By: Swanson	H.B. No. 26

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to parental consent for certain activities engaged in by a
	school district employee or contractor with respect to the parent’s
	child.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 26.009, Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 26.009.  CONSENT REQUIRED FOR CERTAIN ACTIVITIES. (a)
	In this section:
	(1)  "Psychological or psychiatric examination or
	test" means a method designed to elicit information regarding an
	attitude, habit, trait, opinion, belief, feeling, or mental
	disorder or a condition thought to lead to a mental disorder,
	regardless of the manner in which the method is presented or
	characterized, including a method that is presented or
	characterized as a survey, check-in, or screening or is embedded in
	an academic lesson.
	(2)  "Psychological or psychiatric treatment" means
	the planned, systematic use of a method or technique that is
	designed to affect behavioral, emotional, or attitudinal
	characteristics of an individual or group.
	(b)  An employee or contractor of a school district must
	obtain the written consent signed by [of] a child's parent for each
	separate activity described by this subsection in which the child
	will participate before:
	(1)  the employee or contractor may:
	(A) [(1)]  conduct a psychological or psychiatric
	examination or[,] test[,] or psychological or psychiatric
	treatment, unless the examination, test, or treatment is required
	under Section 38.004 or state or federal law regarding requirements
	for special education; or
	(B) [(2)]  subject to Subsection (c), make or
	authorize the making of a videotape of a child or record or
	authorize the recording of a child's voice; and
	(2)  the child may participate in that activity.
	(c) [(b)]  An employee or contractor of a school district is
	not required to obtain the consent of a child's parent before the
	employee or contractor may make a videotape of a child or authorize
	the recording of a child's voice if the videotape or voice recording
	is to be used only for:
	(1)  purposes of safety, including the maintenance of
	order and discipline in common areas of the school or on school
	buses;
	(2)  a purpose related to a cocurricular or
	extracurricular activity;
	(3)  a purpose related to regular classroom
	instruction;
	(4)  media coverage of the school; or
	(5)  a purpose related to the promotion of student
	safety under Section 29.022.
	(d)  A school district shall retain every written and signed
	informed consent of a child's parent obtained under this section as
	part of the child's education records.
	(e)  Nothing in this section may be construed to:
	(1)  require an employee of a school district to obtain
	the written consent of a child's parent before verbally asking the
	child about the child's general well-being;
	(2)  affect a child's consent to counseling under
	Section 32.004, Family Code; or
	(3)  affect the duty to report child abuse or neglect
	under Chapter 261, Family Code, or an investigation of a report of
	abuse or neglect under that chapter.
	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 on the 91st day after the last day of the
	legislative session.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Education Code 26.009 (Education Code 26)