| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to a school district's grievance procedure regarding |
|
|
complaints concerning violation of parental rights. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 26.011, Education Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subsections (c), (d), and (e) to read as follows: |
|
|
(c) The grievance procedure adopted under Subsection (a) |
|
|
must: |
|
|
(1) provide for: |
|
|
(A) a parent's complaint to be filed in writing |
|
|
with the principal of the campus at which the parent's student is |
|
|
enrolled; |
|
|
(B) if the principal does not grant the requested |
|
|
relief, an appeal on written request to the district superintendent |
|
|
or the superintendent's designee that includes a review of all |
|
|
documents considered by the principal; |
|
|
(C) if the superintendent or the |
|
|
superintendent's designee does not grant the requested relief, an |
|
|
appeal on written request to the board of trustees of the district |
|
|
that includes a review of all documents considered by the principal |
|
|
and the superintendent or the superintendent's designee; and |
|
|
(D) if the board of trustees of the district does |
|
|
not grant the requested relief, notice to the parent regarding the |
|
|
parent's right to file an appeal with the commissioner under |
|
|
Section 7.057; and |
|
|
(2) be: |
|
|
(A) posted in a prominent location on the |
|
|
district's Internet website, along with instructions on how a |
|
|
parent may file a complaint; and |
|
|
(B) provided to the parent of each student |
|
|
enrolled in the district at the beginning of each school year and on |
|
|
request. |
|
|
(d) The agency shall: |
|
|
(1) adopt a model grievance procedure for use by |
|
|
school districts under this section; and |
|
|
(2) post on the agency's Internet website a copy of the |
|
|
model grievance policy and general guidelines regarding how a |
|
|
parent may file a complaint with a school district under this |
|
|
section or appeal a district's decision to the commissioner under |
|
|
Section 7.057. |
|
|
(e) A grievance procedure adopted under this section may not |
|
|
require a parent to file a complaint within a specified period of |
|
|
time. |
|
|
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. |