89R12953 MEW-F

By: Campbell S.B. No. 1428

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to persons not eligible for employment in public schools and to measures to ensure public schools do not employ those persons.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 22, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 22.089 to read as follows:

Sec. 22.089. WAIVER OF CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECK PROHIBITED. (a) This section applies to a school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, other charter entity, regional education service center, and shared services arrangement.

(b) An entity to which this section applies may not allow a person to begin employment at the entity before the entity obtains criminal history record information as required under this subchapter.

SECTION 2. Section 22.092, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (b), (c), and (d) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:

(b) A school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, other charter entity, regional education service center, or shared services arrangement shall discharge, [or] refuse to hire, or refuse to otherwise offer employment to 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 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 or suspended 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);

(6) a person who is not eligible for employment based on the person's criminal history record information review, as provided by Section 22.085; and

(7) a person who, based on the person's criminal history record information review, has been convicted of:

(A) a felony not otherwise described by this subsection;

(B) a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude;

(C) an offense involving the possession, transfer, sale, or distribution of or conspiracy to possess, transfer, sell, or distribute a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C. Section 801 et seq.; or

(D) an offense under the laws of another state or federal law that is equivalent to an offense described by this subsection.

(c-1) As soon as practicable after a school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, other charter entity, regional education service center, or shared services arrangement obtains information indicating that a person who is required to be listed on the registry under Subsection (c) is not listed, the district, school, entity, service center, or arrangement shall report that information to the agency.

(d) The agency shall provide equivalent access to the registry maintained under this section to:

(1) private schools;

(2) public schools, including charter schools operating under Chapter 12; and

(3) nonprofit teacher organizations approved by the commissioner for the purpose of participating in the tutoring program established under Section 33.913.

SECTION 3. Section 22.096, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 22.096. COMPLIANCE MONITORING; SANCTIONS FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY. (a) The agency shall periodically conduct site visits and review the records of school districts, districts of innovation, open-enrollment charter schools, other charter entities, regional education service centers, and shared services arrangements to ensure compliance with Section 22.092(b).

(b) The agency shall impose sanctions, including the withholding of funding that would otherwise be allocated under the school safety allotment under Section 48.115, on a school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, other charter entity, regional education service center, or shared services arrangement that:

(1) violates Section 22.092(b), including by failing to check the registry maintained under that section before hiring or otherwise offering employment to a person; or

(2) fails to obtain criminal history record information that the district, school, entity, service center, or arrangement is required to obtain under Subchapter C.

SECTION 4. Section 22.085(b), Education Code, is repealed.

SECTION 5. Notwithstanding Section 22.085 or 22.092(b), Education Code, as amended by this Act, a school district, open-enrollment charter school, or shared services arrangement may continue to employ a person employed by the district, school, or arrangement on the effective date of this Act to whom Section 22.085(b), Education Code, as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, applied if the district, school, or arrangement determines, in consultation with appropriate law enforcement agencies and court personnel, that the person:

(1) is otherwise employable by the district, school, or arrangement under the provisions of Chapters 21 and 22, Education Code;

(2) has demonstrated rehabilitation;

(3) has complied with all applicable district, school, or arrangement policies while employed by the district, school, or arrangement;

(4) has satisfied all terms of a court order entered on conviction and all conditions of community supervision, deferred adjudication community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision required as a result of the person's conviction of an offense described by Section 22.085(b), Education Code; and

(5) has not been convicted of any other criminal offense since the date the person was convicted of an offense described by Section 22.085(b), Education Code.

SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.

SECTION 7. 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.