001Welcome to this webinar about the 89th legislative session updates for school counselors. Thank you for being here. This presentation is a brief overview of the school bills passed this year that may affect your school counseling work. As always, consult with your district's legal representative or local board policy for any district specific questions or interpretations. Let's get started. This is a QR code to the presentation slides in PDF form. It is best to open the QR code now so that you can click on the PDF link to follow along with this presentation since I will be sharing some linked resources. Consider pausing this webinar for a moment here so that you can access the presentation PDF in the QR code. Let's begin with a brief introduction. My name is Stephanie Learner and my role at TEA
002includes serving as the primary point of contact for Texas school counselors. I develop resources to um support school counselors and conduct training and I work on helping districts with the implementation of comprehensive counseling programs. You can get in contact with me at my email which is at the second uh bullet on the slide. I was a school counselor elementary and secondary for about 12 years. The objective for this presentation is to acquire an overview of key kindergarten through 12 updates from the 89th Texas Legislature and identify resources for more information on these updates. Speaking of resources, let's talk about the three blue linked resources at the bottom of the slide. The 89th Legislature Updates web page has more details on any of the bills in this presentation and a contact email if you have questions.
003In addition, you may be interested in a few other bills that are not in this presentation. You can find information on these and other additional bills also at the 89th webpage link. The second blue resource link at the bottom of the slide is the TEA help desk where you can submit a ticket to ask questions to specific teams throughout TEA. Also, some of the slides throughout this presentation have their own blue linked resource at the bottom where you can find more information on that particular slide topic. I have linked the higher education coordinating board at the last blue link since some of the slide topics relate to higher education. Now let's turn to our first section of the presentation which is on bills related to high school and graduation requirements. Senate Bill relates to the
004development of a standard method of computing a student's high school gradepoint average. The bill states that as soon as practicable, the commissioner is required to develop a standard method of computing a student's high school gradepoint average or GPA. School districts will be required to use the standard method developed by the commissioner to compute a student's high school gradepoint average. The implementation timeline at the 89th Legislature web page linked in the previous slide states that the agency will provide guidance for this bill in December. For questions, you can contact the curriculum help desk. Senate Bill 2314 relates to the creation of an electronic platform and submission portal known as my Texas future to facilitate the awareness and application of public high school students into applications of higher education using the electronic common admission application form. This
005bill states that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board or THCB is required to create, maintain, and administer my texasfuture.org. Students before graduating from high school will be required to elect whether to opt in to allowing the higher education coordinating board to share their data and education records as necessary with institutions of higher education or IES. These IES can allow students to participate in the direct admission program. A student is not required to comply with this requirement if the students parent or guardian signs and submits a form authorizing the student to decline to complete and submit information necessary to participate in the program. or if the student is 18 years old or older and signs and submits the opt- out form or if a school counselor authorizes the student in writing to decline to complete and
006submit the information necessary to participate in the program. School districts and charter schools will be required to use a form adopted by the higher education coordinating board in consultation with TEA to allow a student to opt out. These requirements begin with the 2627 school year. For more information on my Texas future, visit the blue link at the bottom of the slide. House Bill 27 relates to courses in personal financial literacy and economics for high school students in public schools. Students will be required to successfully complete a 1/ half credit personal financial literacy course instead of 1/ half credit courses currently required to satisfy an economics requirement under the foundation high school program. This requirement applies to students who enter grade 9 in the 202627 school year. For more information on the foundation high school program
007and corresponding courses, visit the blue program link at the bottom of the slide. Now, let's turn our attention to some bills related to career and technical education or CTE. House Bill 2, Article 6 relates to public education and public school finance. In accordance with this bill, TEA will be required to publish on its website postsecary outcomes for 10 cohorts of students. In addition, the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corpse or JOOTC must be included as a CTE program of study and will generate additional CTE weighted funding. For questions on the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps or JOTC, you can contact the CTE help desk. Let's move to the next slide for some more House Bill 2 information. District funding for college prep assessments will now include a career readiness exam as an option for grade 12
008students. The per student entitlement for pathways in technology or PEK students will be increased from $50 to $150. This entitlement is removed for students enrolled in a new tech network campus. Districts and IES are prohibited from requiring PEK to pay for dual credit. Finally, districts are explicitly permitted to pay for collegiate advising for students the 2 years after graduation. For more information on Pathways and Technology or PEK, you can visit the blue website linked at the bottom of the slide. House Bill 120 is part of House Bill 2, so you'll see some common themes on this slide. I especially want to point out the post-secary advising part of this bill, which adds to Texas Education Code 33.007 relating to the information a school counselor must provide to high school students and their parents. With this
009bill, a school counselor shall provide to students information on career readiness and workforce training opportunities, as well as a link to the My Texas Future Internet website and information regarding how to create a profile on that website. In addition, a school counselor shall provide information to high school students and parents about opportunities to complete career training and obtain a post-secondary credential while still enrolled in high school. And also information on the outcomes of graduates from the student school using data posted under section 7.0405 0405 or more likely available on the my Texas future internet website. Finally, with this bill, the TEA or higher education coordinating board will provide an annual online training regarding performing the counselor's duties under this section and the statewide trends identified in section 7.0405 405 or on the my Texas future
010website. At this point, I haven't seen any date given on this yet. Watch the 89th legislature updates web page or the my Texas future and higher education coordinating board links on the previous slides for dates and information on this training. Another student support covered in this bill is that the rural pathway ex excellence partnerships or RPEP program now allows rural school districts to enter into agreements with other school districts to develop rural college and career pathway partnerships. The goal of our pep program, The goal of the RPE program is to increase access to highquality post-secary pathways for rural students through multidis collaboration. House Bill 20 relates to establishing the applied sciences pathway program. This new program allows school districts and open enrollment charter schools to enter into articulation agreements with IE that enable students to
011earn a high school diploma and higher education certificate that lead to successful job placement in a high wage high growth job in t in the targeted industries that are listed on this slide. Okay, consider taking a moment here to pause the webinar and reflect on the bills that we've covered so far and any questions you might have about them. Remember that you can find more information on these bills as well as a contact email at the 89th Legislature TEA web page listed on the fourth slide of this presentation. or if you're watching this webinar with colleagues, take a minute to talk with them about any questions or reflections that you may have. Now, let's explore a bill related to the tri- agency workforce initiative. Senate bill 2448 relates to the rural workforce development. It requires
012the tri- agency partners, the Texas Workforce Commission or TWWC, the Texas Education Agency, TEA, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, THCB, to administer a rural workforce development program to support measurable programs advancing college and career readiness, skill development, and work experience opportunities. The TWWC is permitted to award grants to local entities to perform activities related to this program and grants for technical assistance to one or more nonprofit organizations with experience in improving outcomes in rural communities in Texas. The TWWC will implement the rules of this bill. For more information, you can visit their website at the blue link at the bottom of the slide. Now, let's begin to discuss some of the bills that relate to health and safety. Senate Bill 25 relates to health and nutrition standards to promote healthy living. It prohibits
013school employees from restricting recess or physical activity as a penalty for academic performance or behavior for students enrolled in kindergarten or in a grade below grade six. It also prohibits restricting physical activity for a student enrolled in grade level 6, 7, or 8. In addition, beginning with the 2027-28 school year, each school district and open enrollment charter school that offers a high school program will be required to provide a 1/ half credit elective course in nutrition and wellness. Senate Bill 12 is extensive, so there is a lot of content on this slide. As always, consult your district's legal representative and or your local board policy for any district specific questions or interpretations. In terms of how this bill bill relates to school counselor practices, here are some takeaways. The bill reinforces the parents right to
014information and decision-making regarding their child. Keep in mind that the school counselor role in encouraging a student to discuss issues relating to their well-being with parents or the school counselor role in facilitating a discussion between parent and child about issues related to student well-being has always been considered school counseling best practice. activities and and instruction which would include guidance lessons require parental notification with an opt out form option provided to parents annually. TEA will provide guidance on notification form and handbook in August as stated in the implementation timeline on the 89th legislature web page on the fourth slide. Inquiring about a student's daily well-being, such as in a brief oneoff check-in with a student, doesn't require consent. However, it is a requirement and has always been school counseling best practice to notify a parent of
015a student concern. The following require parental consent or optin form, short-term individual or group counseling, minute meetings, student surveys, including needs assessments, and universal screeners. These parent consent forms are now a part of the students educational records for outcries related to suicidal ideiation and self harm. School counseling best practice has always been to immediately notify the parent of the outcry facts, to keep the student supervised until the parent takes control, and to give referrals to the parent for further support. However, now all student screeners or questionnaires like the Colombia scale require parental consent. And lastly, as always, the disclosure of information to a parent is not required if a reasonably prudent person would believe the disclosure is likely to result in the student suffering abuse or neglect as those terms are defined by section 261.001
016family code. Additionally, the bill cannot limit or alter Texas Education Code 38.004 004 requirements on child abuse reporting and programs. House Bill relates to a school psychologist licensed under the occupations code. The term licensed specialist in school psychology or LSSP is replaced with the term school psychologist in Texas Education Code, Texas Government Code, and Texas Occupations Code. House Bill 571 relates to the persons who are not eligible for employment in public schools and to child abuse reporting. Effective immediately, this bill updates the child abuse reporting deadline by professionals to DFPS or to law enforcement to 24 hours instead of the 48hour deadline under current law. Consider taking a moment here to pause the webinar again and reflect on the health and safety bills we have covered and any questions you might have about them. Remember
017that you can find more information on these bills as well as the contact email on that 89th Legislature TEA web page. If you are watching this webinar with a colleague, take a moment to talk with them about the reflections that you have. And finally, let's discuss the bills that relate to instructional materials. House Bill 100 relates to the purchase, adoption, and use of instructional materials by public schools. This bill prohibits the use of instructional materials placed on the list of rejected instructional materials maintained by the state board of education. A school district or open enrollment charter school cannot adopt rejected materials and the use of the rejected materials in classrooms is prohibited. You can find this list on the state board of education website at the instructional materials review and approval web page. Senate Bill
018569 relates to the provision of virtual education in public schools. The Texas virtual school network authorized under Texas Education Code Chapter 3A will be replaced with new virtual and hybrid campuses, programs, and courses authorized under the new Texas Education Code Chapter 30B. These changes expand the eligibility for districts and charter schools to offer courses and programs virtual and hybrid and allow the commissioner to authorize highquality full-time virtual and hybrid campuses. The bill establishes requirements for the commissioner's authorization of full-time hybrid and virtual campuses and requires TEA to develop professional development and materials and provide grants and technical assistance to establish highquality programs. At this point, I encourage you to pause the webinar a final time and reflect on these two questions. Or if you are watching this webinar with a colleague, take a minute to
019talk with them about any bills you need more information on based on the work that's happening at your campus or district. Then discuss where you might find this information. This slide has our main school counseling trainings and materials that we offer from TEA. The first bolded bullet has the counselor worktime supports hub. The FAQs and the 8020 recorded presentation resources at this hub are the best path to compliance with counselors spending at least 80% of their time on statutory counseling duties. The second bolded bullet is our TEA school counseling website which has new resources going up each month. And that brings us to the end of this webinar. Thank you so much for attending. Please reach out at the email on this slide if you have any school counseling questions. Have a great day.