In last week's "New School Year, New Laws" blog post, we discussed new professional opportunities and educator support programs like mentoring that resulted from the 86th legislative session. For the latest installment in our ongoing series for ATPE, we will talk this week about other legislative changes made this year that will impact the ethical and professional responsibilities of those who work in Texas public schools.

House Bill (HB) 3 by Rep. Dan Huberty (R-Kingwood): Do not hire registry

School superintendents and principals have long had certain obligations to report to the state certain allegations of misconduct against certified educators who work in their schools. The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) is authorized to issue sanctions, up to and including revocation of an educator's certificate, against individuals who hold educator certificates and are found to have committed misconduct. Similarly, SBEC may refuse to grant a certificate to an individual who does not meet state standards. However, SBEC has not had the authority or logistical means to take punitive actions against non-certified school employees in an attempt to deter similar misconduct by those individuals.

Under HB 3, school districts will now be required to report to the state misconduct allegations that arise against their non-certified employees, too. This includes allegations regarding abuse of, unlawful acts with, involvement in a romantic relationship with, or solicitation/engagement in sexual contact with a student or minor. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) now has the authority under HB 3 to investigate such reports against non-certified employees, since there previously was no body to look into cases involving these individuals who are not regulated by SBEC.

HB 3 also requires that TEA create a publicly accessible "do not hire registry" no later than Jan. 1, 2020. The registry will contain the names of individuals, both certified and non-certified, who have been deemed ineligible for hire in a public school based on their criminal history records or misconduct. Since there was no mechanism under previous law to sanction non-certified employees for misconduct, this issue became of increasing concern with growth in the number of charter schools and "Districts of Innovation" in Texas; both of those types of schools can exempt themselves from teacher certification requirements that apply to traditional public schools and may hire non-certified staff for positions that require regular interaction with students. With the update to the law under HB 3, schools throughout Texas will be required to discharge or refuse to hire anyone on the new do not hire registry.

HB 3 also expanded the criteria for designating those who are ineligible to be employed in a public school. Under previous law, a school district could not hire or was forced to discharge any employees who were required by law to register as a sex offender. Now, school districts must also do the same for those who may not be required to register as sex offenders but have committed offenses involving minors such as sexual assault, abandonment, endangerment, leaving a child in a vehicle, and indecency (as described by Title 5 of the Texas Penal Code). Additionally, the expansion of these criteria now encompasses not only those individuals who are convicted, but also those placed on deferred adjudication community service due to the offense committed.

TEA staff and SBEC are currently in the process of developing and discussing new administrative rule language to implement these provisions of HB 3. We expect these items to be discussed at the next SBEC meeting on Oct. 4, 2019, and we will be posting an update here on our Teach the Vote blog at that time.

Additionally, the Commissioner's rules for the do-not-hire registry are open for public comment. Please see below, as posted on the TEA website:

• Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 153, School District Personnel, Subchapter EE, Commissioner's Rules Concerning Registry of Persons Not Eligible for Employment in Public Schools Summary: The proposed new rules would implement the requirement for the registry created by House Bill 3, 86th Texas Legislature, 2019. Publication in the Texas Register: September 20, 2019 Public Comment Period: September 20, 2019-October 21, 2019 Proposed Effective Date: December 15, 2019
• Send a public comment on Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 153, Subchapter EE

These educator misconduct provisions of HB 3 became effective immediately with the enactment of the school finance bill.

Senate Bill (SB) 1476 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston): Educator misconduct investigations

SB 1476 allows public school administrators to skip out on misconduct reporting requirements for certified employees by meeting a few criteria. First, the superintendent must carry out an investigation and determine that the allegations are false. Second, this investigation and determination must occur before the educator resigns or is terminated from employment.

This bill was effective immediately upon being signed by the governor on June 14, 2019.

SB 944 by Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin): Public information law

SB 944 is an "open government" bill that requires that public information maintained on a privately owned device must be preserved in its original form on the device unless it is transferred to the district's public information officer for backup. Because educators are public employees, this law will apply to any official business/school-related texts, emails, etc. stored on the educators' personal devices, such as tablets, cell phones, and laptops. The law applies to former and current public employees, but only for information created or received on or after Sept. 1, 2019. If you keep such public information on any of your personal devices, ATPE recommends that you check with your school district for guidance on this law, including its local policies regarding how long you should archive or backup the information stored on your device.

This law took effect Sept. 1, 2019.

We encourage you to revisit Teach the Vote next week when we'll be publishing the next "New School Year, New Laws" blog series post about pension and benefits changes that resulted from the 2019 legislative session. ATPE believes it is vitally important for educators to make sure they know and understand the laws that govern their profession and affect their classrooms. For even more information on new laws impacting public education in Texas, be sure to check out ATPE's comprehensive report, "Know the Law: An Educator's Guide to Changes Enacted by the 86th Texas Legislature," created by the experienced staff of ATPE's Member Legal Services department.