Bill Text: TX HB245 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 2nd Special Session | Introduced

Texas House Bill 245 (Prior Session Legislation)

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.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-09-01 - Filed [HB245 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB245-Introduced.html

	87S20244 JES-D

	By: Goodwin	H.B. No. 245



	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	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 [~~an option~~].
	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.