Bill Text: TX HB5256 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to a public school policy regarding multi-occupancy bathrooms or changing facilities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-24 - Referred to Public Education [HB5256 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB5256-Introduced.html
| 88R9763 CXP-D | ||
| By: Toth | H.B. No. 5256 | |
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| relating to a public school policy regarding multi-occupancy | ||
| bathrooms or changing facilities. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 38, Education Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Section 38.044 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 38.044. POLICY REGARDING MULTI-OCCUPANCY BATHROOM OR | ||
| CHANGING FACILITY. (a) In this section, "multi-occupancy bathroom | ||
| or changing facility" means a facility designed or designated for | ||
| use by more than one person at a time, where a person may be in a | ||
| state of undress in the presence of another person, regardless of | ||
| whether the facility provides curtains or partial walls for | ||
| privacy. The term includes a restroom, locker room, changing room, | ||
| or shower room. | ||
| (b) A school district shall ensure that any policy adopted | ||
| by the district regarding multi-occupancy bathrooms or changing | ||
| facilities protects: | ||
| (1) the health, safety, and welfare of students; | ||
| (2) the confidentiality of student educational | ||
| information as required under state and federal law, including the | ||
| Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. | ||
| Section 1232g); and | ||
| (3) the privacy interests of all students and the | ||
| students' parents. | ||
| (c) If a school district adopts a policy that allows for | ||
| separation of multi-occupancy bathrooms or changing facilities | ||
| according to a criterion other than a person's biological sex | ||
| assigned at birth, the policy must: | ||
| (1) include: | ||
| (A) a description of: | ||
| (i) which multi-occupancy bathrooms or | ||
| changing facilities are not separated by biological sex assigned at | ||
| birth; and | ||
| (ii) if a multi-occupancy bathroom or | ||
| changing facility is not separated by biological sex assigned at | ||
| birth, the method by which students will be supervised in that | ||
| facility and the manner in which that method of supervision ensures | ||
| the safety and privacy of students; and | ||
| (B) accommodations or modifications for students | ||
| who wish to use a multi-occupancy bathroom or changing facility | ||
| separated by biological sex assigned at birth; and | ||
| (2) be: | ||
| (A) posted on the district's Internet website; | ||
| and | ||
| (B) provided at the beginning of each school year | ||
| by mail to each parent of a student enrolled in the district. | ||
| (d) The requirements under Subsection (c) do not apply to a | ||
| faculty bathroom that is not accessible to students. | ||
| SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024 | ||
| school year. | ||
| 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 September 1, 2023. | ||
