By: Lucio  S.B. No. 179
         (In the Senate - Filed November 12, 2020; March 3, 2021,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
  March 29, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 1, one present not
  voting; March 29, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 179 By:  Lucio
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the use of public school counselors' work time.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 33.006, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
         (d)  Except as provided by Subsection (e), the board of
  trustees of each school district shall adopt a policy that requires
  a school counselor to spend at least 80 percent of the school
  counselor's total work time on duties that are components of a
  counseling program developed under Section 33.005. For purposes of
  this subsection, time spent in administering assessment
  instruments or providing other assistance in connection with
  assessment instruments, except time spent in interpreting data from
  assessment instruments, is not considered time spent on counseling.
  Each school in the district shall implement the policy. A copy of
  the policy shall be maintained in the office of each school in the
  district and made available on request during regular school hours
  to district employees, parents of district students, and the
  public.
         (e)  If the board of trustees of a school district determines
  that, because of staffing needs in the district or at a school in
  the district, a school counselor must spend less than 80 percent of
  the school counselor's total work time on duties that are
  components of a counseling program developed under Section 33.005,
  the policy adopted under Subsection (d) shall:
               (1)  include the reasons why the counselor needs to
  spend less than 80 percent of the counselor's work time on duties
  that are components of the counseling program;
               (2)  list the duties the counselor is expected to
  perform that are not components of the counseling program; and
               (3)  set the percentage of work time that the counselor
  is required to spend on components of the counseling program.
         (f)  A school district may not include a provision in an
  employment contract with a school counselor under Chapter 21 that
  conflicts with the policy required by Subsection (d) or, except as
  provided by Subsection (g), has the effect of authorizing a school
  principal or school district superintendent to require a school
  counselor to generally perform duties that are not primarily
  related to a counseling function.
         (g)  A school district to which Subsection (e) applies may
  not include a provision in an employment contract under Chapter 21
  with an affected school counselor that has the effect of requiring
  the counselor to generally perform a duty that is not primarily
  related to a counseling function unless the duty is specified in the
  district's policy under Subsection (e)(2).
         (h)  Each school district shall annually assess the
  district's compliance with the policy adopted under Subsection (d)
  and, on request by the commissioner, provide a written copy of the
  assessment to the agency on or before the date specified by the
  commissioner.  The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement this
  subsection.
         SECTION 2.  Section 7.028(a), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Section 21.006(k), 22.093(l),
  22.096, 28.006, 29.001(5), 29.010(a), 33.006(h), 38.003, or
  39.057, the agency may monitor compliance with requirements
  applicable to a process or program provided by a school district,
  campus, program, or school granted charters under Chapter 12,
  including the process described by Subchapter F, Chapter 11, or a
  program described by Subchapter B, C, D, E, F, H, or I, Chapter 29,
  or Subchapter A, Chapter 37, only as necessary to ensure:
               (1)  compliance with federal law and regulations;
               (2)  financial accountability, including compliance
  with grant requirements;
               (3)  data integrity for purposes of:
                     (A)  the Public Education Information Management
  System (PEIMS); and
                     (B)  accountability under Chapters 39 and 39A; and
               (4)  qualification for funding under Chapter 48.
         SECTION 3.  (a) Each school district shall implement a
  policy adopted under Section 33.006(d), Education Code, as added by
  this Act, beginning with the 2021-2022 school year.
         (b)  Sections 33.006(f) and (g), Education Code, as added by
  this Act, apply only to a contract executed on or after the
  effective date of this Act. A contract executed before the
  effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
  date the contract was executed, and the former law is continued in
  effect for that purpose.
         (c)  Section 7.028(a), Education Code, as amended by this
  Act, and Section 33.006(h), Education Code, as added by this Act,
  apply beginning with the 2021-2022 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, 2021.
 
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