Bill Text: TX SB1557 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Relating to providing for an election by the parent of a student who was victimized by a public school employee to transfer the student to another public school campus or receive funding for the student to attend private school.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-10 - Referred to Public Education [SB1557 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB1557-Engrossed.html
| By: Parker, Middleton | S.B. No. 1557 | |
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| relating to providing for an election by the parent of a student who | ||
| was victimized by a public school employee to transfer the student | ||
| to another public school campus or receive funding for the student | ||
| to attend private school. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Chapter 38, Education Code, is amended by adding | ||
| Subchapter J to read as follows: | ||
| SUBCHAPTER J. PROTECTIONS FOR STUDENTS VICTIMIZED BY SCHOOL | ||
| EMPLOYEES | ||
| Sec. 38.501. SCHOOL CHOICE. The parent of an eligible | ||
| student may elect for the student to: | ||
| (1) be transferred to another school district campus | ||
| as provided by Section 38.503; or | ||
| (2) receive funding for the cost of educating the | ||
| student in a private school, including a home school, as provided by | ||
| Section 38.504. | ||
| Sec. 38.502. ELIGIBILITY. (a) A student is eligible for | ||
| purposes of this subchapter if: | ||
| (1) the student is enrolled in a school district; and | ||
| (2) an employee of the school district in which the | ||
| student is enrolled: | ||
| (A) is convicted of or placed on deferred | ||
| adjudication community supervision for an offense committed | ||
| against the student; | ||
| (B) is the subject of a report under Section | ||
| 21.006 or 22.093 on the basis of evidence that the employee engaged | ||
| in misconduct described by the applicable section with the student; | ||
| or | ||
| (C) engages in child grooming against the student | ||
| by, with the intent that an offense under Chapter 43, Penal Code, or | ||
| an offense involving sexual activity, the occurrence of which would | ||
| subject the employee to criminal liability under Chapter 20A, 21, | ||
| or 22, Penal Code, be committed, knowingly persuading, inducing, | ||
| enticing, or coercing, or attempting to persuade, induce, entice, | ||
| or coerce, the student to engage in specific conduct that, under the | ||
| circumstances surrounding the employee's conduct as the employee | ||
| believes them to be, would: | ||
| (i) constitute an offense under Chapter 43, | ||
| Penal Code, or an offense involving sexual activity the occurrence | ||
| of which would subject the employee to criminal liability under | ||
| Chapter 20A, 21, or 22, Penal Code; or | ||
| (ii) make the student a party to the | ||
| commission of an offense described by Subparagraph (i). | ||
| (b) A student may participate in the program until the | ||
| earliest of the following dates: | ||
| (1) the date on which the student graduates from high | ||
| school; or | ||
| (2) the date on which the student is no longer eligible | ||
| to attend a public school under Section 25.001. | ||
| Sec. 38.503. TRANSFER. (a) On request of the parent of an | ||
| eligible student, the board of trustees of the school district in | ||
| which the student is enrolled shall transfer the student to: | ||
| (1) another district campus; or | ||
| (2) a neighboring school district, if there is only | ||
| one campus in the district serving the grade level in which the | ||
| student is enrolled. | ||
| (b) A transfer under this section must be to a campus or | ||
| school district, as applicable, agreeable to the student's parent. | ||
| (c) Section 25.034 does not apply to a transfer under this | ||
| section. | ||
| (d) A school district is not required to provide | ||
| transportation to a student who transfers to another campus or | ||
| school district under this section. | ||
| Sec. 38.504. PRIVATE SCHOOL FUNDING. (a) If the parent of | ||
| an eligible student elects for the student to enroll in a private | ||
| school, including a home school, the parent is entitled to receive | ||
| from the state an annual amount equal to the amount to which the | ||
| school district in which the student resides would be entitled to | ||
| receive for the student under Chapter 48 if the student were | ||
| enrolled in the district. | ||
| (b) Money received under this section may be used only for | ||
| the following educational expenses of the student: | ||
| (1) the payment of tuition and fees at a private school | ||
| accredited by an organization that is recognized by the Texas | ||
| Private School Accreditation Commission; or | ||
| (2) the purchase of a curriculum, instructional | ||
| materials, or other educational items required for homeschooling, | ||
| as provided by commissioner rule. | ||
| (c) A payment under Subsection (a) may not be financed using | ||
| federal funds or money appropriated from the available school fund. | ||
| (d) A private school selected by the parent of an eligible | ||
| student for the student to attend may not be required to comply with | ||
| any state law or rule governing the school's educational program | ||
| that was not in effect on January 1, 2023. | ||
| Sec. 38.505. RULES. The commissioner shall adopt rules as | ||
| necessary to implement this subchapter, including rules to prevent | ||
| fraud or abuse. | ||
| SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024 | ||
| 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 September 1, 2023. | ||
