Bill Text: TX HB245 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 2nd Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to personal leave provided for a public school teacher who must isolate due to exposure to or testing positive for certain diseases.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-09-01 - Filed [HB245 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB245-Introduced.html
| 87S20244 JES-D | ||
| By: Goodwin | H.B. No. 245 | |
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| relating to personal leave provided for a public school teacher who | ||
| must isolate due to exposure to or testing positive for certain | ||
| diseases. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Section 22.003(c-1), Education Code, is amended | ||
| to read as follows: | ||
| (c-1) Any informational handbook a school district provides | ||
| to employees in an electronic or paper form or makes available by | ||
| posting on the district website must include notification of an | ||
| employee's rights under Subsection (b) and Section 22.0031 in the | ||
| relevant section of the handbook. Any form used by a school | ||
| district through which an employee may request leave under this | ||
| section must include assault leave under Subsection (b) and | ||
| disaster leave under Section 22.0031 as options [ |
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| SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 22, Education Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Section 22.0031 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 22.0031. DISASTER LEAVE FOR CLASSROOM TEACHERS. (a) | ||
| In addition to all other days of leave provided by Section 22.003 or | ||
| by the school district, a classroom teacher employed by a school | ||
| district who: | ||
| (1) is subject to federal, state, or local regulations | ||
| requiring isolation due to exposure to or testing positive for the | ||
| coronavirus disease (COVID-19) or another disease that is the basis | ||
| for a disaster declared by the governor under Section 418.014, | ||
| Government Code, and is unable to perform the employee's job duties | ||
| remotely, including because the teacher is experiencing symptoms of | ||
| the disease, is entitled to not less than the number of days of | ||
| leave for compensation necessary to comply with an order to isolate | ||
| following the exposure to the disease or positive test result; or | ||
| (2) tests positive for a disease described by | ||
| Subdivision (1) but who is not subject to an order to isolate, is | ||
| entitled to not less than the number of days of leave for | ||
| compensation necessary to meet guidelines for isolation following a | ||
| positive test result for that disease established by the Centers | ||
| for Disease Control and Prevention or by a state or local health | ||
| authority. | ||
| (b) Days of leave taken under this section may not be | ||
| deducted from accrued personal leave or leave that the employee is | ||
| entitled to under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 | ||
| U.S.C. Section 2601 et seq.). | ||
| (c) The commissioner shall reimburse each school district | ||
| for the costs incurred by the district to provide a substitute | ||
| teacher or otherwise replace a classroom teacher who takes disaster | ||
| leave under this section. | ||
| (d) In providing reimbursement under Subsection (c), the | ||
| commissioner shall prioritize money received by the agency under | ||
| the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Pub. L. No. 117-2, reprinted | ||
| in note, 20 U.S.C. Section 3401). | ||
| (e) A school district shall reimburse a classroom teacher | ||
| who used personal leave between August 1, 2021, and December 31, | ||
| 2021, the number of days of leave required to be taken by that | ||
| teacher to isolate following exposure to or a positive test result | ||
| for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). | ||
| (f) The commissioner shall reimburse each school district | ||
| the costs incurred between August 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021, to | ||
| provide a substitute teacher or otherwise replace a classroom | ||
| teacher who was required to take leave to isolate following | ||
| exposure to or a positive test result for the coronavirus disease | ||
| (COVID-19). In providing reimbursement under this subsection, the | ||
| commissioner shall prioritize money received by the agency under | ||
| the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Pub. L. No. 117-2, reprinted | ||
| in note, 20 U.S.C. Section 3401). | ||
| (g) Subsections (d), (e), and (f) and this subsection expire | ||
| January 1, 2023. | ||
| SECTION 3. 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 on the 91st day after the last day of the | ||
| legislative session. | ||
