89R11640 MM-D

By: Noble H.B. No. 2378

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to certain misconduct committed by an employee or security personnel of a public school or certain other educational entities, including the criminal offense of improper relationship with a student.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

ARTICLE 1. PROCEDURES RELATED TO EMPLOYEE AND SECURITY PERSONNEL

MISCONDUCT

SECTION 1.01. The heading to Subchapter C-1, Chapter 22, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER C-1. PERSONS NOT ELIGIBLE TO BE EMPLOYED OR PROVIDE

SECURITY OR LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES [FOR EMPLOYMENT] IN PUBLIC

SCHOOLS

SECTION 1.02. The heading to Section 22.092, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 22.092. REGISTRY OF PERSONS NOT ELIGIBLE TO BE EMPLOYED OR PROVIDE SECURITY OR LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES [FOR EMPLOYMENT] IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

SECTION 1.03. Sections 22.092(a), (b), and (c), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The agency shall maintain and make available through the Internet portal developed and maintained by the agency under Section 22.095 a registry of persons who are not eligible to be employed by or to provide security or law enforcement services at a school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, other charter entity, regional education service center, or shared services arrangement.

(b) A school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, other charter entity, regional education service center, or shared services arrangement shall discharge, terminate the contract or assignment of, or refuse to hire, contract with, or accept the assignment of a person listed on the registry maintained under this section.

(c) The registry maintained under this section must list the following persons as not eligible to be employed by or provide security or law enforcement services at public schools:

(1) a person determined by the agency under Section 22.0832 as a person who would not be eligible for educator certification under Subchapter B, Chapter 21;

(2) a person determined by the agency to be not eligible for employment based on the person's criminal history record information review, as provided by Section 22.0833;

(3) a person who is not eligible for employment based on criminal history record information received by the agency under Section 21.058(b);

(4) a person whose certification or permit issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, is revoked by the State Board for Educator Certification on a finding that the person engaged in misconduct described by Section 21.006(b)(2)(A) or (A-1); and

(5) a person who is determined by the commissioner under Section 22.094 to have engaged in misconduct described by Section 22.093(c)(1)(A) or (B).

SECTION 1.04. The heading to Section 22.093, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 22.093. REQUIREMENT TO REPORT EMPLOYEE OR SECURITY PERSONNEL MISCONDUCT.

SECTION 1.05. Sections 22.093(b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (j), and (k), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b) This section applies to a person who is:

(1) employed by a school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, other charter entity, regional education service center, or shared services arrangement [and] who does not hold a certification or permit issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21; or

(2) a peace officer, school resource officer, or other security officer who provides security or law enforcement services for a school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, other charter entity, regional education service center, or shared services arrangement, regardless of whether the officer is employed by one of those entities, a contractor, or a local law enforcement agency.

(c) In addition to the reporting requirement under Section 261.101, Family Code, the superintendent or director of a school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, other charter entity, regional education service center, or shared services arrangement shall notify the commissioner if:

(1) an employee's employment, security officer's contract, or school resource officer's assignment at the school district, district of innovation, charter school, other charter entity, service center, or shared services arrangement was terminated and there is evidence that the employee, security officer, or school resource officer:

(A) abused or otherwise committed an unlawful act with a student or minor; or

(B) was involved in a romantic relationship with or solicited or engaged in sexual contact with a student or minor; or

(2) the employee resigned or the security officer's contract or school resource officer's assignment was terminated and there is evidence that the employee, security officer, or school resource officer engaged in misconduct described by Subdivision (1).

(d) A superintendent or director of a school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, other charter entity, regional education service center, or shared services arrangement shall complete an investigation of an employee, security officer, or school resource officer that involves evidence that the employee or officer may have engaged in misconduct described by Subsection (c)(1)(A) or (B), despite the employee's resignation from employment or termination of the officer's contract or assignment before completion of the investigation.

(e) The principal of a school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, or other charter entity campus must notify the superintendent or director of the school district, district of innovation, charter school, or other charter entity not later than the seventh business day after the date of an employee's termination of employment or resignation or the termination of a security officer's contract or school resource officer's assignment following an alleged incident of misconduct described by Subsection (c)(1)(A) or (B).

(f) The superintendent or director must notify the commissioner by filing a report with the commissioner not later than the seventh business day after the date the superintendent or director receives a report from a principal under Subsection (e) or knew about an employee's termination of employment or resignation or the termination of a security officer's contract or school resource officer's assignment following an alleged incident of misconduct described by Subsection (c)(1)(A) or (B). The report must be:

(1) in writing; and

(2) in a form prescribed by the commissioner.

(g) The superintendent or director shall notify the board of trustees or governing body of the school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, other charter entity, regional education service center, or shared services arrangement and the employee, security officer, or school resource officer of the filing of the report required by Subsection (f).

(j) The name of a student or minor who is the victim of abuse or unlawful conduct by an employee, security officer, or school resource officer must be included in a report filed under this section, but the name of the student or minor is not public information under Chapter 552, Government Code.

(k) A superintendent or director required to file a report under Subsection (f) commits an offense if the superintendent or director fails to file the report by the date required by that subsection with intent to conceal an employee's, security officer's, or school resource officer's criminal record or alleged incident of misconduct. A principal required to notify a superintendent or director about an employee's or officer's alleged incident of misconduct under Subsection (e) commits an offense if the principal fails to provide the notice by the date required by that subsection with intent to conceal an employee's or officer's alleged incident of misconduct. An offense under this subsection is a state jail felony.

SECTION 1.06. Section 21.0061, Education Code, is transferred to Subchapter C-1, Chapter 22, Education Code, redesignated as Section 22.0935, Education Code, and amended to read as follows:

Sec. 22.0935 [21.0061]. NOTICE TO PARENT OR GUARDIAN ABOUT EMPLOYEE OR SECURITY PERSONNEL [EDUCATOR] MISCONDUCT. (a) The board of trustees or governing body of a school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, other charter entity, regional education service center, or shared services arrangement shall adopt a policy under which notice is provided to the parent or guardian of a student with whom an employee, security officer, or school resource officer [educator] is alleged to have engaged in misconduct described by Section 21.006(b)(2)(A) or (A-1) or 22.093(c)(1)(A) or (B), as applicable, informing the parent or guardian:

(1) that the alleged misconduct occurred;

(2) whether the employee's employment, security officer's contract, or school resource officer's assignment [educator] was terminated following an investigation of the alleged misconduct or that the employee, security officer, or school resource officer resigned before completion of the investigation; and

(3) if the individual alleged to have engaged in misconduct was an educator, whether a report was submitted to the State Board for Educator Certification concerning the alleged misconduct.

(b) The policy required by this section must require that information specified by Subsection (a)(1) be provided as soon as feasible after the [employing] entity described by Subsection (a) becomes aware that alleged misconduct may have occurred.

(c) In this section, "other charter entity" has the meaning assigned by Section 21.006.

SECTION 1.07. Section 22.095, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 22.095. INTERNET PORTAL. The agency shall develop and maintain an Internet portal through which:

(1) a report required under Section 22.093(f) may be confidentially and securely filed; and

(2) the agency makes available:

(A) the registry of persons who are not eligible to be employed by or to provide security or law enforcement services at [in] public schools as described by Section 22.092; and

(B) information indicating that a person is under investigation for alleged misconduct in accordance with Section 22.094(d), provided that the agency must provide the information through a procedure other than the registry described under Paragraph (A).

SECTION 1.08. The heading to Section 21.12, Penal Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 21.12. IMPROPER RELATIONSHIP WITH A [BETWEEN EDUCATOR AND] STUDENT.

SECTION 1.09. Sections 21.12(a), (d), and (d-1), Penal Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) An employee of a public or private primary or secondary school, a school security officer contracted under Section 37.081, Education Code, to provide security services at a public school, or a school resource officer assigned to provide law enforcement at a public school under that section commits an offense if the person [employee]:

(1) engages in sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or deviate sexual intercourse with a person who is enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school at which the person [employee] works or provides security or law enforcement services;

(2) holds a position described by Section 21.003(a) or (b), Education Code, regardless of whether the employee holds the appropriate certificate, permit, license, or credential for the position, and engages in sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or deviate sexual intercourse with a person the employee knows is:

(A) enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school, other than a school described by Subdivision (1); or

(B) a student participant in an educational activity that is sponsored by a school district or a public or private primary or secondary school, if students enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school are the primary participants in the activity; or

(3) engages in conduct described by Section 33.021, with a person described by Subdivision (1), or a person the actor [employee] knows is a person described by Subdivision (2)(A) or (B), regardless of the age of that person.

(d) The name of a person who is enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school and involved in an improper relationship [with an educator] as provided by Subsection (a) may not be released to the public and is not public information under Chapter 552, Government Code.

(d-1) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, a public or private primary or secondary school, or a person or entity that operates a public or private primary or secondary school, may not release externally to the general public the name of a person [an employee of the school] who is accused of committing an offense under this section until the person [employee] is indicted for the offense. The school, or the person or entity that operates the school, may release the name of the accused person [employee] regardless of whether the accused person [employee] has been indicted for the offense as necessary for the school to:

(1) report the accusation:

(A) to the Texas Education Agency, another state agency, or local law enforcement or as otherwise required by law; or

(B) to the school's members or community in accordance with the school's policies or procedures or with the religious law observed by the school; or

(2) conduct an investigation of the accusation.

ARTICLE 2. CONFORMING CHANGES

SECTION 2.01. Article 2B.0202(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Unless good cause exists that makes electronic recording infeasible, a law enforcement agency shall make a complete and contemporaneous electronic recording of any custodial interrogation that occurs in a place of detention and is of an individual suspected of committing or charged with the commission of an offense under the following provisions of the Penal Code:

(1) Section 19.02 (murder);

(2) Section 19.03 (capital murder);

(3) Section 20.03 (kidnapping);

(4) Section 20.04 (aggravated kidnapping);

(5) Section 20A.02 (trafficking of persons);

(6) Section 20A.03 (continuous trafficking of persons);

(7) Section 21.02 (continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled individual);

(8) Section 21.11 (indecency with a child);

(9) Section 21.12 (improper relationship with a [between educator and] student);

(10) Section 22.011 (sexual assault);

(11) Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual assault); or

(12) Section 43.25 (sexual performance by a child).

SECTION 2.02. Section 12.0271, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 12.0271. FAILURE TO DISCHARGE, TERMINATE CONTRACT OR ASSIGNMENT OF, OR REFUSE TO HIRE, CONTRACT WITH, OR ACCEPT ASSIGNMENT OF CERTAIN EMPLOYEES, [OR] APPLICANTS, OR SECURITY PERSONNEL. A home-rule school district commits a material violation of the school district's charter if the school district fails to comply with the duty to:

(1) discharge or refuse to hire certain employees or applicants for employment under Section 22.085; or

(2) discharge, terminate the contract or assignment of, or refuse to hire, contract with, or accept the assignment of a person listed on the registry maintained under Section 22.092.

SECTION 2.03. Section 12.0631, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 12.0631. FAILURE TO DISCHARGE, TERMINATE CONTRACT OR ASSIGNMENT OF, OR REFUSE TO HIRE, CONTRACT WITH, OR ACCEPT ASSIGNMENT OF CERTAIN EMPLOYEES, [OR] APPLICANTS, OR SECURITY PERSONNEL. A campus or campus program granted a charter under this subchapter commits a material violation of its charter if the campus or program fails to comply with the duty to:

(1) discharge or refuse to hire certain employees or applicants for employment under Section 12.1059 or[,] 22.085;[,] or

(2) discharge, terminate the contract or assignment of, or refuse to hire, contract with, or accept the assignment of a person listed on the registry maintained under Section 22.092.

SECTION 2.04. Section 12.1151, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 12.1151. FAILURE TO DISCHARGE, TERMINATE CONTRACT OR ASSIGNMENT OF, OR REFUSE TO HIRE, CONTRACT WITH, OR ACCEPT ASSIGNMENT OF CERTAIN EMPLOYEES, [OR] APPLICANTS, OR SECURITY PERSONNEL. An open-enrollment charter school commits a material violation of the school's charter if the school fails to comply with the duty to:

(1) discharge or refuse to hire certain employees or applicants for employment under Section 12.1059 or[,] 22.085;[,] or

(2) discharge, terminate the contract or assignment of, or refuse to hire, contract with, or accept the assignment of a person listed on the registry maintained under Section 22.092.

SECTION 2.05. Section 12A.008(b-1), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b-1) The commissioner may terminate a district's designation as a district of innovation if the district fails to comply with the duty to:

(1) discharge or refuse to hire certain employees or applicants for employment under Section 12.1059, applicable to the district under Section 12A.004(a)(1), or Section 22.085; or

(2) discharge, terminate the contract or assignment of, or refuse to hire, contract with, or accept the assignment of a person listed on the registry maintained under Section 22.092.

SECTION 2.06. Section 21.054(e), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(e) Continuing education requirements for a principal must provide that not more than 25 percent of the training required every five years include instruction regarding:

(1) effective and efficient management, including:

(A) collecting and analyzing information;

(B) making decisions and managing time; and

(C) supervising student discipline and managing behavior;

(2) recognizing early warning indicators that a student may be at risk of dropping out of school;

(3) digital learning, digital teaching, and integrating technology into campus curriculum and instruction;

(4) effective implementation of a comprehensive school counseling program under Section 33.005;

(5) mental health programs addressing a mental health condition;

(6) educating diverse student populations, including:

(A) students who are educationally disadvantaged;

(B) emergent bilingual students; and

(C) students at risk of dropping out of school; and

(7) preventing, recognizing, and reporting any improper relationship with a [sexual conduct between an educator and] student that is prohibited under Section 21.12, Penal Code, or any other conduct for which reporting is required under Section 21.006 of this code.

SECTION 2.07. Section 33.913(b), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) To participate in the program as a tutor, a person must:

(1) be an active or retired teacher;

(2) apply for the position in a manner specified by the nonprofit organization;

(3) designate in the application whether the person plans to provide tutoring:

(A) for compensation, on a volunteer basis, or both; and

(B) in person, online, or both; and

(4) not be included in the registry of persons not eligible to be employed by or provide security or law enforcement services at [for employment by] a public school under Section 22.092.

SECTION 2.08. Section 824.009(a), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) In this section, "qualifying felony" means an offense that is punishable as a felony under the following sections of the Penal Code:

(1) Section 21.02 (continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled individual);

(2) Section 21.12 (improper relationship with a [between educator and] student);

(3) Section 22.011 (sexual assault) or Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual assault); or

(4) Section 43.24 (sale, distribution, or display of harmful material to minor).

SECTION 2.09. Section 250.006(a), Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A person for whom the facility or the individual employer is entitled to obtain criminal history record information may not be employed in a facility or by an individual employer if the person has been convicted of an offense listed in this subsection:

(1) an offense under Chapter 19, Penal Code (criminal homicide);

(2) an offense under Chapter 20, Penal Code (kidnapping, unlawful restraint, and smuggling of persons);

(3) an offense under Section 21.02, Penal Code (continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled individual), or Section 21.11, Penal Code (indecency with a child);

(4) an offense under Section 22.011, Penal Code (sexual assault);

(5) an offense under Section 22.02, Penal Code (aggravated assault);

(6) an offense under Section 22.04, Penal Code (injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual);

(7) an offense under Section 22.041, Penal Code (abandoning or endangering a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual);

(8) an offense under Section 22.08, Penal Code (aiding suicide);

(9) an offense under Section 25.031, Penal Code (agreement to abduct from custody);

(10) an offense under Section 25.08, Penal Code (sale or purchase of child);

(11) an offense under Section 28.02, Penal Code (arson);

(12) an offense under Section 29.02, Penal Code (robbery);

(13) an offense under Section 29.03, Penal Code (aggravated robbery);

(14) an offense under Section 21.08, Penal Code (indecent exposure);

(15) an offense under Section 21.12, Penal Code (improper relationship with a [between educator and] student);

(16) an offense under Section 21.15, Penal Code (invasive visual recording);

(17) an offense under Section 22.05, Penal Code (deadly conduct);

(18) an offense under Section 22.021, Penal Code (aggravated sexual assault);

(19) an offense under Section 22.07, Penal Code (terroristic threat);

(20) an offense under Section 32.53, Penal Code (exploitation of child, elderly individual, or disabled individual);

(21) an offense under Section 33.021, Penal Code (online solicitation of a minor);

(22) an offense under Section 34.02, Penal Code (money laundering);

(23) an offense under Section 35A.02, Penal Code (health care fraud);

(24) an offense under Section 36.06, Penal Code (obstruction or retaliation);

(25) an offense under Section 42.09, Penal Code (cruelty to livestock animals), or under Section 42.092, Penal Code (cruelty to nonlivestock animals); or

(26) a conviction under the laws of another state, federal law, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice for an offense containing elements that are substantially similar to the elements of an offense listed by this subsection.

ARTICLE 3. TRANSITION; EFFECTIVE DATE

SECTION 3.01. The change in law made by this Act applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.

SECTION 3.02. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.