BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 2040

By: King

Public Education

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

According to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, juvenile justice alternative education programs (JJAEPs) are designed to help students by reducing delinquency, providing accountability, and rehabilitating students. Under current law, these programs operate on instructional days, while traditional independent school districts operate on instructional minutes. H.B. 2040 seeks to bring JJAEPs into alignment with other education settings by changing the instructional time of such programs to a standard of 43,200 minutes of instructional time per year.

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

H.B. 2040 amends the Education Code to change the amount of instructional time that a juvenile justice alternative education program must provide, unless it successfully applies for a waiver, from a minimum operational period of seven hours per day and 180 days per year to a minimum of 43,200 minutes of instructional time per year. The bill applies beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2025.