BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1993

By: Sheffield

Public Education

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Currently, parents are required to sign by hand a copy of certain student grade and performance records, despite many districts possessing software that issues these records electronically. H.B. 1993 seeks to allow for parents to use an electronic signature to acknowledge student performance.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

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

H.B. 1993 amends the Education Code to authorize a school district that uses an electronic platform for communicating student grade and performance information to parents to permit a parent to electronically sign a notice of a student's performance in each class or subject or a notice of a student's consistently unsatisfactory performance in a subject included in the foundation curriculum, so long as the district retains a record verifying the parent's acknowledgement of the required notice. The bill requires a district that accepts such electronic signatures to offer parents the option to provide a handwritten signature.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2015.