With contentious school choice hearings behind them, education committees in the state House and Senate are turning more attention to reforms requiring Texas schools to protect students’ safety and respect parental rights.
Several of the measures are endorsed by Texas Education 911, an independent network of parent advocates who help families resolve problems within the public school system.
On Tuesday, the House Public Education Committee heard House Bill 497 by State Rep. Jared Patterson (R–Frisco), a reform that would require written parental consent before a school employee provides a student with any behavioral or mental health treatment.
Patterson said the intent of HB 497 is to address concerns raised by families in his Denton County district about health clinics that are operating inside some local schools.
“What this bill aims to do is to make sure that parents have to give consent before any type of treatment is rendered to the student,” Patterson told the committee.
He said an exception for emergencies, found in the state’s Family Code, would remain in effect.
Patterson said he plans to amend the legislation to clarify that it would also apply to charter schools and that school district personnel can’t hire third parties to provide the prohibited treatments. He also intends to remove a provision regarding contraceptives.
“We just want to make sure that parents are the ones that are ultimately in control of any of the health care situations of their children, and that includes by any of these clinics that are out there,” he added.
A panel of witnesses representing school social workers, school nurses, and school counselors testified against HB 497.
They said Patterson’s measure could hamper their ability to help students in crisis and curtail the distribution of informational materials about mental health care such as a suicide hotline.
“We are concerned that the language is so broad that it will have a chilling effect on the duties of a counselor,” said a representative of the Texas Counseling Association. “Often, a school counselor is providing these services in a time-sensitive manner and in critical situations, such as when a child is experiencing abuse or has suicidal ideation.”
Committee members then questioned the witnesses.
State Rep. James Frank (R–Wichita Falls) asked the panel who would be notified if a student reported abuse from “somebody internal to the school.” He was told Child Protective Services, a designated Title IX officer within the district, and a school resource officer.
“I am amazed, actually, that the first call isn’t law enforcement,” responded Frank. “When we keep internal issues internal, that is to me one of the most dangerous things, separate from this bill. It is amazing to me that we don’t go to outside law enforcement.”
In the next panel of witnesses, Lee Spiller testified that he was “a little bit concerned about the uncertainty of some of the witnesses on what schools can and cannot do.”
Spiller is the executive director of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights-Texas, an Austin-based watchdog group that exposes fraud and abuse in the field of mental health.
He said Chapter 32 of the Family Code allows a child to consent to counseling for suicide prevention; chemical addiction; and physical, sexual, or emotional abuse.
“So that’s already covered,” he said. “Our concern has been the amount of treatment-type activity that is going on in schools without parental knowledge and consent.”
Spiller said schools have been exposing students to potentially harmful mental health apps and activities embedded in lessons and handouts without parents’ approval.
“It turns out, it’s not benign,” he said. “We need parental consent.”
Two opponents of HB 497 said requiring parental consent for mental health treatments could interfere with “trusting relationships” that kids develop with adults at school, noting that students spend several hours a day, several weeks out of the year, with teachers, coaches, and other school employees.
Advocates say that’s exactly why schools must take extra care not to undermine students’ relationships with their parents.
The committee heard another measure supported by Texas Education 911, House Bill 3629 by State Rep. Candy Noble (R–Lucas), which would prohibit anyone required to register as a sex offender from serving as a member of a school’s board of trustees.
Also on Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Education K-16 heard several key measures backed by the parent advocacy group.
Texas Education 911’s top legislative priorities are eliminating civil liability immunity for school districts and employees who abuse students and creating an independent office of inspector general for education.
Measures addressing those issues will be heard by lawmakers in the coming days and weeks.
Other legislation supported by Texas Education 911 and advocacy groups like Citizens Defending Freedom-Texas, Moms for Liberty-Texas, and the Republican Party of Texas is working its way through the process—including bills to eliminate “obscenity exemptions” that give legal cover to school employees who expose kids to harmful materials and to require parental consent for sex education and psychological exams.
Seven weeks remain in the regular legislative session.
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