By Hernandez H.B. No. 689
74R2658 KKA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to parental involvement and rights in public education.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 21.930, Education Code, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 21.930. District-Level Decision Process. (a) The
1-7 board of trustees of each school district shall adopt a policy to
1-8 involve the professional staff and parents of the district in
1-9 establishing and reviewing the district's educational goals,
1-10 objectives, and major district-wide classroom instructional
1-11 programs.
1-12 (b) The board shall establish a procedure under which
1-13 meetings are held regularly with representative professional staff
1-14 and parents and the board or board designee.
1-15 (c) The board shall adopt a procedure, consistent with
1-16 Section 21.904(a) of this code, for the professional staff within
1-17 the district to nominate and elect the professional staff
1-18 representatives who will meet with the board or the board designee
1-19 as required under the provisions of this section. Two-thirds of
1-20 the elected representatives must be classroom teachers. The
1-21 remaining representatives shall be campus-based staff.
1-22 (d) The district's policy shall require that parents of
1-23 students enrolled in the district be selected to participate in
1-24 meetings with the board or the board designee as required by this
2-1 section. Parents shall compose at least 25 percent of the total
2-2 membership of a group formed under this section and shall be
2-3 selected for one-year terms by the district's parent-teacher
2-4 organization or organizations.
2-5 (e) <(d)> This section does not prohibit the board from
2-6 conducting meetings with teachers, parents, or groups of teachers
2-7 or parents other than the meetings described by this section.
2-8 (f) <(e)> Nothing in this section shall be construed to
2-9 limit or affect the power of a local school board of trustees to
2-10 manage and govern the public free schools of this state.
2-11 (g) <(f)> Nothing in this section shall be construed as
2-12 creating a new cause of action or as requiring collective
2-13 bargaining.
2-14 (h) <(g)> Each district shall annually report to the Central
2-15 Education Agency the involvement of the district's professional
2-16 staff and parents in district-level decisions under the policy and
2-17 procedures adopted under this section. The agency shall compile
2-18 the district reports into a single report and present that report
2-19 annually to the legislature.
2-20 (i) <(h)> The professional staff and parents selected
2-21 <elected> under this section shall hold at least one public meeting
2-22 per year. The required meeting shall be held after receipt of the
2-23 annual district performance report from the Central Education
2-24 Agency for the purpose of discussing the performance of the
2-25 district and the district performance objectives.
2-26 (j) In this section, "parent" includes a person standing in
2-27 parental relation to a student.
3-1 SECTION 2. Section 21.931(c), Education Code, is amended to
3-2 read as follows:
3-3 (c) A school committee established under this section shall
3-4 include community representatives and parents of students enrolled
3-5 at the school. The community representatives may include business
3-6 representatives. Parents or persons standing in parental relation
3-7 shall compose at least 25 percent of the committee and shall be
3-8 selected for one-year terms by the parent-teacher organization at
3-9 the school.
3-10 SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
3-11 amended by adding Section 21.940 to read as follows:
3-12 Sec. 21.940. PARENT-TEACHER ORGANIZATIONS. Each school
3-13 district shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of at
3-14 least one parent-teacher organization at each school in the
3-15 district to promote parental involvement in school activities.
3-16 SECTION 4. Section 3 of this Act does not require a school
3-17 district to provide for an additional parent-teacher organization
3-18 at a school at which such an organization exists on the effective
3-19 date of this Act.
3-20 SECTION 5. Subchapter Z, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
3-21 amended by adding Section 21.941 to read as follows:
3-22 Sec. 21.941. PARENTAL BILL OF RIGHTS. (a) A parent of or
3-23 person standing in parental relationship to a child enrolled in a
3-24 public school has the right to:
3-25 (1) observe any class that the child attends;
3-26 (2) meet with the child's teacher or principal on
3-27 request;
4-1 (3) volunteer time or donate money for the improvement
4-2 of school facilities or programs;
4-3 (4) examine the curriculum materials of the child's
4-4 classes;
4-5 (5) have a safe school environment for the child;
4-6 (6) be notified if the child is absent from school
4-7 without permission;
4-8 (7) be informed of appropriate school personnel to
4-9 contact regarding problems with the child;
4-10 (8) view the child's school records;
4-11 (9) establish a parent organization at the school;
4-12 (10) be represented in meetings with the school
4-13 district required by Section 21.930;
4-14 (11) elect representatives to serve on the school
4-15 committee required by Section 21.931;
4-16 (12) prohibit the school from administering corporal
4-17 punishment to the child;
4-18 (13) prohibit the school from making a videotape of
4-19 the child or recording the child's voice;
4-20 (14) receive the results of the child's performance on
4-21 standardized tests and statewide tests; and
4-22 (15) receive information on student performance on
4-23 standardized tests and statewide tests for the grade level in which
4-24 the child is enrolled and the school that the child attends.
4-25 (b) A parent of or person standing in parental relationship
4-26 to a child may not recover damages resulting from a violation of
4-27 the rights contained in Subsection (a) but may seek an injunction
5-1 to enforce those rights. A person is not required to exhaust
5-2 administrative remedies before seeking an injunction.
5-3 (c) A school district shall distribute a copy of the
5-4 parental bill of rights annually to the parent of or person
5-5 standing in parental relation to each student enrolled in the
5-6 district with the district's campus report card required by Section
5-7 35.043.
5-8 (d) A school district may adopt policies as required to
5-9 implement Subsection (a).
5-10 SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 1995-1996
5-11 school year.
5-12 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
5-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-17 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-18 passage, and it is so enacted.