HBA-MPM H.B. 1122 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1122 By: Coleman Public Education 4/12/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The 74th Texas Legislature enacted legislation which created local school health advisory councils (councils) that were representative of the community and included teachers, school administrators, students, health care professionals, the business community, law enforcement, senior citizens, and clergy members. The purpose of the councils was to recommend a health education curriculum reflective of the local community values and health issues to local school districts. The language of the legislation, however, was such that many school districts interpreted the role of the councils as only dealing with sex education issues, rather than the whole range of health education issues. H.B. 1122 clarifies existing code regarding the role of the councils in addressing all health education and programming issues. This bill also requires the district to consider a council's recommendations before changing its health education curriculum and instruction and requires the district to notify its students' parents of the district's human sexuality instruction and parents' right to remove their children from this instruction. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 28.004, Education Code, as follows: Sec. 28.004. New title: LOCAL SCHOOL HEALTH EDUCATION ADVISORY COUNCIL AND HEALTH EDUCATION INSTRUCTION. Deletes "human sexuality" from title. (a) Requires the board of trustees (board) of each school district (district) to establish a local school health education advisory council (council) to assist in ensuring that local community values are reflected in the district's health education instruction. (b) Provides that a district must consider the council's recommendations before changing its health education curriculum and instruction. (c) Sets forth the council's duties, including recommending the number of hours of health education instruction to be provided, the health education curriculum appropriate for specific grade levels, and appropriate grade levels and methods of instruction for human sexuality instruction. (d) Requires the board to appoint members to the council, the majority of whom must be parents of children enrolled in the district. Requires the board to appoint additional members in a certain composition. (e) Authorizes the board to appoint to the council a representative from a group other than that specified under Subsection (d). Deletes existing text regarding the establishment of a local health education advisory council (rather than a local "school" health advisory committee). (f) Makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes. Creates subdivision (f) from existing text. Deletes existing text regarding duties of the local health education advisory committee. (g) Redesignated from existing Subdivision (b). Deletes existing text regarding the composition of the local health education advisory committee. (h) Redesignated from existing Subdivision (c). (i) Redesignated from existing Subdivision (d). Makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes. (j) Requires a district to notify a parent of each student enrolled in the district of the basic content of the district's human sexuality instruction and the parent's right to remove the student from any part of this instruction. (k) Created from existing Subdivision (i). SECTION 2. Makes this Act prospective beginning with the 1999-2000 school year. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.