89R8549 JDK-D

By: Thompson H.B. No. 2880

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to providing a designation for school district campuses that take certain action to address the mental and behavioral health and well-being of students.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 33, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 33.917 to read as follows:

Sec. 33.917. ADVANCING WELLNESS AND RESILIENCY IN EDUCATION (AWARE) CAMPUS. (a) In this section, "school climate" has the meaning assigned by Section 38.351(d).

(b) The agency shall designate a school district campus as an Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education (AWARE) Campus if the campus applies and qualifies for the designation under this section.

(c) To qualify as an Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education (AWARE) Campus, a school district campus must:

(1) employ a school counselor who spends at least 80 percent of the counselor's total work time on duties included in a comprehensive school counseling program developed under Section 33.005;

(2) maintain formal community partnerships with community-based mental and behavioral health care providers to increase student and family access to care, including by contracting with:

(A) a local mental health authority; and

(B) the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium;

(3) offer training for campus staff members on issues related to the mental and behavioral health and well-being of students as required by Sections 21.451, 22.904, 38.036, and 38.351 and maintain documentation of the completion of the training;

(4) as part of the safe and supportive school program implemented under Section 37.115, provide a systemic and coordinated multitiered support system that addresses school climate, the social and emotional domain, psychological safety, and mental and behavioral health, which must include:

(A) a multidisciplinary team for the coordination of campus multitiered support system strategies;

(B) the maintenance of a resource list of available school-based, school-connected, and community-based mental and behavioral health and well-being interventions and supports available to students and families;

(C) a referral pathway for mental and behavioral health and well-being interventions and supports available to students and families in need of additional support outside of school; and

(D) methods to objectively measure positive school climate in the school; and

(5) maintain on the campus's Internet website an easily accessible web page that includes information on how to access school-based and community-based mental and behavioral health and well-being interventions and supports available to students and families, including:

(A) counseling and other mental and behavioral health and well-being support services, including out-of-school time programs;

(B) community-based mental and behavioral health and well-being support services; and

(C) district referral procedures and parental rights related to students accessing mental and behavioral health and well-being support services, including information on:

(i) parental consent guidelines and requirements under Sections 33.003, 38.010, and 38.053;

(ii) parental access to medical records under Section 38.0095;

(iii) coordinated health programs available under Section 38.013;

(iv) the prohibition on the use of a parent's refusal to consent to a psychiatric evaluation or examination as grounds to take certain actions against a child and the permissible actions under Section 38.016;

(v) the district's trauma-informed care policy under Section 38.036;

(vi) the identification of health-related concerns under Section 38.057;

(vii) educational materials provided in accordance with a procedure developed under Section 38.351(i-1); and

(viii) the consent required for services to minors under Section 113.0152, Health and Safety Code.

(d) To comply with a requirement under Subsection (c)(3), (4), or (5), a school district campus may partner with the district to provide:

(1) training required under Subsection (c)(3);

(2) a requirement for the multitiered support system under Subsection (c)(4); or

(3) if the campus does not have an Internet website, a web page that meets the requirements of Subsection (c)(5).

(e) The agency shall adopt rules as necessary to administer this section.

SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026 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, 2025.