Legislation requiring school districts to obtain written consent from parents before teaching human sexuality courses in public schools has been filed.
State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) filed the measure on Tuesday.
Specifically, Senate Bill 87 amends the education code to state “Before a student may be provided with human sexuality instruction, a school district must obtain the written consent of the student’s parent.”
Further, the measure would require that school districts themselves reach out to parents for consent no later than the 14th day before the instruction begins.
The requests for consent must also be standalone—meaning they should not include any other notification or other kinds of consent requests.
The measure would begin application for the 2025-2026 school year.
A prior state law requiring parents to “opt in” for students to receive sexual education teaching expired on August 1 of this year. After it expired, the Texas Education Agency quietly released updated guidance to school administrators recommending that districts should keep adhering to the expired parental opt-in requirement.
“The right of a parent to direct the education of their child should not be subject to an expiration date,” Hall told Texas Scorecard. “Therefore, parents should retain the right to consent to their child receiving this instruction. If passed, this bill would require parental consent for human sexuality education instruction.”
The 89th Texas Legislature convenes on January 14.
