Honorable Dan Huberty, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:
John McGeady, Assistant Director Sarah Keyton, Assistant Director Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1623 by Coleman ( Relating to training for public school personnel to identify and intervene if a student suffers from behavioral health issues.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB1623, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: a negative impact of ($246,593) through the biennium ending August 31, 2021.
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2020
($110,505)
2021
($136,088)
2022
($91,714)
2023
($91,714)
2024
($91,714)
Fiscal Year
Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2019
2020
($110,505)
1.0
2021
($136,088)
1.0
2022
($91,714)
1.0
2023
($91,714)
1.0
2024
($91,714)
1.0
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would require that staff development for educators include trauma-informed practices. Along with training in suicide prevention, this training on trauma-informed practices would have to occur at least once every five years.
The bill would require that trauma-informed practices included on the list of mental health programs provided by the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to school districts for implementation in public schools include components that provide for training counselors, teachers, nurses, administrators, and other staff, as well as law enforcement officers and social workers. The trauma-informed practices would have to include components related to the identification of students displaying signs of trauma and in need of intervention. The bill would also require that school districts and charter schools provide this training at least once every five years. School districts and charter schools would be required to annually report to TEA information on this training that was provided to staff. School districts and charter schools would be ineligible for mental health supports grant funding if they failed to comply with the reporting requirements. TEA would be required to compile submitted information at the state, district, and campus level, and provide the information to the public upon request.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2019.
Methodology
This analysis assumes that TEA would require one Program Specialist VI to develop training materials and monitor local education agency compliance and to prepare and provide the required compilations of information. This analysis assumes that this employee can manage compliance for school districts and charter schools. Total costs associated with this position would be $187,428 in the biennium.
Technology
TEA estimates that the cost to implement the required changes to the Texas State Data System to facilitate the bill's reporting requirements would be $59,165 for the biennium.
Local Government Impact
The bill could increase costs for charter schools, as those entities would be subject to certain training requirements. The bill could also increase some costs for school districts related to increased training and reporting requirements.
Source Agencies:
529 Health and Human Services Commission, 701 Texas Education Agency