TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE--TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2009
(copyright 2009 Texas AFT)

Notable New State Laws: School Health and Safety
 
Among notable new education-related laws of the 81st regular session of the Texas legislature are many addressing school health and safety. (For our full report on notable laws passed this spring, see www.texasaft.org.) Here's a sampling:

No exemption for schools from pesticide-safety rules
As introduced, SB 768 exempted certain pesticide applications from important safety regulations governing pesticide use at schools. An amendment engineered by Texas AFT specifically provided that the bill's exemption from regulation does not apply to pesticide use at schools.
 
School health advisory councils and human sexuality instruction
SB 283 sets out requirements for local school health advisory councils. The bill specifies that a school board must appoint at least five members to the local school health advisory council, requires the local school health advisory council to meet at least four times each year, and requires each council to submit an annual written report to the school board.
 
Also under SB 283, before each school year a school district must notify parents in writing if the district will provide human sexuality instruction to district students. The notice must contain a statement of the parents' right to review the curriculum materials and their right to remove the student from any part of the instruction without subjecting the student to any disciplinary action, academic penalty, or other sanction. The notice must also provide information regarding opportunities for parental involvement in the development of the curriculum to be used in human
sexuality instruction.
 
Web site on special health needs
Under HB 1322, TEA must coordinate with the Health and Human Services Commission to
establish and maintain an Internet Web site to provide resources for teachers of students with special health needs. Specifically, the Web site must include information about the treatment and management of chronic illnesses and how such illnesses affect a student's well-being or ability to succeed in school. The site also must provide information about food allergies common among students.
 
School-based health centers
HB 281 requires the commissioner of state health services to awards grants to assist school districts (and local health departments, hospitals, health-care systems, universities, or nonprofit organizations that contract with school districts) with the costs of expanding and operating school-based health centers. A preference is give to school-based health centers in rural and low property-wealth school districts. A grant may not be given to nonprofit organizations that offer reproductive or related services.
 
Sexual-abuse policy
HB 1041 requires each school district to adopt and implement a policy addressing sexual abuse of children to be included in the district improvement plan and any informational handbook provided to students and parents. The policy must address methods for increasing awareness of issues regarding sexual abuse of children, including knowledge of likely warning signs indicating that a child may be the victim of abuse. The policy must also address the actions that a child who is a victim of sexual abuse should take to obtain assistance and intervention, plus available counseling options.
 
Physical education
SB 891 requires the PE curriculum to be sequential, developmentally appropriate, and designed, implemented, and evaluated to enable students to develop the motor, self-management, and other skills, knowledge, attitudes, and confidence necessary to participate in physical activity throughout life. The bill requires the State Board of Education, in identifying the essential knowledge and skills of physical education, to ensure that the curriculum meet a specific list of requirements.
 
Obesity and nutrition education
SB 282 authorizes the state Department of Agriculture to develop an outreach program to
promote better health and nutrition programs and prevent obesity among children in the state. The department must award grants to public-school campuses for best practices in nutrition education. The department also must award grants to participants in the Child and Adult Care Food Program, Head Start program, or other early-childhood education programs to provide nutrition education for three- and four-year-olds. Awards must also go to community and faithbased initiatives that provide recreational, social, volunteer, leadership, mentoring, or developmental programs to incorporate nutrition education into programs provided for children younger than 19 years of age.