S.B. No. 42
AN ACT
relating to health education, physical activity, and food products
in public primary and secondary schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.002, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (k), and (l) and adding Subsections
(l-1), (l-2), and (l-3) to read as follows:
(a) Each school district that offers kindergarten through
grade 12 shall offer, as a required curriculum:
(1) a foundation curriculum that includes:
(A) English language arts;
(B) mathematics;
(C) science; and
(D) social studies, consisting of Texas, United
States, and world history, government, and geography; and
(2) an enrichment curriculum that includes:
(A) to the extent possible, languages other than
English;
(B) health, with emphasis on the importance of
proper nutrition and exercise;
(C) physical education;
(D) fine arts;
(E) economics, with emphasis on the free
enterprise system and its benefits;
(F) career and technology education; and
(G) technology applications.
(k) The State Board of Education, in consultation with the
[Texas] Department of State Health Services and the Texas Diabetes
Council, shall develop a diabetes education program that a school
district may use in the health curriculum under Subsection
(a)(2)(B).
(l) The State Board of Education, after consulting with
educators, parents, and medical professionals, by rule may require
a student enrolled in kindergarten or a grade level below grade nine
[seven in an elementary school setting] to participate in daily
physical activity as part of a school district's physical education
curriculum or through structured activity during a school campus's
daily recess, except that the board may not require more than 30
minutes of daily physical activity. If the board adopts rules under
this subsection, the board must ensure by rule that students
enrolled in middle and junior high school settings are allowed to
meet the physical activity requirement by participating in physical
activity twice each week throughout the school year or the option to
schedule at least two semesters overall. If the board adopts rules
under this subsection, the board must provide for an exemption for:
(1) any [a] student who is unable to participate in
daily physical activity because of illness or disability; and
(2) a middle school or junior high school student who
participates in an extracurricular activity with a physical
activity component that is considered a structured activity under
rules adopted by the State Board of Education.
(l-1) In adopting rules relating to an activity described by
Subsection (l)(2), the State Board of Education may permit an
exemption for a student who participates in a school-related
activity or an activity sponsored by a private league or club only
if the student provides proof of participation in the activity.
(l-2) To encourage school districts to promote physical
activity for children through classroom curricula for health and
physical education, the agency, in consultation with the Department
of State Health Services, shall designate nationally recognized
health and physical education program guidelines that a school
district may use in the health curriculum under Subsection
(a)(2)(B) or the physical education curriculum under Subsection
(a)(2)(C).
(l-3)(1) This subsection may be cited as "Lauren's Law."
(2) The State Board of Education, the Department of
State Health Services, or a school district may not adopt any rule,
policy, or program under Subsections (a), (k), (l), (l-1), or (l-2)
that would prohibit a parent or grandparent of a student from
providing any food product of the parent's or grandparent's choice
to:
(A) children in the classroom of the child of the
parent or grandparent on the occasion of the child's birthday; or
(B) children at a school-designated function.
SECTION 2. Subsection (k), Section 28.004, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(k) A school district shall publish in the student handbook
and post on the district's Internet website, if the district has an
Internet website [make available for reasonable public
inspection]:
(1) a statement of the policies adopted to ensure that
[students in] elementary school, middle school, and junior high
school students [grades] engage in at least 30 minutes per school
day or 135 minutes per school week of physical activity; and
(2) a statement of:
(A) the number of times during the preceding year
the district's school health advisory council has met;
(B) whether the district has adopted and enforces
policies to ensure that district campuses comply with agency
vending machine and food service guidelines for restricting student
access to vending machines; and
(C) whether the district has adopted and enforces
policies and procedures that prescribe penalties for the use of
tobacco products by students and others on school campuses or at
school-sponsored or school-related activities.
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 38.013, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 38.013. COORDINATED HEALTH PROGRAM FOR ELEMENTARY,
MIDDLE, AND JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.
SECTION 4. Section 38.013, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (a-1) and adding Subsection (c) to
read as follows:
(a) The agency shall make available to each school district
one or more coordinated health programs designed to prevent
obesity, cardiovascular disease, and Type 2 diabetes in elementary
school, middle school, and junior high school students. Each
program must provide for coordinating:
(1) health education;
(2) physical education and physical activity;
(3) nutrition services; and
(4) parental involvement.
(a-1) The commissioner by rule shall adopt criteria for
evaluating a coordinated health program before making the program
available under Subsection (a). Before adopting the criteria, the
commissioner shall request review and comment concerning the
criteria from the [Texas] Department of State Health Services
[Health's] School Health Advisory Committee. The commissioner may
make available under Subsection (a) only those programs that meet
criteria adopted under this subsection.
(c) The commissioner by rule shall adopt criteria for
evaluating the nutritional services component of a program under
this section that includes an evaluation of program compliance with
the Department of Agriculture guidelines relating to foods of
minimal nutritional value.
SECTION 5. The heading to Section 38.014, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 38.014. IMPLEMENTATION OF COORDINATED HEALTH PROGRAM
FOR ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, AND JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.
SECTION 6.
Subsection (a), Section 38.014, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Each school district shall:
(1) participate in appropriate training for the
implementation of the program approved by the agency under Section
38.013; and
(2) implement the program in each elementary school,
middle school, and junior high school in the district.
SECTION 7. Subchapter A, Chapter 38, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 38.0141 to read as follows:
Sec. 38.0141. REPORTING OF CERTAIN HEALTH AND SAFETY
INFORMATION REQUIRED. Each school district shall provide to the
agency information as required by the commissioner, including
statistics and data, relating to student health and physical
activity and information described by Section 28.004(k), presented
in a form determined by the commissioner. The district shall
provide the information required by this section for the district
and for each campus in the district.
SECTION 8. Subsection (a), Section 39.182, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Not later than December 1 of each year, the agency shall
prepare and deliver to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the
speaker of the house of representatives, each member of the
legislature, the Legislative Budget Board, and the clerks of the
standing committees of the senate and house of representatives with
primary jurisdiction over the public school system a comprehensive
report covering the preceding school year and containing:
(1) an evaluation of the achievements of the state
educational program in relation to the statutory goals for the
public education system under Section 4.002;
(2) an evaluation of the status of education in the
state as reflected by the academic excellence indicators adopted
under Section 39.051;
(3) a summary compilation of overall student
performance on academic skills assessment instruments required by
Section 39.023 with the number and percentage of students exempted
from the administration of those instruments and the basis of the
exemptions, aggregated by grade level, subject area, campus, and
district, with appropriate interpretations and analysis, and
disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic
status;
(4) a summary compilation of overall performance of
students placed in a disciplinary [an] alternative education
program established under Section 37.008 on academic skills
assessment instruments required by Section 39.023 with the number
of those students exempted from the administration of those
instruments and the basis of the exemptions, aggregated by
district, grade level, and subject area, with appropriate
interpretations and analysis, and disaggregated by race,
ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status;
(5) a summary compilation of overall performance of
students at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by Section
29.081(d), on academic skills assessment instruments required by
Section 39.023 with the number of those students exempted from the
administration of those instruments and the basis of the
exemptions, aggregated by district, grade level, and subject area,
with appropriate interpretations and analysis, and disaggregated
by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status;
(6) an evaluation of the correlation between student
grades and student performance on academic skills assessment
instruments required by Section 39.023;
(7) a statement of the dropout rate of students in
grade levels 7 through 12, expressed in the aggregate and by grade
level, and a statement of the completion rates of students for grade
levels 9 through 12;
(8) a statement of:
(A) the completion rate of students who enter
grade level 9 and graduate not more than four years later;
(B) the completion rate of students who enter
grade level 9 and graduate, including students who require more
than four years to graduate;
(C) the completion rate of students who enter
grade level 9 and not more than four years later receive a high
school equivalency certificate;
(D) the completion rate of students who enter
grade level 9 and receive a high school equivalency certificate,
including students who require more than four years to receive a
certificate; and
(E) the number and percentage of all students who
have not been accounted for under Paragraph (A), (B), (C), or (D);
(9) a statement of the projected cross-sectional and
longitudinal dropout rates for grade levels 9 through 12 for the
next five years, assuming no state action is taken to reduce the
dropout rate;
(10) a description of a systematic, measurable plan
for reducing the projected cross-sectional and longitudinal
dropout rates to five percent or less for the 1997-1998 school year;
(11) a summary of the information required by Section
29.083 regarding grade level retention of students and information
concerning:
(A) the number and percentage of students
retained; and
(B) the performance of retained students on
assessment instruments required under Section 39.023(a);
(12) information, aggregated by district type and
disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic
status, on:
(A) the number of students placed in a
disciplinary [an] alternative education program established under
Section 37.008;
(B) the average length of a student's placement
in a disciplinary [an] alternative education program established
under Section 37.008;
(C) the academic performance of students on
assessment instruments required under Section 39.023(a) during the
year preceding and during the year following placement in a
disciplinary [an] alternative education program; and
(D) the dropout rates of students who have been
placed in a disciplinary [an] alternative education program
established under Section 37.008;
(13) a list of each school district or campus that does
not satisfy performance standards, with an explanation of the
actions taken by the commissioner to improve student performance in
the district or campus and an evaluation of the results of those
actions;
(14) an evaluation of the status of the curriculum
taught in public schools, with recommendations for legislative
changes necessary to improve or modify the curriculum required by
Section 28.002;
(15) a description of all funds received by and each
activity and expenditure of the agency;
(16) a summary and analysis of the instructional
expenditures ratios and instructional employees ratios of school
districts computed under Section 44.0071;
(17) a summary of the effect of deregulation,
including exemptions and waivers granted under Section 7.056 or
39.112;
(18) a statement of the total number and length of
reports that school districts and school district employees must
submit to the agency, identifying which reports are required by
federal statute or rule, state statute, or agency rule, and a
summary of the agency's efforts to reduce overall reporting
requirements;
(19) a list of each school district that is not in
compliance with state special education requirements, including:
(A) the period for which the district has not
been in compliance;
(B) the manner in which the agency considered the
district's failure to comply in determining the district's
accreditation status; and
(C) an explanation of the actions taken by the
commissioner to ensure compliance and an evaluation of the results
of those actions;
(20) a comparison of the performance of
open-enrollment charter schools and school districts on the
academic excellence indicators specified in Section 39.051(b) and
accountability measures adopted under Section 39.051(g), with a
separately aggregated comparison of the performance of
open-enrollment charter schools predominantly serving students at
risk of dropping out of school, as defined by Section 29.081(d),
with the performance of school districts; [and]
(21) a summary of the information required by Section
38.0141 regarding student health and physical activity from each
school district; and
(22) any additional information considered important
by the commissioner or the State Board of Education.
SECTION 9. Subchapter D, Chapter 1001, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 1001.0711 to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.0711. SCHOOL HEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The
commission by rule shall establish a School Health Advisory
Committee at the department to provide assistance to the council in
establishing a leadership role for the department in support for
and delivery of coordinated school health programs and school
health services.
(b) The committee shall include at least:
(1) one representative from the Department of
Agriculture, appointed by the commissioner of agriculture; and
(2) one representative from the Texas Education
Agency, appointed by the commissioner of education.
(c) Section 2110.008, Government Code, does not apply to a
committee created under this section.
SECTION 10. Section 38.013, Education Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to approval of a coordinated health program
evaluated on or after the effective date of this Act. The Texas
Education Agency shall continue to make available to school
districts a coordinated health program evaluated and approved
before the effective date of this Act under Section 38.013,
Education Code, as that section existed before amendment by this
Act, until the approval of the program expires as provided by 19
T.A.C. Section 102.1031.
SECTION 11. Except as provided by Section 10 of this Act,
this Act applies beginning with the 2006-2007 school year.
SECTION 12. Not later than January 1, 2006, the Health and
Human Services Commission shall adopt rules to establish the School
Health Advisory Committee as provided by Section 1001.0711, Health
and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 13. 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, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 42 passed the Senate on
April 21, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 27, 2005, by the
following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 42 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 25, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 143,
Nays 0, one present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor