Honorable Dan Huberty, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:
John McGeady, Assistant Director Sarah Keyton, Assistant Director Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1467 by Talarico (Relating to a mental health professional to school law enforcement official ratio for public schools.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
It is assumed that the provisions of the bill relating to the ratio of mental health professionals to school law enforcement officials in public schools could be absorbed using existing resources.
Local Government Impact
The bill establishes various ratios for the number of mental health professionals in each district that are based on the number of students enrolled in a district. The bill would allow a school district to apply for a waiver from the ratio policy if it could show a good-faith but unsuccessful effort to comply by hiring the applicable number of mental health professionals. A district receiving a waiver would have to verify that each law enforcement official had completed appropriate mental health training.
A school district or charter school opting to comply with the ratios specified in the bill by increasing the number of mental health professionals employed by the district could see increased costs. If granted a waiver, a school district could see increased costs related to providing mental health training for its law enforcement officials.
Source Agencies:
701 Texas Education Agency, 758 Texas State University System