BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 196

By: Garcia

Public Education

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties note that many parents of public school students are not aware of the part-time status or schedules of school nurses, counselors, or librarians assigned to the student's school. The parties have expressed a need for notification to parents if the school attended by their children does not have a full-time school nurse, counselor, or librarian or the equivalent of a full‑time nurse, counselor, or librarian assigned to be present on the campus for a certain prescribed time period during a school year. S.B. 196 seeks to provide for that notification.

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

S.B. 196 amends the Education Code to require a public school, including an open‑enrollment charter school, that does not have a full-time licensed nurse, certified school counselor, or certified librarian or the equivalent of a full-time licensed nurse, certified school counselor, or certified librarian assigned to be present at the school for more than 30 consecutive instructional days during the same school year to provide written notice of the absence to the parent of or other person standing in parental relation to each student enrolled in the school. The bill establishes that a school has the equivalent of a full-time licensed nurse, certified school counselor, or certified librarian if the school has two or more licensed nurses, certified school counselors, or certified librarians, respectively, assigned to the school and all regular student instructional hours at the campus during the regular school day are covered by the assignment of at least one licensed nurse, certified school counselor, or certified librarian, respectively.

S.B. 196 requires the school to make a good faith effort to ensure that the notice is provided in a bilingual form to any parent or other person standing in parental relation whose primary language is not English and to retain a copy of any notice. The bill requires the principal of the school to provide the notice not later than the 30th instructional day after the first day the school does not have a full-time licensed nurse, certified school counselor, or certified librarian assigned to be present at the school and authorizes a school to satisfy this notice requirement by posting the notice on the school's website. The bill requires notice posted in this manner to be accessible from the home page of the website by use of not more than three links. The bill applies beginning with the 2017-2018 school year.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2017.