By: Cook, Hinojosa of Hidalgo S.B. No. 1551

(In the Senate - Filed February 21, 2025; March 6, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Education K-16; April 30, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0; April 30, 2025, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the availability of automated external defibrillators at public schools.

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

SECTION 1. Section 38.017(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Each school district shall make available at each campus in the district at least one automated external defibrillator, as defined by Section 779.001, Health and Safety Code. A campus defibrillator must be readily available during any University Interscholastic League athletic competition held on the campus. In determining the placement of [location at which to store] a campus defibrillator, the principal of the campus shall consider the primary location on campus where students engage in athletic activities and place the defibrillator in a clearly marked and accessible location. An automated external defibrillator may not be placed in a locked case when students or school employees are regularly present on campus.

SECTION 2. Not later than the first instructional day of the 2026-2027 school year, each public school to which Section 38.017, Education Code, as amended by this Act, applies shall make available automated external defibrillators as required by that section.

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.

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