By: Blanco S.B. No. 165
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to an exception to dropped course limitations at public
  institutions of higher education for courses dropped during a
  disaster that results in a bar or limit on in-person course
  attendance.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 51.907, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (e-2) to read as
  follows:
         (e)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
  adopt rules under which an institution of higher education shall
  permit a student to drop more courses under circumstances described
  by Subsection (b) than the number of courses permitted to be dropped
  under Subsection (c) or under a policy adopted under Subsection (d)
  if [the student shows] good cause exists for dropping more than that
  number, including:
               (1)  the student's [a] showing of:
                     (A) [(1)]  a severe illness or other debilitating
  condition that affects the student's ability to satisfactorily
  complete a course;
                     (B) [(2)]  the student's responsibility for the
  care of a sick, injured, or needy person if the provision of care
  affects the student's ability to satisfactorily complete a course;
                     (C) [(3)]  the death of a person who:
                           (i) [(A)]  is considered to be a member of
  the student's family under a rule adopted under this subsection for
  purposes of this paragraph [subdivision]; or
                           (ii) [(B)] is otherwise considered to have a
  sufficiently close relationship to the student under a rule adopted
  under this subsection that the person's death is considered to be a
  showing of good cause; or
                     (D) [(4)]  the active duty service as a member of
  the Texas National Guard or the armed forces of the United States
  of:
                           (i) [(A)]  the student; or
                           (ii) [(B)] a person who is considered to be a
  member of the student's family under a rule adopted under this
  subsection for purposes of this paragraph; or
               (2)  a disaster declared by the governor under Section
  418.014, Government Code, resulting in a bar or limit on in-person
  course attendance at the institution [subdivision].
         (e-2)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
  an institution of higher education may not count toward the number
  of courses permitted to be dropped under Subsection (c) or a policy
  adopted under Subsection (d) a course dropped by a student during
  the 2020 spring semester or summer term or the 2020-2021 academic
  year because of a bar or limit on in-person course attendance at the
  institution during the applicable semester or term due to the
  coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
         SECTION 2.  Section 51.907(e), Education Code, as amended by
  this Act, applies beginning with the 2021 fall semester.
         SECTION 3.  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, 2021.