By: Parker  S.B. No. 1557
         (In the Senate - Filed March 3, 2023; March 16, 2023, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 27, 2023,
  reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
  following vote:  Yeas 10, Nays 3; April 27, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1557 By:  Middleton
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to providing for an election by the parent of a student who
  was victimized by a public school employee to transfer the student
  to another public school campus or receive funding for the student
  to attend private school.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 38, Education Code, is amended by adding
  Subchapter J to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER J.  PROTECTIONS FOR STUDENTS VICTIMIZED BY SCHOOL
  EMPLOYEES
         Sec. 38.501.  SCHOOL CHOICE. The parent of an eligible
  student may elect for the student to:
               (1)  be transferred to another school district campus
  as provided by Section 38.503; or
               (2)  receive funding for the cost of educating the
  student in a private school, including a home school, as provided by
  Section 38.504.
         Sec. 38.502.  ELIGIBILITY. (a)  A student is eligible for
  purposes of this subchapter if:
               (1)  the student is enrolled in a school district; and
               (2)  an employee of the school district in which the
  student is enrolled:
                     (A)  is convicted of or placed on deferred
  adjudication community supervision for an offense committed
  against the student;
                     (B)  is the subject of a report under Section
  21.006 or 22.093 on the basis of evidence that the employee engaged
  in misconduct described by the applicable section with the student;
  or
                     (C)  engages in child grooming against the student
  by, with the intent that an offense under Chapter 43, Penal Code, or
  an offense involving sexual activity, the occurrence of which would
  subject the employee to criminal liability under Chapter 20A, 21,
  or 22, Penal Code, be committed, knowingly persuading, inducing,
  enticing, or coercing, or attempting to persuade, induce, entice,
  or coerce, the student to engage in specific conduct that, under the
  circumstances surrounding the employee's conduct as the employee
  believes them to be, would:
                           (i)  constitute an offense under Chapter 43,
  Penal Code, or an offense involving sexual activity the occurrence
  of which would subject the employee to criminal liability under
  Chapter 20A, 21, or 22, Penal Code; or
                           (ii)  make the student a party to the
  commission of an offense described by Subparagraph (i).
         (b)  A student may participate in the program until the
  earliest of the following dates:
               (1)  the date on which the student graduates from high
  school; or
               (2)  the date on which the student is no longer eligible
  to attend a public school under Section 25.001.
         Sec. 38.503.  TRANSFER. (a) On request of the parent of an
  eligible student, the board of trustees of the school district in
  which the student is enrolled shall transfer the student to:
               (1)  another district campus; or
               (2)  a neighboring school district, if there is only
  one campus in the district serving the grade level in which the
  student is enrolled.
         (b)  A transfer under this section must be to a campus or
  school district, as applicable, agreeable to the student's parent.
         (c)  Section 25.034 does not apply to a transfer under this
  section.
         (d)  A school district is not required to provide
  transportation to a student who transfers to another campus or
  school district under this section.
         Sec. 38.504.  PRIVATE SCHOOL FUNDING. (a)  If the parent of
  an eligible student elects for the student to enroll in a private
  school, including a home school, the parent is entitled to receive
  from the state an annual amount equal to the amount to which the
  school district in which the student resides would be entitled to
  receive for the student under Chapter 48 if the student were
  enrolled in the district.
         (b)  Money received under this section may be used only for
  the following educational expenses of the student:
               (1)  the payment of tuition and fees at a private school
  accredited by an organization that is recognized by the Texas
  Private School Accreditation Commission; or
               (2)  the purchase of a curriculum, instructional
  materials, or other educational items required for homeschooling,
  as provided by commissioner rule.
         (c)  A payment under Subsection (a) may not be financed using
  federal funds or money appropriated from the available school fund.
         (d)  A private school selected by the parent of an eligible
  student for the student to attend may not be required to comply with
  any state law or rule governing the school's educational program
  that was not in effect on January 1, 2023.
         Sec. 38.505.  RULES. The commissioner shall adopt rules as
  necessary to implement this subchapter, including rules to prevent
  fraud or abuse.
         SECTION 2.  This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
  school year.
         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, 2023.
 
  * * * * *