BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 195

By: González, Mary

Youth Health & Safety, Select

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

A State Board of Education member expressed concern to Representative González that public school students and personnel with disabilities are likely to face greater challenges than their peers when dealing with campus emergency situations. Parents of students with disabilities have shared instances in which school building conditions or a lack of trained personnel have created problems during fire drills and other emergency simulations. School campus emergency plans may not always include specific considerations for people with disabilities, and the individualized education program (IEP) or Section 504 plan of a student with a disability may not include appropriate accommodation of the student's individual needs in the event of an emergency. This lack of planning may put these students at particular risk. C.S.H.B. 195 seeks to remedy this situation by providing for the consideration of accommodations that will be needed during a disaster or emergency situation in the development of a student's IEP or Section 504 plan and requiring the Texas Education Agency to establish related guidelines for the multihazard emergency operations plan of a public school district or open-enrollment charter school.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 195 amends the Education Code to require the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to establish guidelines, not later than December 1, 2023, for the following:

·         the considerations and recommendations of a student's admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee or team established for a student under Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as applicable, regarding accommodations for the student during a mandatory school drill; and

·         the provisions in a public school district's or open-enrollment charter school's multihazard emergency operations plan for ensuring students and personnel with disabilities or impairments are provided equal access to safety during a disaster or emergency situation.

The bill requires TEA, in establishing the guidelines, to consult with the Texas School Safety Center, regional education service centers, public school educators and administrators who work with students with disabilities or impairments, and advocacy groups representing individuals with disabilities or impairments. The bill requires a district or charter school to follow such guidelines in adopting and implementing its multihazard emergency operations plan.

C.S.H.B. 195 requires a student's ARD committee or Section 504 team, as applicable, in developing or modifying the student's individualized education program (IEP) or Section 504 plan, to consider whether the student's disabilities or impairments would require the district to provide any specific accommodations for the student during a mandatory emergency school drill. The bill requires a student's ARD committee or Section 504 team to do the following:

·         if the committee or team determines that the student would require a specific accommodation, to identify each disability or impairment that requires accommodation and recommend specific accommodations for each identified disability or impairment;

·         in making considerations and recommendations, to follow the TEA guidelines for school drill accommodations and multihazard emergency operations plan provisions for individuals with disabilities; and

·         to provide to each administrator with emergency planning responsibilities at the district and campus at which the student is enrolled the information regarding each student disability or impairment that requires accommodation.

The bill authorizes an ARD committee or Section 504 team to invite district and campus administrators with emergency planning responsibilities to assist the committee or team in making the considerations and recommendations. The bill's provisions regarding the consideration of accommodations during mandatory school drills in an IEP or Section 504 plan apply beginning with the 2024-2025 school year. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 195 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

Whereas the introduced provided for considering and addressing necessary accommodations that a student will need during a disaster or emergency situation, the substitute provides for considering and addressing necessary accommodations that the student will need during a mandatory school drill and sets out requirements relating to the considerations and recommendations of a student's ARD committee or Section 504 team with respect to such accommodations.

The substitute includes provisions absent from the introduced that require TEA to establish guidelines for the required considerations and recommendations of a student's ARD committee or Section 504 team regarding applicable accommodations and that specify the entities with which TEA is required to consult in establishing the guidelines.

Whereas the introduced applied beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, the substitute's provisions for the inclusion of accommodations during mandatory school drills apply beginning with the 2024-2025 school year.