Bill Text: TX HB3489 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of a task force on sex-based harassment in public schools.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-23 - Left pending in committee [HB3489 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB3489-Introduced.html
86R13091 JES-F | ||
By: Cole | H.B. No. 3489 |
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relating to the establishment of a task force on sex-based | ||
harassment in public schools. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 37, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 37.0834 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 37.0834. TASK FORCE ON SEX-BASED HARASSMENT IN | ||
SCHOOLS. (a) In this section: | ||
(1) "Sex-based harassment" includes "dating | ||
violence," "sexual assault," "sexual harassment," and "stalking," | ||
as those terms are defined in Section 51.9365. | ||
(2) "Task force" means the task force on sex-based | ||
harassment in public schools established under this section. | ||
(3) "Title IX" means Title IX of the Education | ||
Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. Section 1681 et seq.). | ||
(b) The agency shall establish a task force on sex-based | ||
harassment in public schools to evaluate and provide | ||
recommendations on: | ||
(1) the prevalence of incidents of sex-based | ||
harassment against students on campuses of public schools; | ||
(2) current federal, state, and local laws and rules | ||
related to sex-based harassment; | ||
(3) the barriers to creation and implementation of | ||
policies, procedures, and programs to prevent sex-based harassment | ||
in public schools; | ||
(4) strategies for collecting data on the prevalence | ||
of sex-based harassment and the response by public schools to | ||
incidents of sex-based harassment; | ||
(5) best practices for the agency to provide guidance | ||
and support to public schools regarding sex-based harassment; | ||
(6) best practices for public schools providing | ||
guidance and support to students regarding sex-based harassment; | ||
and | ||
(7) any other issues identified by the task force | ||
related to sex-based harassment in public schools. | ||
(c) The task force is composed of 15 members appointed by | ||
the commissioner. The commissioner shall appoint: | ||
(1) two members who represent nonprofit organizations | ||
that focus on mental health or trauma; | ||
(2) one member who represents a nonprofit organization | ||
that focuses on youth; | ||
(3) two members who represent legal advocacy nonprofit | ||
organizations; | ||
(4) three members who represent nonprofit | ||
organizations that focus on gender-based or interpersonal | ||
violence; | ||
(5) one member who represents a nonprofit organization | ||
that focuses on schools; | ||
(6) two members who are school district employees or | ||
members of a local school health advisory council; | ||
(7) one member who has served as a Title IX coordinator | ||
at a school district or an institution of higher education; | ||
(8) one parent or guardian of a student enrolled in a | ||
public school in this state; | ||
(9) one member of the public who is under 25 years of | ||
age; and | ||
(10) one member who is an agency employee. | ||
(d) The commissioner shall select one member to serve as the | ||
presiding officer of the task force. | ||
(e) Members of the task force serve at the will of the | ||
commissioner. A vacancy on the task force must be filled in the same | ||
manner as the original appointment. | ||
(f) The task force shall meet at least four times at the call | ||
of the presiding officer and at any other times determined by the | ||
presiding officer. | ||
(g) A task force member is not entitled to compensation for | ||
service on the task force but is entitled to reimbursement for | ||
actual and necessary expenses incurred in performing task force | ||
duties. The task force may accept gifts, grants, and donations to | ||
pay for those expenses. | ||
(h) In determining best practices for public schools, the | ||
task force must evaluate and provide recommendations related to: | ||
(1) improving student and parent or guardian awareness | ||
of school policies and student rights, including awareness of: | ||
(A) how to access information about a school | ||
district's sex-based harassment policy; | ||
(B) how to report sex-based harassment, | ||
including how to contact a school district's Title IX coordinator; | ||
(C) investigation procedures and associated | ||
rights and policies for the accused and complainant in sex-based | ||
harassment incidents; | ||
(D) counseling and mental health services | ||
available on campus or by referral to off-campus resources for | ||
students who experience sex-based harassment; and | ||
(E) accommodations available to support students | ||
who experience sex-based harassment; and | ||
(2) school district policies and procedures, | ||
including: | ||
(A) providing information to students, | ||
guardians, school employees, and members of the public in languages | ||
prevalent in the school district on the district's sex-based | ||
harassment policies and procedures and contact information for each | ||
school's Title IX coordinator; | ||
(B) professional development training for school | ||
district employees that includes: | ||
(i) training in trauma-informed practices; | ||
(ii) information relating to the contents | ||
of Title IX regarding sex-based harassment; | ||
(iii) reporting and investigation | ||
procedures, including the referral of a student or parent or | ||
guardian to the Title IX coordinator; and | ||
(iv) any other training relevant to the | ||
implementation of Title IX in public schools; | ||
(C) hearing procedures for ensuring due process | ||
for a person who experiences sex-based harassment and a person | ||
accused of sex-based harassment; | ||
(D) providing trauma-informed counseling or | ||
mental health services on public school campuses or referring | ||
students to off-campus mental health services; | ||
(E) enabling public schools to evaluate the need | ||
for and provide necessary academic or other accommodations to | ||
students affected by sex-based harassment; and | ||
(F) any other issues identified by the task force | ||
regarding sex-based harassment and the implementation of Title IX | ||
in public schools. | ||
(i) The agency, using existing resources, shall provide | ||
administrative support for the task force. | ||
(j) Not later than August 31, 2020, the task force shall | ||
submit a written report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, | ||
the speaker of the house of representatives, and the commissioner | ||
that includes the task force's findings and recommendations, | ||
including any recommended changes to state law. | ||
(k) The task force is abolished and this section expires on | ||
June 1, 2021. | ||
SECTION 2. Not later than December 1, 2019, the | ||
commissioner of education shall appoint the members of the task | ||
force established under Section 37.0834, Education Code, as added | ||
by this Act. | ||
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 September 1, 2019. |