BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 283

By: Nelson

Public Education

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Currently, 42 percent of fourth graders in Texas are either obese, overweight, or at risk of becoming overweight, and 70 percent of overweight children will become overweight adults.  School health advisory councils (SHAC) are district-level councils composed of parents, teachers, students, health professionals, and community leaders who are responsible for creating strategies to integrate health curriculum into a coordinated school health program that reflects local values.  Although SHACs currently are required to create strategies to integrate health curriculum into coordinated school health programs, there are no criteria for organizational structure or mechanisms for accountability.  A more structured set of guidelines will make SHACs more effective in developing and implementing coordinated school health plans. 

S.B. 283 requires one of the appointed members of a SHAC to serve as chair or co-chair of the council, requires that a SHAC hold at least four meetings per year, and requires that a SHAC make at least one formal report each year to the school district board of trustees.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 283 amends the Education Code to require one of the appointed members of the school health advisory council who is a parent of a district student and who is not a district employee to serve as chair or co-chair of the council. The bill requires the local school health advisory council to meet at least four times each year and to submit at least annually a written report to the school district board of trustees that includes any council recommendation concerning the school district's health education curriculum and instruction or related matters that the council previously has not submitted to the board, any suggested modification to a council recommendation previously submitted to the board, and a detailed explanation of the council's activities during the period between the date of the current report and the date of the last report.

S.B. 283 adds a temporary provision, set to expire April 30, 2010, to require the local health advisory council to submit to the board of trustees, not later than April 1, 2010, an initial written report that includes any information regarding any council recommendations or suggested modifications as described above for inclusion in an annual report and a detailed explanation of the council's activities during the 12-month period preceding the date of the report.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2009.