Bill Text: TX HB120 | 2023 | 88th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to parental consent for certain activities engaged in by a school district employee or contractor with respect to the parent's child.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 21-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-10-10 - Filed [HB120 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB120-Introduced.html
By: Swanson | H.B. No. 120 |
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relating to parental consent for certain activities engaged in by a | ||
school district employee or contractor with respect to the parent's | ||
child. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 26.009, Education Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), | ||
and (c) to read as follows: | ||
(a) An employee or contractor of a school district must | ||
obtain the written consent of a child's parent in the manner | ||
required by Subsection (a-2) each time before the employee may: | ||
(1) conduct a psychological or psychiatric | ||
examination or[ |
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treatment, unless the examination, test, or treatment is required | ||
under Section 38.004 or state or federal law regarding requirements | ||
for special education; or | ||
(2) subject to Subsection (b), make or authorize the | ||
making of a videotape of a child or record or authorize the | ||
recording of a child's voice. | ||
(a-1) For purposes of Subsection (a): | ||
(1) "Psychological or psychiatric examination or | ||
test" means a method designed to elicit information regarding an | ||
attitude, habit, trait, opinion, belief, feeling, or mental | ||
disorder or a condition thought to lead to a mental disorder, | ||
regardless of the manner in which the method is presented or | ||
characterized, including a method that is presented or | ||
characterized as a survey, check-in, or screening or is embedded in | ||
an academic lesson. | ||
(2) "Psychological or psychiatric treatment" means | ||
the planned, systematic use of a method or technique that is | ||
designed to affect behavioral, emotional, or attitudinal | ||
characteristics of an individual or group. | ||
(a-2) Written consent for a parent's child to participate in | ||
a district activity described by Subsection (a) must be obtained | ||
for each separate activity in which the child participates, and | ||
each written consent must be signed by the parent and returned to | ||
the district. A child may not participate in the activity unless | ||
the district receives the parent's signed written consent to that | ||
activity. | ||
(a-3) Subsection (a) does not require an employee of a | ||
school district to obtain the written consent of a child's parent | ||
before verbally asking the child about the child's general | ||
well-being, and for purposes of Subsections (a) and (a-1)(1), the | ||
term "check-in" does not include such an inquiry. | ||
(b) An employee or contractor of a school district is not | ||
required to obtain the consent of a child's parent before the | ||
employee or contractor may make a videotape of a child or authorize | ||
the recording of a child's voice if the videotape or voice recording | ||
is to be used only for: | ||
(1) purposes of safety, including the maintenance of | ||
order and discipline in common areas of the school or on school | ||
buses; | ||
(2) a purpose related to a cocurricular or | ||
extracurricular activity; | ||
(3) a purpose related to regular classroom | ||
instruction; | ||
(4) media coverage of the school; or | ||
(5) a purpose related to the promotion of student | ||
safety under Section 29.022. | ||
(c) A school district shall retain the written informed | ||
consent of a child's parent obtained under this section as part of | ||
the child's education records. | ||
(d) Nothing in this section may be construed to affect: | ||
(1) a child's consent to counseling under Section | ||
32.004, Family Code; or | ||
(2) the duty to report child abuse or neglect under | ||
Chapter 261, Family Code, or an investigation of a report of abuse | ||
or neglect under that chapter. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2024-2025 | ||
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 effect on that date, | ||
this Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the | ||
legislative session. |