By: King, et al. S.B. No. 747
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to public school policies and programs regarding the
production or distribution of certain intimate visual material by
public school students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.0052(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) A student may be removed from class and placed in a
disciplinary alternative education program as provided by Section
37.008 or expelled if the student:
(1) engages in bullying that encourages a student to
commit or attempt to commit suicide;
(2) incites violence against a student through group
bullying; or
(3) releases or threatens to release intimate visual
material of a minor or a student who is 18 years of age or older
without the student's consent, including intimate visual material
created using artificial intelligence technology.
SECTION 2. Section 37.0832(a), Education Code, is amended
by amending Subdivision (2) and adding Subdivision (3) to read as
follows:
(2) "Cyberbullying" means:
(A) bullying that is done through the use of any
electronic communication device, including through the use of a
cellular or other type of telephone, a computer, a camera,
electronic mail, instant messaging, text messaging, a social media
application, an Internet website, or any other Internet-based
communication tool; or
(B) the production or distribution of a video or
image that depicts or appears to depict another student with the
student's intimate parts exposed or engaged in sexual conduct,
including a video or image created through the use of artificial
intelligence technology.
(3) "Intimate parts" and "sexual conduct" have the
meanings assigned by Section 21.16, Penal Code.
SECTION 3. Section 37.0832(c-1), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c-1) The agency shall adopt minimum standards for a school
district's policy under Subsection (c). The standards must:
(1) include an emphasis on bullying prevention by
focusing on school climate and building healthy relationships
between students and staff;
(2) require each district campus to establish a
committee to address bullying by focusing on prevention efforts and
health and wellness initiatives;
(3) require students at each grade level to meet
periodically for instruction on building relationships and
preventing bullying, including cyberbullying;
(4) include an emphasis on increasing student
reporting of bullying incidents to school employees by:
(A) increasing awareness about district
reporting procedures; and
(B) providing for anonymous reporting of
bullying incidents;
(5) require districts to:
(A) collect information annually through student
surveys on bullying, including cyberbullying; and
(B) use those survey results to develop action
plans to address student concerns regarding bullying, including
cyberbullying; [and]
(6) require districts to develop a rubric or checklist
to assess an incident of bullying and to determine the district's
response to the incident; and
(7) require districts to include in the policy
provisions specifically addressing incidents of bullying that
involve the production or distribution of a video or image that
depicts or appears to depict another student with the other
student's intimate parts exposed or engaged in sexual conduct,
including a video or image created through the use of artificial
intelligence technology.
SECTION 4. Section 37.218(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The center, in consultation with the office of the
attorney general, shall develop programs for use by school
districts that address:
(1) the possible legal consequences, including
criminal penalties, of sharing visual material depicting a minor
engaged in sexual conduct;
(2) other possible consequences of sharing visual
material depicting a minor engaged in sexual conduct, including:
(A) negative effects on relationships;
(B) loss of educational and employment
opportunities; and
(C) possible removal, if applicable, from
certain school programs or extracurricular activities;
(3) the unique characteristics of the Internet and
other communications networks that could affect visual material
depicting a minor engaged in sexual conduct, including:
(A) search and replication capabilities; and
(B) a potentially worldwide audience;
(4) the prevention of, identification of, responses
to, and reporting of incidents of bullying; [and]
(5) the connection between bullying, cyberbullying,
harassment, and a minor sharing visual material depicting a minor
engaged in sexual conduct; and
(6) the specific risks of producing or distributing
visual material created using artificial intelligence technology
that appears to depict a student with the student's intimate parts
exposed or engaged in sexual conduct.
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.