Bill Text: TX SB393 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to parental rights in public education and prohibiting instruction regarding sexual orientation or gender identity for public school students; authorizing a civil remedy.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-15 - Referred to Education [SB393 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB393-Introduced.html
88R4761 PRL-D | ||
By: Hall | S.B. No. 393 |
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relating to parental rights in public education and prohibiting | ||
instruction regarding sexual orientation or gender identity for | ||
public school students; authorizing a civil remedy. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 26.011, Education Code, | ||
is amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 26.011. COMPLAINTS; CIVIL REMEDY. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 26.011, Education Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsections (c), (d), and (e) to read as follows: | ||
(c) A grievance procedure adopted under this section must | ||
require that, not later than the 30th day after receipt of a | ||
complaint described by Subsection (a), the school district: | ||
(1) resolve the issue that gave rise to the complaint; | ||
or | ||
(2) provide to the parent who submitted the complaint | ||
a written explanation of the district's reason for not resolving | ||
the issue. | ||
(d) If a school district does not resolve an issue described | ||
by Subsection (c)(1), the parent may bring a civil action against | ||
the district to obtain appropriate injunctive and declaratory | ||
relief. A court may award damages and shall award reasonable | ||
attorney's fees and court costs to a prevailing parent. Remedies | ||
provided by this subsection are not exclusive. | ||
(e) The board of trustees of each school district shall | ||
adopt a policy for notifying parents of students enrolled in the | ||
district regarding the grievance procedure adopted by the district | ||
under this section. | ||
SECTION 3. Chapter 26, Education Code, is amended by adding | ||
Sections 26.0083, 26.0084, and 26.016 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 26.0083. RIGHT TO INFORMATION REGARDING MENTAL, | ||
EMOTIONAL, AND PHYSICAL HEALTH AND HEALTH-RELATED SERVICES. (a) | ||
Each school district shall adopt a procedure for notifying the | ||
parent of a student enrolled in the district regarding any change | ||
in: | ||
(1) services provided to or monitoring of the student | ||
related to the student's mental, emotional, or physical health or | ||
well-being; or | ||
(2) the district's ability to provide a safe and | ||
supportive learning environment for the student. | ||
(b) A procedure adopted under Subsection (a) must reinforce | ||
the fundamental right of a parent to make decisions regarding the | ||
upbringing and education of the parent's child by requiring school | ||
district personnel to: | ||
(1) encourage a student to discuss issues relating to | ||
the student's well-being with the student's parent; or | ||
(2) facilitate a discussion described under | ||
Subdivision (1). | ||
(c) A school district may not adopt a procedure or a student | ||
support form, including a student well-being questionnaire or | ||
health screening form, that: | ||
(1) prohibits a district employee from notifying the | ||
parent of a student regarding: | ||
(A) information about the student's mental, | ||
emotional, or physical health or well-being; or | ||
(B) a change in services provided to or | ||
monitoring of the student related to the student's mental, | ||
emotional, or physical health or well-being; or | ||
(2) encourages or has the effect of encouraging a | ||
student to withhold from the student's parent information described | ||
by Subdivision (1)(A). | ||
(d) A school district employee may not discourage or | ||
prohibit parental knowledge of or involvement in critical decisions | ||
affecting a student's mental, emotional, or physical health or | ||
well-being. | ||
(e) Before the first instructional day of each school year, | ||
a school district shall provide to the parent of each student | ||
enrolled in the district written notice of each health-related | ||
service offered at the district campus the student attends. The | ||
notice must include a statement of the parent's right to withhold | ||
consent for or decline a health-related service. A parent's | ||
consent to a health-related service does not waive a requirement of | ||
Subsection (a), (c), or (d). | ||
(f) Before administering a student support form to a | ||
student, a school district must provide a copy of the form to the | ||
student's parent and obtain the parent's consent to administer the | ||
form. | ||
(g) Not later than June 30, 2024, the agency, the State | ||
Board of Education, and the State Board for Educator Certification, | ||
as appropriate, shall review and revise as necessary the following | ||
to ensure compliance with this section: | ||
(1) school counseling frameworks and standards; | ||
(2) educator practices and professional conduct | ||
principles; and | ||
(3) any other student services personnel guidelines, | ||
standards, or frameworks. | ||
(h) Subsection (g) and this subsection expire September 1, | ||
2025. | ||
Sec. 26.0084. RIGHT TO INFORMATION REGARDING STUDENT'S | ||
PERCEPTION OF BIOLOGICAL SEX. A school district employee or | ||
independent contractor of a district, including a third-party | ||
instructor, guest speaker, or subcontractor, may not withhold from | ||
a student's parent information related to the student's perception | ||
of the student's biological sex if that perception is inconsistent | ||
with the student's biological sex as determined by the student's sex | ||
organs, chromosomes, and endogenous hormone profiles. | ||
Sec. 26.016. CONSENT REQUIRED FOR PARTICIPATION IN CERTAIN | ||
STUDENT CLUBS. (a) In this section, "student club" means any | ||
student organization sponsored or sanctioned by a school district. | ||
(b) A school district shall require written parental | ||
consent as a condition of a student's participation in a student | ||
club that promotes themes of sexuality, gender, or gender identity. | ||
(c) A school district shall seek parental consent under this | ||
section by providing a written form to a parent that includes the | ||
foundational documents of the student club described by Subsection | ||
(b) in which the student wishes to participate, including: | ||
(1) the name of the club; | ||
(2) the mission statement or purpose of the club; and | ||
(3) any additional information determined appropriate | ||
by the school district. | ||
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 28.0043 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 28.0043. RESTRICTION ON INSTRUCTION REGARDING SEXUAL | ||
ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY. A school district, | ||
open-enrollment charter school, or district or charter school | ||
employee may not provide or allow a third party to provide | ||
instruction regarding sexual orientation or gender identity to | ||
students enrolled in the district or school. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 12.104(b), Education Code, as amended by | ||
Chapters 542 (S.B. 168), 887 (S.B. 1697), 915 (H.B. 3607), 974 (S.B. | ||
2081), and 1046 (S.B. 1365), Acts of the 87th Legislature, Regular | ||
Session, 2021, is reenacted and amended to read as follows: | ||
(b) An open-enrollment charter school is subject to: | ||
(1) a provision of this title establishing a criminal | ||
offense; | ||
(2) the provisions in Chapter 554, Government Code; | ||
and | ||
(3) a prohibition, restriction, or requirement, as | ||
applicable, imposed by this title or a rule adopted under this | ||
title, relating to: | ||
(A) the Public Education Information Management | ||
System (PEIMS) to the extent necessary to monitor compliance with | ||
this subchapter as determined by the commissioner; | ||
(B) criminal history records under Subchapter C, | ||
Chapter 22; | ||
(C) reading instruments and accelerated reading | ||
instruction programs under Section 28.006; | ||
(D) accelerated instruction under Section | ||
28.0211; | ||
(E) high school graduation requirements under | ||
Section 28.025; | ||
(F) special education programs under Subchapter | ||
A, Chapter 29; | ||
(G) bilingual education under Subchapter B, | ||
Chapter 29; | ||
(H) prekindergarten programs under Subchapter E | ||
or E-1, Chapter 29, except class size limits for prekindergarten | ||
classes imposed under Section 25.112, which do not apply; | ||
(I) extracurricular activities under Section | ||
33.081; | ||
(J) discipline management practices or behavior | ||
management techniques under Section 37.0021; | ||
(K) health and safety under Chapter 38; | ||
(L) the provisions of Subchapter A, Chapter 39; | ||
(M) public school accountability and special | ||
investigations under Subchapters A, B, C, D, F, G, and J, Chapter | ||
39, and Chapter 39A; | ||
(N) the requirement under Section 21.006 to | ||
report an educator's misconduct; | ||
(O) intensive programs of instruction under | ||
Section 28.0213; | ||
(P) the right of a school employee to report a | ||
crime, as provided by Section 37.148; | ||
(Q) bullying prevention policies and procedures | ||
under Section 37.0832; | ||
(R) the right of a school under Section 37.0052 | ||
to place a student who has engaged in certain bullying behavior in a | ||
disciplinary alternative education program or to expel the student; | ||
(S) the right under Section 37.0151 to report to | ||
local law enforcement certain conduct constituting assault or | ||
harassment; | ||
(T) a parent's right to information regarding the | ||
provision of assistance for learning difficulties to the parent's | ||
child as provided by Sections 26.004(b)(11) and 26.0081(c) and (d); | ||
(U) establishment of residency under Section | ||
25.001; | ||
(V) school safety requirements under Sections | ||
37.108, 37.1081, 37.1082, 37.109, 37.113, 37.114, 37.1141, 37.115, | ||
37.207, and 37.2071; | ||
(W) the early childhood literacy and mathematics | ||
proficiency plans under Section 11.185; | ||
(X) the college, career, and military readiness | ||
plans under Section 11.186; [ |
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(Y) [ |
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under Section 28.02124; and | ||
(Z) parental rights to: | ||
(i) information regarding a student's | ||
mental, emotional, and physical health and health-related services | ||
offered by the school as provided by Section 26.0083; | ||
(ii) information regarding a student's | ||
perception of the student's biological sex as provided by Section | ||
26.0084; and | ||
(iii) consent to a student's participation | ||
in a student club that promotes themes of sexuality, gender, or | ||
gender identity as provided by Section 26.016. | ||
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024 | ||
school year. | ||
SECTION 7. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails | ||
over another Act of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023, | ||
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted | ||
codes. | ||
SECTION 8. 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. |