By: Swanson	H.B. No. 120

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	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[,] test[,] or psychological or psychiatric
	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.