Honorable Dan Huberty, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1042 by Blanco (Relating to student access to public school instructional materials and technology.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would require a school district or open-enrollment charter school to provide instructional materials in printed book format to a student who did not have reliable access to technology at home.
The bill would require a district or charter school to document each parental request that was denied, including the reason for the denial, and report the information to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) within 30 days.
The bill would require the TEA to submit a report to the Legislature by September 1 of each year that would identify for each district and charter school the number of parental requests that were denied, and the reason for the denial.
The bill would apply beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. It would take immediate effect if it receives a two-thirds of each house of the Legislature. Otherwise, it would take effect September 1, 2017.
TEA estimates there would be a minimal cost associated with implementing the provisions of the bill.
Local Government Impact
Some administrative costs would be incurred to produce instructional materials in book format at parental request or report denials and the reason for the denials. These costs would vary from district to district depending on how many requests were received and the amount of instructional materials that were printed or the number of denials that had to be reported.