The Texas Senate Education Committee met and voted out several bills on Thursday, May 13, including bills dealing with digital citizenship and educator preparation.

The committee heard testimony on the following bills:

• House Bill (HB) 129 by Rep. Mary Gonzalez (D-Clint), which would require students in 6th grade to complete digital citizenship instruction as part of the social studies curriculum. ATPE supports this bill, which was left pending without a vote.
• HB 159 by Rep. Gonzalez, which would ensure educator preparation programs incorporate knowledge and skills related to serving students with disabilities. ATPE supports this bill, which was approved unanimously and recommended for placement on the Senate’s local and uncontested calendar.
• HB 189 by Rep. Terry Canales (D-Edinburg), which would require charter schools to comply with the same laws as public school districts for severance payments to superintendents. ATPE supports this bill, which was passed by a 9-0 vote and recommended for the local and uncontested calendar.
• HB 1080 by Rep. Jared Patterson (R-Frisco), which would allow students receiving outpatient mental health services to participate in UIL activities. The bill was passed by a vote of 9-0 and recommended for placement on the local and uncontested calendar.
• HB 1133 by Rep. Travis Clardy (R-Nacogdoches), which would allow an election to repeal a county equalization tax by certain counties. The bill was passed without objection and recommended for placement on the local and uncontested calendar.
• HB 1342 by Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano), which would require the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) of Texas to provide participating entities with health information in connection with a search for alternative health benefit plan coverage for the entity's employees. The bill provides that that information shared must be free of personally identifiable information. HB 1342 was approved unanimously and recommended for placement on the local and uncontested calendar.
• HB 2120 by Rep. Keith Bell (R-Forney), which would require school boards to adopt a grievance policy for employees, parents, and the public. ATPE supports this bill, which was left pending in the committee.
• HB 2721 by Rep. Eddie Lucio III (D-Brownsville), which would prohibit a student from participating in UIL activities if they assault a referee, judge, or other official. Sen. Lucio agreed that he would accept a floor amendment from Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) regarding the range of punishments. The bill was approved on a 9-0 vote and will head next to the Senate floor.
• Senate Bill (SB) 1083 by Sen. Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels), which would require a district to obtain written consent from a student’s parent before any instruction in human sexuality. The bill was passed unanimously and recommended for placement on the local and uncontested calendar.

The Senate Education Committee also approved the following bills that were heard during a previous hearing:

• HB 690 by Rep. Will Metcalf (R-Conroe), which would require school board trustees to complete a school safety training developed by the State Board of Education (SBOE) in coordination with the Texas School Safety Center. The bill was passed unanimously and recommended for placement on the local and uncontested calendar.
• HB 1496 (committee substitute) by Rep. Gary VanDeaver (R-New Boston), which would require districts to document any management fees paid by or to the district regarding purchasing contracts or programs. The bill was passed unanimously and recommended for placement on the local and uncontested calendar.