89R22298 RDR-F

By: Wilson H.B. No. 4909

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 4909:

By: Wilson C.S.H.B. No. 4909

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the creation of the My Texas Future portal and a requirement to submit academic information through that portal to determine acceptance for admission at a public institution of higher education as a condition of high school graduation for public school students.

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

SECTION 1. Section 28.025(c), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) A person may receive a diploma if the person is eligible for a diploma under Section 28.0251. In other cases, a student may graduate and receive a diploma only if:

(1) the student successfully completes the curriculum requirements identified by the State Board of Education under Subsection (a) and complies with Sections 28.0256, 28.0257, and 39.025; or

(2) the student successfully completes an individualized education program developed under Section 29.005.

SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 28, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 28.0257 to read as follows:

Sec. 28.0257. MY TEXAS FUTURE PORTAL PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENT FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION. (a) In this section:

(1) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

(2) "My Texas Future portal" means the Internet website portal created under Section 61.0511.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), in order to graduate from high school, a student enrolled in a school district or open-enrollment charter school must elect to either:

(1) create an account and profile in the My Texas Future portal; or

(2) opt out of creating an account and profile in the My Texas Future portal as provided by Subsection (c).

(c) A student may opt out of creating an account and profile in the My Texas Future portal under Subsection (b)(2) by:

(1) submitting a form signed by the student's parent or other person standing in parental relation indicating that the parent or other person authorizes the student to decline to participate in the My Texas Future portal;

(2) submitting a form described by Subdivision (1) signed by the student if the student is 18 years of age or older or the student's disabilities of minority have been removed for general purposes under Chapter 31, Family Code; or

(3) obtaining authorization in writing from a school counselor for the student to decline to participate in the My Texas Future portal.

(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school shall use a form adopted by coordinating board rule for purposes of Subsection (c). The form must:

(1) provide the student or the student's parent or other person standing in parental relation, as applicable, the opportunity to decline to participate in the My Texas Future portal, as provided by Subsection (c); and

(2) be made available in English, Spanish, and any other language spoken by a majority of the students enrolled in a bilingual education or special language program under Subchapter B, Chapter 29, in the district or school.

(e) On a student's earning of at least three high school course credits but not later than the end of the student's ninth grade fall semester and at the beginning of each subsequent school year, the school district or open-enrollment charter school in which the student is enrolled shall notify the student's parent or other person standing in parental relation, in a manner prescribed by coordinating board rule, regarding:

(1) the requirement under Subsection (b);

(2) the ability of a student or the student's parent or other person standing in parental relation to revise the student's profile created in the My Texas Future portal; and

(3) the ability of a student or the student's parent or other person standing in parental relation to opt out of a service described by Section 61.0511(b)(2).

(f) The agency and the coordinating board jointly shall prepare and post on the agency's and coordinating board's respective Internet websites a publication that includes the information required to be provided under Subsection (e) in a form that enables a school district or open-enrollment charter school to reproduce the publication for distribution.

(g) The agency and each school district and open-enrollment charter school shall submit to the coordinating board data necessary for the coordinating board to administer this section.

(h) The coordinating board, in consultation with the agency, may adopt rules necessary to implement this section.

SECTION 3. Subchapter S, Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 51.766 to read as follows:

Sec. 51.766. LINK TO MY TEXAS FUTURE PORTAL. Each institution of higher education shall prominently post on the institution's Internet web page dedicated to student admissions a link to the My Texas Future portal created under Section 61.0511 or a successor Internet website and notice to prospective students that a person may apply to the institution using the electronic common admission application form through the My Texas Future portal, the ApplyTexas Internet website, or another Internet website established by the coordinating board.

SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 61.0511 to read as follows:

Sec. 61.0511. MY TEXAS FUTURE PORTAL. (a) The board shall create, maintain, and administer an Internet website portal, titled "My Texas Future," through which a prospective postsecondary student may create a profile and account to access information regarding institutions of higher education at which the student will be accepted for admission and financial aid awards at each institution that the student is eligible to receive.

(b) The Internet website portal created under this section must include:

(1) a link or direct submission portal to the electronic common admission application form adopted under Section 51.762;

(2) a list for each prospective student, based on the student's profile and personal and educational information, of:

(A) institutions of higher education at which the student will be accepted for admission; and

(B) to the greatest extent possible, financial aid awards that the student is eligible to receive; and

(3) the information described by Section 61.09022.

(c) The board may share a student's contact information in the Internet website portal created under this section with an institution of higher education unless the student opts out of the information sharing. The board shall ensure that a person who creates an account on the portal may opt out of sharing information under this subsection.

(d) Except as provided by this section, information obtained from a person through the Internet website portal created under this section or shared under Subsection (c) is confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, and may only be released as provided by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g). The board may withhold information prohibited from being disclosed under this subsection without requesting a decision from the attorney general under Subchapter G, Chapter 552, Government Code.

SECTION 5. Section 28.025, Education Code, as amended by this Act, and Section 28.0257, Education Code, as added by this Act, apply beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.

SECTION 6. 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.