By: Menéndez, Huffines, Rodríguez  S.B. No. 1153
         (In the Senate - Filed February 28, 2017; March 9, 2017,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
  April 18, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 10, Nays 0; April 18, 2017,
  sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1153 By:  Lucio
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to parental rights and information regarding certain
  intervention strategies used with public school students.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 12.104(b), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  An open-enrollment charter school is subject to:
               (1)  a provision of this title establishing a criminal
  offense; and
               (2)  a prohibition, restriction, or requirement, as
  applicable, imposed by this title or a rule adopted under this
  title, relating to:
                     (A)  the Public Education Information Management
  System (PEIMS) to the extent necessary to monitor compliance with
  this subchapter as determined by the commissioner;
                     (B)  criminal history records under Subchapter C,
  Chapter 22;
                     (C)  reading instruments and accelerated reading
  instruction programs under Section 28.006;
                     (D)  accelerated instruction under Section
  28.0211;
                     (E)  high school graduation requirements under
  Section 28.025;
                     (F)  special education programs under Subchapter
  A, Chapter 29;
                     (G)  bilingual education under Subchapter B,
  Chapter 29;
                     (H)  prekindergarten programs under Subchapter E
  or E-1, Chapter 29;
                     (I)  extracurricular activities under Section
  33.081;
                     (J)  discipline management practices or behavior
  management techniques under Section 37.0021;
                     (K)  health and safety under Chapter 38;
                     (L)  public school accountability under
  Subchapters B, C, D, E, F, G, and J, Chapter 39;
                     (M)  the requirement under Section 21.006 to
  report an educator's misconduct;
                     (N)  intensive programs of instruction under
  Section 28.0213; [and]
                     (O)  the right of a school employee to report a
  crime, as provided by Section 37.148; and
                     (P)  a parent's right to information regarding the
  provision of assistance for learning difficulties to the parent's
  child as provided by Sections 26.004(b)(11) and 26.0081(c) and (d).
         SECTION 2.  Section 26.004, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 26.004.  ACCESS TO STUDENT RECORDS. (a)  In this
  section, "intervention strategy" means a strategy in a multi-tiered
  system of supports that is above the level of intervention
  generally used in that system with all children.  The term includes
  response to intervention and other early intervening strategies.
         (b)  A parent is entitled to access to all written records of
  a school district concerning the parent's child, including:
               (1)  attendance records;
               (2)  test scores;
               (3)  grades;
               (4)  disciplinary records;
               (5)  counseling records;
               (6)  psychological records;
               (7)  applications for admission;
               (8)  health and immunization information;
               (9)  teacher and school counselor evaluations; [and]
               (10)  reports of behavioral patterns; and
               (11)  records relating to assistance provided for
  learning difficulties, including information collected regarding
  any intervention strategies used with the child.
         SECTION 3.  Section 26.0081, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read
  as follows:
         (c)  The agency shall produce and provide to school districts
  a written explanation of the options and requirements for providing
  assistance to students who have learning difficulties or who need
  or may need special education. The explanation must state that a
  parent is entitled at any time to request an evaluation of the
  parent's child for special education services under Section 29.004
  or for aids, accommodations, or services under Section 504,
  Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794). Each school
  year, each district shall provide the written explanation to a
  parent of each district student by including the explanation in the
  student handbook or by another means.
         (d)  Each school year, each school district shall notify a
  parent of each child, other than a child enrolled in a special
  education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, who receives
  assistance from the district for learning difficulties, including
  through the use of intervention strategies, as that term is defined
  by Section 26.004, that the district provides that assistance to
  the child. The notice must:
               (1)  be written in English or, to the extent
  practicable, the parent's native language; and
               (2)  include:
                     (A)  a reasonable description of the assistance
  that may be provided to the child, including any intervention
  strategies that may be used;
                     (B)  information collected regarding any
  intervention in the base tier of a multi-tiered system of supports
  that has previously been used with the child;
                     (C)  an estimate of the duration for which the
  assistance, including through the use of intervention strategies,
  will be provided;
                     (D)  the estimated time frames within which a
  report on the child's progress with the assistance, including any
  intervention strategies used, will be provided to the parent; and
                     (E)  a copy of the explanation provided under
  Subsection (c).
         (e)  The notice required under Subsection (d) may be provided
  to a child's parent at a meeting of the team established for the
  child under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.
  Section 794), if applicable.
         SECTION 4.  Section 42.006, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsections (a-3) and (a-4) to read as follows:
         (a-3)  The commissioner by rule shall require each school
  district and open-enrollment charter school to annually report
  through the Public Education Information Management System
  information regarding the total number of students, other than
  students described by Subsection (a-4), enrolled in the district or
  school with whom the district or school, as applicable, used
  intervention strategies, as that term is defined by Section 26.004,
  at any time during the year for which the report is made. The agency
  shall maintain the information provided in accordance with this
  subsection.
         (a-4)  The commissioner by rule shall require each school
  district and open-enrollment charter school to annually report
  through the Public Education Information Management System
  information regarding the total number of students enrolled in the
  district or school to whom the district or school provided aids,
  accommodations, or services under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act
  of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794), at any time during the year for
  which the report is made. The agency shall maintain the information
  provided in accordance with this subsection.
         SECTION 5.  This Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018
  school year.
         SECTION 6.  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, 2017.
 
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