|
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to a trauma-informed care policy for school districts and |
|
open-enrollment charter schools. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Section 11.252(a), Education Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
(a) Each school district shall have a district improvement |
|
plan that is developed, evaluated, and revised annually, in |
|
accordance with district policy, by the superintendent with the |
|
assistance of the district-level committee established under |
|
Section 11.251. The purpose of the district improvement plan is to |
|
guide district and campus staff in the improvement of student |
|
performance for all student groups in order to attain state |
|
standards in respect to the achievement indicators adopted under |
|
Section 39.053(c). The district improvement plan must include |
|
provisions for: |
|
(1) a comprehensive needs assessment addressing |
|
district student performance on the achievement indicators, and |
|
other appropriate measures of performance, that are disaggregated |
|
by all student groups served by the district, including categories |
|
of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sex, and populations served by |
|
special programs, including students in special education programs |
|
under Subchapter A, Chapter 29; |
|
(2) measurable district performance objectives for |
|
all appropriate achievement indicators for all student |
|
populations, including students in special education programs |
|
under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, and other measures of student |
|
performance that may be identified through the comprehensive needs |
|
assessment; |
|
(3) strategies for improvement of student performance |
|
that include: |
|
(A) instructional methods for addressing the |
|
needs of student groups not achieving their full potential; |
|
(B) methods for addressing the needs of students |
|
for special programs, including: |
|
(i) suicide prevention programs, in |
|
accordance with Subchapter O-1, Chapter 161, Health and Safety |
|
Code, which includes a parental or guardian notification procedure; |
|
(ii) conflict resolution programs; |
|
(iii) violence prevention programs; and |
|
(iv) dyslexia treatment programs; |
|
(C) dropout reduction; |
|
(D) integration of technology in instructional |
|
and administrative programs; |
|
(E) discipline management; |
|
(F) staff development for professional staff of |
|
the district; |
|
(G) career education to assist students in |
|
developing the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary for a |
|
broad range of career opportunities; and |
|
(H) accelerated education; |
|
(4) strategies for providing to middle school, junior |
|
high school, and high school students, those students' teachers and |
|
school counselors, and those students' parents information about: |
|
(A) higher education admissions and financial |
|
aid opportunities; |
|
(B) the TEXAS grant program and the Teach for |
|
Texas grant program established under Chapter 56; |
|
(C) the need for students to make informed |
|
curriculum choices to be prepared for success beyond high school; |
|
and |
|
(D) sources of information on higher education |
|
admissions and financial aid; |
|
(5) resources needed to implement identified |
|
strategies; |
|
(6) staff responsible for ensuring the accomplishment |
|
of each strategy; |
|
(7) timelines for ongoing monitoring of the |
|
implementation of each improvement strategy; |
|
(8) formative evaluation criteria for determining |
|
periodically whether strategies are resulting in intended |
|
improvement of student performance; [and] |
|
(9) the policy under Section 38.0041 addressing sexual |
|
abuse and other maltreatment of children; and |
|
(10) the trauma-informed care policy under Section |
|
38.036. |
|
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 38, Education Code, is |
|
amended by adding Section 38.036 to read as follows: |
|
Sec. 38.036. TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE POLICY. (a) Each school |
|
district and open-enrollment charter school shall adopt and |
|
implement a policy requiring the integration of trauma-informed |
|
practices in each school environment. A district must include the |
|
policy in the district improvement plan required under Section |
|
11.252. |
|
(b) A policy required by this section must address: |
|
(1) using resources developed by the agency, methods |
|
for: |
|
(A) increasing staff and parent awareness of |
|
trauma-informed care; and |
|
(B) implementation of trauma-informed practices |
|
and care by district and campus staff; and |
|
(2) available counseling options for students |
|
affected by trauma or grief. |
|
(c) The methods under Subsection (b)(1) for increasing |
|
awareness and implementation of trauma-informed care must include |
|
training as provided by this subsection. The training: |
|
(1) must be provided: |
|
(A) through a program selected from the list of |
|
recommended best practice-based programs and research-based |
|
practices established under Section 161.325, Health and Safety |
|
Code; and |
|
(B) as part of any new employee orientation for |
|
all new school district and open-enrollment charter school |
|
educators; and |
|
(2) may be: |
|
(A) provided annually to all school district or |
|
open-enrollment charter school employees; and |
|
(B) included in staff development under Section |
|
21.451. |
|
(d) For any training under Subsection (c), each school |
|
district and open-enrollment charter school shall maintain records |
|
that include the name of each district or charter school staff |
|
member who participated in the training. |
|
(e) If a school district or open-enrollment charter school |
|
determines that the district or charter school does not have |
|
sufficient resources to provide the training required under |
|
Subsection (c), the district or charter school may partner with a |
|
community mental health organization to provide training that meets |
|
the requirements of Subsection (c) at no cost to the district or |
|
charter school. |
|
(f) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to |
|
administer this section. |
|
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020 |
|
school year. |
|
SECTION 4. 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, 2019. |