; March 25, 2025, read
first time and referred to Committee on Education K-16;
April 22, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0; April 22, 2025,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2398 By: Hinojosa of Nueces
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain policies and procedures related to concussions
or other brain injuries sustained by public school students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 38, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 38.0051 to read as follows:
Sec. 38.0051. ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENT WITH
CONCUSSION OR OTHER BRAIN INJURY. (a) The agency shall develop a
list of nonmedical academic accommodations a school district may
offer to a student diagnosed with a concussion or other brain
injury.
(b) The agency shall:
(1) develop a form for use by school districts
describing the accommodations a district may offer under this
section; and
(2) make the form developed under Subdivision (1)
available on the agency's Internet website for use by school
districts, district educators or administrators, students, and
parents or guardians.
(c) A school district that provides accommodations under
this section must make the form developed under Subsection (b)
available to:
(1) a district employee as soon as practicable after
receiving:
(A) notice that a student enrolled in the
district has been diagnosed with a concussion or other brain
injury; or
(B) a request from the employee; and
(2) a student enrolled in the district or the student's
parent or guardian as soon as practicable after receiving:
(A) notice that the student has been diagnosed
with a concussion or other brain injury; or
(B) a request from the student or parent or
guardian.
(d) This section may not be construed to require a school
district to provide any accommodations under this section.
SECTION 2. Chapter 38, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter D-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER D-1. TREATMENT OF CONCUSSIONS AFFECTING STUDENTS OTHER
THAN STUDENT ATHLETES
Sec. 38.171. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "concussion"
has the meaning assigned by Section 38.151.
Sec. 38.172. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter does not apply
to a concussion believed to have been sustained by a student while
participating in an interscholastic athletic activity described by
Section 38.152.
Sec. 38.173. CONCUSSION RESPONSE POLICY. (a) A school
district shall adopt and implement a policy regarding how to
respond to a concussion believed to have been sustained by a student
while on school property or participating in a school-sponsored or
school-related activity on or off school property.
(b) The policy adopted under Subsection (a) must provide
for:
(1) the immediate removal of a student from a
school-sponsored or school-related activity if a school district
employee or volunteer believes the student might have sustained a
concussion;
(2) notice to the student's parent or guardian or
another person with legal authority to make medical decisions for
the student of the student's suspected concussion and removal under
Subdivision (1); and
(3) the student's return to a school-sponsored or
school-related activity only after the requirements under Section
38.157(a) have been satisfied.
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
school year.
SECTION 4. 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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