By:  Brown of Kaufman, et al.                                     H.B. No. 1406
 
    (Senate Sponsor - Staples)                                               
	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 1, 2003; 
May 6, 2003, read first time and referred to Committee on 
Education; May 24, 2003, reported adversely, with favorable 
Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; 
May 24, 2003, sent to printer.)


COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1406                                   By:  Van de Putte


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT


relating to a recommendation by a school district employee 
concerning a use of a psychotropic drug by a student or suggestion 
of a particular diagnosis and to refusal by a parent or certain 
other person to consent to administration of a psychotropic drug to 
a student or to psychiatric evaluation or examination of a student.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 38, Education Code, is 
amended by adding Section 38.016 to read as follows:
	Sec. 38.016.  PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS AND PSYCHIATRIC 
EVALUATIONS OR EXAMINATIONS.  (a)  In this section:
		(1)  "Parent" includes a guardian or other person 
standing in parental relation.
		(2)  "Psychotropic drug" means a substance that is:                    
			(A)  used in the diagnosis, treatment, or 
prevention of a disease or as a component of a medication; and
			(B)  intended to have an altering effect on 
perception, emotion, or behavior.
	(b)  A school district employee may not:                                
		(1)  recommend that a student use a psychotropic drug; 
or            
		(2)  suggest any particular diagnosis; or                              
		(3)  use the refusal by a parent to consent to 
administration of a psychotropic drug to a student or to a 
psychiatric evaluation or examination of a student as grounds, by 
itself, for prohibiting the child from attending a class or 
participating in a school-related activity.
	(c)  Subsection (b) does not:                                           
		(1)  prevent an appropriate referral under the child 
find system required under 20 U.S.C. Section 1412, as amended; or
		(2)  prohibit a school district employee who is a 
registered nurse, advanced nurse practitioner, physician, or a 
certified or appropriately credentialed mental health professional 
from recommending that a child be evaluated by an appropriate 
medical practitioner; or
		(3)  prohibit a school employee from discussing any 
aspect of a child's behavior or academic progress with the child's 
parent or another school district employee.
	(d)  The board of trustees of each school district shall 
adopt a policy to ensure implementation and enforcement of this 
section.
	(e)  An act in violation of Subsection (b) does not override 
the immunity from personal liability granted in Education Code 
Section 22.051 or other law or the district's sovereign and 
governmental immunity.
	SECTION 2.  This Act applies beginning with the 2003-2004 
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, 2003.



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