Bill Text: TX HB26 | 2023 | 88th Legislature 4th 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 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-11-07 - Filed [HB26 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB26-Introduced.html
By: Swanson | H.B. No. 26 |
|
||
|
||
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 to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 26.009. CONSENT REQUIRED FOR CERTAIN ACTIVITIES. (a) | ||
In this section: | ||
(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. | ||
(b) An employee or contractor of a school district must | ||
obtain the written consent signed by [ |
||
separate activity described by this subsection in which the child | ||
will participate before: | ||
(1) the employee or contractor may: | ||
(A) [ |
||
examination or[ |
||
treatment, unless the examination, test, or treatment is required | ||
under Section 38.004 or state or federal law regarding requirements | ||
for special education; or | ||
(B) [ |
||
authorize the making of a videotape of a child or record or | ||
authorize the recording of a child's voice; and | ||
(2) the child may participate in that activity. | ||
(c) [ |
||
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. | ||
(d) A school district shall retain every written and signed | ||
informed consent of a child's parent obtained under this section as | ||
part of the child's education records. | ||
(e) Nothing in this section may be construed to: | ||
(1) 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; | ||
(2) affect a child's consent to counseling under | ||
Section 32.004, Family Code; or | ||
(3) affect 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 2025-2026 | ||
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 on the 91st day after the last day of the | ||
legislative session. |