By: Horn H.B. No. 2518 73R5015 CAS-D A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to parental access to certain assessment instruments 1-3 administered by a school district. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter O, Chapter 21, Education Code, is 1-6 amended by adding Section 21.562 to read as follows: 1-7 Sec. 21.562. PARENTAL ACCESS. (a) The parent of a student 1-8 to whom an assessment instrument is administered under this 1-9 subchapter is entitled to review the assessment instrument after 1-10 the test has been administered but before the test is scheduled to 1-11 be graded or, if the test will not be graded in the district, 1-12 before the test is scheduled to be sent away for grading. 1-13 (b) After reviewing an assessment instrument under 1-14 Subsection (a) of this section, if the parent finds that any 1-15 question on the assessment instrument is not performance based or 1-16 academic in nature and proves that fact to the satisfaction of the 1-17 board of trustees of the district at a hearing held for that 1-18 purpose, the parent may choose to have the student's assessment 1-19 instrument withheld from grading. 1-20 (c) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules necessary 1-21 to implement this section. 1-22 SECTION 2. Section 3(a), Chapter 424, Acts of the 63rd 1-23 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 6252-17a, Vernon's 1-24 Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows: 2-1 (a) All information collected, assembled, or maintained by 2-2 or for governmental bodies, except in those situations where the 2-3 governmental body does not have either a right of access to or 2-4 ownership of the information, pursuant to law or ordinance or in 2-5 connection with the transaction of official business is public 2-6 information and available to the public during normal business 2-7 hours of any governmental body, with the following exceptions only: 2-8 (1) information deemed confidential by law, either 2-9 Constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision; 2-10 (2) information in personnel files, the disclosure of 2-11 which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal 2-12 privacy, and transcripts from institutions of higher education 2-13 maintained in the personnel files of professional public school 2-14 employees; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be 2-15 construed to exempt from disclosure the degree obtained and the 2-16 curriculum on such transcripts of professional public school 2-17 employees, and further provided that all information in personnel 2-18 files of an individual employee within a governmental body is to be 2-19 made available to that individual employee or his designated 2-20 representative as is public information under this Act; 2-21 (3) information relating to litigation of a criminal 2-22 or civil nature and settlement negotiations, to which the state or 2-23 political subdivision is, or may be, a party, or to which an 2-24 officer or employee of the state or political subdivision, as a 2-25 consequence of his office or employment, is or may be a party, that 2-26 the attorney general or the respective attorneys of the various 2-27 political subdivisions has determined should be withheld from 3-1 public inspection; 3-2 (4) information which, if released, would give 3-3 advantage to competitors or bidders; 3-4 (5) information pertaining to the location of real or 3-5 personal property for public purposes prior to public announcement 3-6 of the project, and information pertaining to appraisals or 3-7 purchase price of real or personal property for public purposes 3-8 prior to the formal award of contracts therefor; 3-9 (6) drafts and working papers involved in the 3-10 preparation of proposed legislation; 3-11 (7) matters in which the duty of the Attorney General 3-12 of Texas or an attorney of a political subdivision, to his client, 3-13 pursuant to the Rules and Canons of Ethics of the State Bar of 3-14 Texas are prohibited from disclosure, or which by order of a court 3-15 are prohibited from disclosure; 3-16 (8) records of law enforcement agencies and 3-17 prosecutors that deal with the detection, investigation, and 3-18 prosecution of crime and the internal records and notations of such 3-19 law enforcement agencies and prosecutors which are maintained for 3-20 internal use in matters relating to law enforcement and 3-21 prosecution; 3-22 (9) private correspondence and communications of an 3-23 elected office holder relating to matters the disclosure of which 3-24 would constitute an invasion of privacy; 3-25 (10) trade secrets and commercial or financial 3-26 information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential 3-27 by statute or judicial decision; 4-1 (11) inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or 4-2 letters which would not be available by law to a party in 4-3 litigation with the agency; 4-4 (12) information contained in or related to 4-5 examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf 4-6 of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation or 4-7 supervision of financial institutions, and/or securities, as that 4-8 term is defined in the Texas Securities Act; 4-9 (13) geological and geophysical information and data 4-10 including maps concerning wells, except information filed in 4-11 connection with an application or proceeding before any agency or 4-12 an electric log confidential under Subchapter M, Chapter 91, 4-13 Natural Resources Code; 4-14 (14) student records at educational institutions 4-15 funded wholly, or in part, by state revenue; but such records shall 4-16 be made available upon request of educational institution 4-17 personnel, the student involved, that student's parent, legal 4-18 guardian, or spouse or a person conducting a child abuse 4-19 investigation required by Section 34.05, Family Code; 4-20 (15) birth and death records maintained by the Bureau 4-21 of Vital Statistics of the Texas Department of Health, except that: 4-22 (A) a birth record is public information and 4-23 available to the public on and after the 50th anniversary of the 4-24 date on which the record is filed with the Bureau of Vital 4-25 Statistics or local registration official; and 4-26 (B) a death record is public information and 4-27 available to the public on and after the 25th anniversary of the 5-1 date on which the record is filed with the Bureau of Vital 5-2 Statistics or local registration official; 5-3 (16) the audit working papers of the State Auditor; 5-4 (17) information relating to: 5-5 (A) the home addresses or home telephone numbers 5-6 of each official or employee or each former official or employee of 5-7 a governmental body except as otherwise provided by Section 3A of 5-8 this Act, or of peace officers as defined by Article 2.12, Code of 5-9 Criminal Procedure, 1965, as amended, or by Section 51.212, Texas 5-10 Education Code; or 5-11 (B) the home addresses, home telephone numbers, 5-12 or social security numbers of employees of the Texas Department of 5-13 Criminal Justice, or the home or employment addresses or telephone 5-14 numbers or the names or social security numbers of their family 5-15 members; 5-16 (18) information contained on or derived from 5-17 triplicate prescription forms filed with the Department of Public 5-18 Safety pursuant to Section 481.075, Health and Safety Code; 5-19 (19) photographs that depict a peace officer as 5-20 defined by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or a security 5-21 officer commissioned under Section 51.212, Education Code, the 5-22 release of which would endanger the life or physical safety of the 5-23 officer unless: 5-24 (A) the officer is under indictment or charged 5-25 with an offense by information; or 5-26 (B) the officer is a party in a fire or police 5-27 civil service hearing or a case in arbitration; or 6-1 (C) the photograph is introduced as evidence in 6-2 a judicial proceeding; 6-3 (20) rare books and original manuscripts which were 6-4 not created or maintained in the conduct of official business of a 6-5 governmental body and which are held by any private or public 6-6 archival and manuscript repository for the purposes of historical 6-7 research; 6-8 (21) oral history interviews, personal papers, 6-9 unpublished letters, and organizational records of nongovernmental 6-10 entities, which were not created or maintained in the conduct of 6-11 official business of a governmental body and which are held by any 6-12 private or public archival and manuscript repository for the 6-13 purposes of historical research, to the extent that the archival 6-14 and manuscript repository and the donor of the interviews, papers, 6-15 letters, and records may agree to limit disclosure of the item; 6-16 (22) curriculum objectives and test items developed by 6-17 educational institutions that are funded wholly or in part by state 6-18 revenue and test items developed by licensing agencies or 6-19 governmental bodies, except as provided by Section 21.562, 6-20 Education Code; and 6-21 (23) the names of applicants for the position of chief 6-22 executive officer of institutions of higher education, except that 6-23 the governing body of the institution of higher education must give 6-24 public notice of the name or names of the finalists being 6-25 considered for the position at least 21 days prior to the meeting 6-26 at which final action or vote is to be taken on the employment of 6-27 the individual. 7-1 SECTION 3. Section 21.562, Education Code, as added by this 7-2 Act, applies beginning with the 1993-1994 school year. 7-3 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the 7-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 7-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 7-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 7-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, 7-8 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its 7-9 passage, and it is so enacted.