| By: Middleton, Hinojosa of Nueces | S.B. No. 2600 | |
| (In the Senate - Filed March 13, 2025; April 3, 2025, read | ||
| first time and referred to Committee on Education K-16; | ||
| May 7, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 11, | ||
| Nays 0; May 7, 2025, sent to printer.) | ||
|
|
||
|
|
||
| relating to a fee charged by a school district for the | ||
| transportation of a student who lives within two miles of the school | ||
| the student attends. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Section 11.158(a), Education Code, is amended to | ||
| read as follows: | ||
| (a) The board of trustees of an independent school district | ||
| may require payment of: | ||
| (1) a fee for materials used in any program in which | ||
| the resultant product in excess of minimum requirements becomes, at | ||
| the student's option, the personal property of the student, if the | ||
| fee does not exceed the cost of materials; | ||
| (2) membership dues in student organizations or clubs | ||
| and admission fees or charges for attending extracurricular | ||
| activities, if membership or attendance is voluntary; | ||
| (3) a security deposit for the return of materials, | ||
| supplies, or equipment; | ||
| (4) a fee for personal physical education and athletic | ||
| equipment and apparel, although any student may provide the | ||
| student's own equipment or apparel if it meets reasonable | ||
| requirements and standards relating to health and safety | ||
| established by the board; | ||
| (5) a fee for items of personal use or products that a | ||
| student may purchase at the student's option, such as student | ||
| publications, class rings, annuals, and graduation announcements; | ||
| (6) a fee specifically permitted by any other statute; | ||
| (7) a fee for an authorized voluntary student health | ||
| and accident benefit plan; | ||
| (8) a reasonable fee, not to exceed the actual annual | ||
| maintenance cost, for the use of musical instruments and uniforms | ||
| owned or rented by the district; | ||
| (9) a fee for items of personal apparel that become the | ||
| property of the student and that are used in extracurricular | ||
| activities; | ||
| (10) a parking fee or a fee for an identification card; | ||
| (11) a fee for a driver training course, not to exceed | ||
| the actual district cost per student in the program for the current | ||
| school year; | ||
| (12) a fee for a course offered for credit that | ||
| requires the use of facilities not available on the school premises | ||
| or the employment of an educator who is not part of the school's | ||
| regular staff, if participation in the course is at the student's | ||
| option; | ||
| (13) a fee for a course offered during summer school, | ||
| except that the board may charge a fee for a course required for | ||
| graduation only if the course is also offered without a fee during | ||
| the regular school year; | ||
| (14) [ |
||
| [ |
||
| associated with an educational program offered outside of regular | ||
| school hours through which a student who was absent from class | ||
| receives instruction voluntarily for the purpose of making up the | ||
| missed instruction and meeting the level of attendance required | ||
| under Section 25.092; or | ||
| (15) [ |
||
| under Section 48.151 and does not participate in a county | ||
| transportation system for which an allotment is provided under | ||
| Section 48.151(i), a reasonable fee for the transportation of a | ||
| student to and from the school the student attends. | ||
| 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. | ||
| * * * * * | ||