House Pub. Ed. Passes Detachment Clarification, Senate to Hear Discipline Bill | May 7, 2025

The Texas House Public Education Committee met Tuesday, May 6, and voted out a number of bills that can now be considered by the full House. 

Among the bills approved by the committee was a committee substitute for House Bill 5089, which would clarify that a resident petition would be needed to initiate a detachment proceeding, and that no action could be taken without a vote of the community. While the committee substitute version has not yet been posted, Chairman Brad Buckley stated that the substitute would require that the local district court oversee the detachment process. Current law gives that authority to the county commissioner's court and the original version of HB 5089 would have given that authority to the State Board of Education. 

HB 5089 can now be considered by the full House. Thursday, May 15, is the last day for the House to consider house bills on second reading. If approved by the House, the bill must go through the Senate to advance to the governor's desk. Wednesday, May 28, is the final day the Senate can consider bills on second and third reading. 

Other bills passed by the House Public Education Committee on Tuesday included: 

HB 591, which would create community-based learning centers through which TEA and faith-based operators partner to develop programs in various school districts, providing students who qualify for compensatory education with access to technology, mentoring services, social and emotional support, and other services and supports; 

HB 850, which would require school districts to have automated external defibrillators available so that a person may provide emergency care within three minutes of being notified, and would add provisions to the emergency response plans required of public and private schools, while creating a TEA grant program to assist districts in acquiring defibrillators; 

HB 1551, which would require school districts and charter schools to notify parents not later than the second school day after they become aware that an employee has been charged with certain offenses, such as those in which a conviction would require the person to register as a sex offender;

HB 2336, which would grant all school district employees the right to present grievances directly to the school board; 

HB 3622, which would modify funding calculations and increase funding for optional flexible school day programs intended to assist with dropout recovery initiatives; 

HB 4442, which would allow school districts and charters to offer an elective mindfulness course for middle and high school students; 

HB 4746, which would add the percentage of students completing a P-TECH program to the factors for determining academic distinctions for campuses and districts regarding postsecondary readiness, providing funding of $150 per student enrolled in a P-TECH campus, and would strike previous per-student funding of $50 and eligibility of students attending New Tech Network schools; 

HB 4893, which would establish a structured support system for students who are first-generation college attendees or are from low-income families by mandating the creation of performance goals, community funding bases, and cooperative efforts between educational agencies and local programs;

HB 4980, which would require the Commissioner of Education to establish and administer the Child-Care Professional Pathway program to provide opportunities for students to concurrently earn high school diplomas and certificates from institutions of higher education related to childcare professions; and 

SB 1490, which aims to correct an error to previously adopted legislation by creating and funding an adult charter high school. 

The Senate Education K-16 Committee is set to meet at 9 a.m. Thursday, May 8, to hear invited and public testimony on several House bills, including HB 6, which addresses discipline issues in public schools. The key provisions of HB 6 include: 

• Clarifying that the current three-day limit on suspension applies only to out-of-school suspension; 
• Creating a 10-day limit on in-school suspension; 
• Allowing for a student to be moved from out-of-school suspension to in-school suspension if a parent is unable to supervise their child during school hours; 
• Adding immediate health threats and repeated or significant class disruption to the reasons a student below third grade can be suspended from school; 
• Removing the requirement to place students in DAEP for e-cigarette violations; 
• Adding certain weapons offenses and misdemeanors to reasons for mandatory DAEP placement; 
• Allowing districts to place and receive ADA for expelled students in virtual or in-person DAEP or a juvenile alternative education program; 
• Creating an expedited process to request a court order to remove a special education student from their education setting if a threat assessment determines that physical harm is likely; and
• Requiring districts and charters to submit reports on expulsions, suspensions, and DAEP placements to TEA. 

Other house bills on the Senate Education K-16 Committee's agenda include: 

HB 120, which would establish a military pathway grant program for schools to begin JROTC programs, administer ASVAB tests, and provide career counseling based on those test results, while also creating a high school CCMR advising program where schools would partner with institutions of higher education; 

HB 210, which would create an offense for vendors if they bid on or receive a contract from an independent school district if any board member has a substantial interest in the vendor or is related to someone with a "substantial interest" – defined within the bill – in the vendor; 

HB 1188, which would require requires TEA and Texas Health and Human Services to develop information materials about services and public benefits provided by local intellectual and developmental disability authorities that districts must provide to parents upon developing a student’s first IEP; 

HB 1458, which would add reserve deputy sheriffs and honorably retired peace officers who have maintained an active commission to the list of armed security officers required to be present at public schools; and

HB 3126, which would allow school districts with 500 or fewer employees that have opted out of TRS ActiveCare to rejoin before the five-year moratorium after leaving.