89R10957 TSS-D
	By: Howard	H.B. No. 2377

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to funding for projects that improve the physical and
	mental health of public school students and enhance the safety of
	public schools in this state; authorizing a fee.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subtitle I, Title 2, Education Code, is amended
	by adding Chapter 47A to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 47A.  STATE SCHOOL HEALTH AND SAFETY FUND AND GRANTS
	Sec. 47A.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
	(1)  "Corporation" means the Texas Permanent School
	Fund Corporation established under Chapter 43.
	(2)  "Fund" means the state school health and safety
	fund established under Section 7, Article VII, Texas Constitution.
	(3)  "Program" means the school health and safety grant
	program.
	Sec. 47A.002.  DEPOSITS TO FUND BY COMMISSIONER.
	Notwithstanding any other law, including Section 48.265, if the
	commissioner determines that the amount appropriated for a state
	fiscal year for purposes of administering the Foundation School
	Program exceeds the amount to which school districts and
	open-enrollment charter schools are entitled under Chapters 46, 48,
	and 49 for that year, the commissioner shall deposit a portion of
	that excess, up to 100 percent, to the credit of the fund.
	Sec. 47A.003.  USES OF FUND.  Money in the fund may only be
	used to provide grants to school districts and open-enrollment
	charter schools to improve the physical and mental health of
	students and enhance school safety under Section 47A.005.
	Sec. 47A.004.  ADMINISTRATION OF FUND. (a)  The corporation
	shall hold and invest the fund with the objective of maintaining
	sufficient liquidity to meet the needs of the fund while striving to
	maximize returns.  In managing the assets of the fund, through
	procedures and subject to restrictions the corporation considers
	appropriate, the corporation may acquire, exchange, sell,
	supervise, manage, or retain any type of investment that a person of
	ordinary prudence, discretion, and intelligence, exercising
	reasonable care, skill, and caution, would acquire, exchange, sell,
	supervise, manage, or retain in light of the fund's investment
	objective.
	(b)  The corporation may charge a fee not to exceed the
	amount necessary to cover the costs estimated to be incurred by the
	corporation in managing and investing the fund.  The fee may be
	assessed on the available balance of the fund each fiscal year.
	Sec. 47A.005.  SCHOOL HEALTH AND SAFETY GRANTS. (a)  The
	commissioner shall establish a school health and safety grant
	program using proceeds of the fund to reimburse a school district or
	open-enrollment charter school for student health-related
	expenditures or expenditures required for the implementation of a
	school safety plan that has been approved by the agency.
	(b)  The amount of grants awarded to a school district or
	open-enrollment charter school under the program for a school year
	may not exceed $10 million.
	(c)  The total amount of grants awarded under the program for
	a school year may not exceed $500 million.
	(d)  If the amount of grant requests under the program
	exceeds the amount permitted under Subsection (c) in a school year,
	the commissioner shall proportionately reduce the amount of each
	grant in an amount necessary to limit the total amount of grants
	provided to the amount permitted under Subsection (c).
	(e)  Notwithstanding Subsection (b) and subject to the
	limitation under Subsection (c), if excess funds are available for
	a school year, the commissioner may provide additional grants to
	school districts and open-enrollment charter schools that incurred
	eligible expenses in an amount that exceeded the amount in
	Subsection (b).
	Sec. 47A.006.  RULES. The commissioner, in consultation
	with the corporation, may adopt rules as necessary to implement
	this chapter.
	SECTION 2.  The heading to Section 48.115, Education Code,
	is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 48.115.  SCHOOL HEALTH AND SAFETY ALLOTMENT.
	SECTION 3.  Section 48.115, Education Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (c-2) to
	read as follows:
	(a)  A [Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), a] school
	district is entitled to an annual allotment of $200 [equal to the
	sum of the following amounts or a greater amount provided by
	appropriation:
	[(1)  $10] for each student in average daily attendance
	[, plus $1 for each student in average daily attendance per every
	$50 by which the district's maximum basic allotment under Section
	48.051 exceeds $6,160, prorated as necessary; and
	[(2)  $15,000 per campus].
	(b)  A school district must use funds received under this
	section as follows:
	(1)  50 percent must be used to improve the physical and
	mental health of district students; and
	(2)  50 percent must be used [Funds allocated under
	this section must be used] to improve school safety and security [,
	including costs associated with:
	[(1)  securing school facilities in accordance with the
	requirements of Section 37.351, including:
	[(A)  improvements to school infrastructure;
	[(B)  the use or installation of perimeter
	security fencing conducive to a public school learning environment
	or physical barriers, which may not include razor wire;
	[(C)  exterior door and window safety and security
	upgrades, including exterior door numbering and locking systems and
	security film that provides resistance to a forced entry; and
	[(D)  the purchase and maintenance of:
	[(i)  security cameras and, if the district
	has already installed security cameras, other security equipment,
	including video surveillance as provided by Section 29.022; and
	[(ii)  technology, including communications
	systems or devices, such as silent panic alert devices, two-way
	radios, or wireless Internet booster equipment, that facilitates
	communication and information sharing between students, school
	personnel, and first responders in an emergency;
	[(2)  providing security for the district, including:
	[(A)  employing school district peace officers,
	private security officers, and school marshals; and
	[(B)  collaborating with local law enforcement
	agencies, such as entering into a memorandum of understanding for
	the assignment of school resource officers to schools in the
	district;
	[(3)  school safety and security measures, including:
	[(A)  active shooter and emergency response
	training;
	[(B)  prevention and treatment programs relating
	to addressing adverse childhood experiences; and
	[(C)  the prevention, identification, and
	management of emergencies and threats, using evidence-based,
	effective prevention practices and including:
	[(i)  providing licensed counselors, social
	workers, chaplains, and individuals trained in restorative
	discipline and restorative justice practices;
	[(ii)  providing mental health personnel and
	support, including chaplains;
	[(iii)  providing behavioral health
	services, including services provided by chaplains;
	[(iv)  establishing threat reporting
	systems; and
	[(v)  developing and implementing programs
	focused on restorative justice practices, culturally relevant
	instruction, and providing mental health support, including
	support provided by chaplains;
	[(4)  providing programs related to suicide
	prevention, intervention, and postvention, including programs
	provided by chaplains; and
	[(5)  employing a school safety director and other
	personnel to manage and monitor school safety initiatives and the
	implementation of school safety requirements for the district].
	(c-2)  Subsection (c-1) does not apply to the provision of
	behavioral health services or programming.
	SECTION 4.  Section 37.108(b-1), Education Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(b-1)  In a school district's safety and security audit
	required under Subsection (b), the district must certify that the
	district used the funds provided to the district through the school
	health and safety allotment under Section 48.115 described by
	Subsection (b)(2) of that section only for the purposes provided by
	that subsection [section].
	SECTION 5.  Section 37.117(c), Education Code, as added by
	Chapter 1 (S.B. 838), Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular
	Session, 2023, is amended to read as follows:
	(c)  To comply with this section, a school district or
	open-enrollment charter school may:
	(1)  use funds provided to the district or school
	through the school health and safety allotment under Section 48.115
	or other available funds; and
	(2)  use the district's or school's customary
	procurement process.
	SECTION 6.  Section 37.354(a), Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(a)  The commissioner may authorize a school district to use
	money provided to the district for the purpose of improving school
	safety and security, including the school health and safety
	allotment under Section 48.115 or any other funding or grant money
	available to the district for that purpose, to comply with the
	requirements of this subchapter.
	SECTION 7.  Section 48.115(a-1), Education Code, is
	repealed.
	SECTION 8.  It is the intent of the 89th Legislature, Regular
	Session, 2025, that the amendments made by this Act be harmonized
	with another Act of the 89th Legislature, Regular Session, 2025,
	relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
	codes.
	SECTION 9.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
	section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
	(b)  Section 1 of this Act takes effect January 1, 2026, but
	only if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 89th
	Legislature, Regular Session, 2025, creating the state school
	health and safety fund to provide financial support for projects
	that improve the physical and mental health of public school
	students and enhance the safety of public schools in this state is
	approved by the voters.  If that constitutional amendment is not
	approved by the voters, Section 1 of this Act has no effect.