Bill Number | Sponsor | Last Action | Bill Categories | Bill Summary |
---|---|---|---|---|
HB 591 | Rep. Chris Turner | Filed |
Requires that all students be immunized against bacterial meningitis, subject to the existing exceptions allowed by law. |
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HB 605 | Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins | Filed | Health |
Requires districts to adopt a healthy and safe school water plan, which must include provisions for periodic lead testing and reducing exposure to elevated levels of lead in school water sources. If testing results show lead levels of more than 15 ppb, the district must restrict access to the water source within 48 hours of learning of the results, and must mitigate the source of the contamination. A subsequent test must show a level of less than 15 ppb before access is restored. |
HB 612 | Rep. Leo Pacheco | Filed | School district operations |
Prohibits a district of innovation from exempting itself from first or last day instruction requirements. Revises the first day provision to no earlier than the Tuesday after Labor Day. The last day can be no earlier than May 15 (current law) and no later than the Friday before Memorial Day (unless year-round). |
HB 613 | Rep. Gina Hinojosa | Filed | Miscellaneous |
Makes the commissioner of education an elected position for a 4-year term. |
HB 617 | Rep. Harold Dutton | Filed | Finance |
Creates an allotment for students whose parents are incarcerated, in the amount of the basic allotment times 1.1. |
HB 618 | Rep. Harold Dutton | Filed | Charter schools |
Allows charter schools to participate in the existing Jobs and Education for Texans (JET) Grant Program, which is currently limited to junior colleges, technical institutes, state colleges and ISDs. |
HB 622 | Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins | Filed | Certification and Training |
Creates an abbreviated educator preparation program for marketing education certification and health science technology education certification. Each program must require at least 200 hours of coursework or training. |
HB 625 | Rep. Ana Hernandez | Filed | TRS/benefits |
Requires the TRS Board to consider a CPI-indexed increase to retirement benefits on an annual basis, to the extent that the retirement system is actuarially sound and has money available to pay the increased benefits. If sound but the full benefit is not affordable, the Board will adjust the amount of the increase accordingly. Begins with benefits paid on or after Jan. 1, 2022. |
HB 634 | Rep. Eddie Morales | Filed | Governance |
Expands the type of newspaper allowed for public notice publication to include a newspaper that is published in the county and designated by the governing body of the political subdivision (e.g., the school board) as the newspaper for publication of notices. |
HB 640 | Rep. Richard Raymond | Filed | Discipline |
Provides that a principal or campus behavior coordinator (public, private or charter) who suspects a student of harmful or illegal conduct that poses a serious threat to the student or other students can, with parental permission, search the student and his/her possessions for evidence. Upon consent, the principal or CBC can conduct the search with assistance of a district police officer. Any illegal item or substance confiscated must be immediately delivered to local law enforcement. |
HB 644 | Rep. Richard Raymond | Filed | Governance |
Adds to the current law that says a school board is not required to address a complaint about a student's participation in an extracurricular activity to say that the board is not required to address a complaint "concerning, relating to, or arising from a student's or parent's participation...." |
HB 646 | Rep. Richard Raymond | Filed | Employee Protections |
Provides that state nepotism limits do not apply to the employment of a classroom teacher by a district in a subject area or geographic area certified by the commissioner as experiencing a critical teacher shortage. |
HB 672 | Rep. Armando Martinez | Filed | TRS/benefits |
Requires the TRS Board to consider a CPI-indexed increase to retirement benefits on an annual basis, to the extent that the retirement system is actuarially sound and has money available to pay the increased benefits. If sound but the full benefit is not affordable, the Board will adjust the amount of the increase accordingly. Begins with benefits paid on or after Jan. 1, 2022. |
HB 680 | Rep. Ana Hernandez | Filed | Students |
Requires the secretary of state to provide registration application forms to high schools at least once per year. |
HB 684 | Rep. Mary Gonzalez | Filed | Charter schools |
Requires the commissioner to conduct a study to evaluate enrollment characteristics of charters vs traditional school districts, and the financial impact of charters on recapture (wealthy) districts. Information must include comparisons of students who are eligible for special education services, identified as economically disadvantaged, or placed in a DAEP or expelled. |