SB 413—Changes to Texas Public School Board Record Keeping Procedures

In an attempt to increase transparency in school board actions, Senate Bill 413 (“SB 413”), authored by Mayes Middleton, makes several significant changes to recordkeeping procedures for public school boards.  

For example, minutes approved by the board must now include the names of the board members who either attended or were absent from the meeting. The approved minutes must also indicate each member’s vote on any item voted by the board during the meeting—in effect, this requirement makes every board vote a record vote.

SB 413 also requires the approved minutes to be posted to the district’s website no later than seven days after the date of the meeting at which the minutes were approved. In addition, SB 413 requires any resolution adopted by the board to be posted to the district’s website no later than seven days after the date the resolution was adopted.

Finally, SB 413 requires that each school board record each of its regular or special meetings. “Recording” is defined by the Texas Open Meetings Act as a “tangible medium on which audio or a combination of audio and video is recorded, including a disc, tape, wire, film, electronic storage drive, or other medium now existing or later developed.” It is important to note that the requirement that each board meeting be recorded does not mean that all districts are required to broadcast their meetings. This SB 413 requirement simply means that each public school district in Texas must record their meetings by either audio or audio-visual means. This recording must be made available to the public upon proper request. While the recording requirement of SB 413 applies to both open and closed sessions, only the minutes and recording of an open session are required to be available for public inspection. SB 413 does not affect the requirements of Texas Government Code Section 551.128, requiring districts with a student population of 10,000 or more to provide an internet broadcast of their meetings. See Tex. Gov’t Code § 551.128.  

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HB1522—Time and Accessibility of Notice; Posting of Budget

HB 1522, authored by Stan Gerdes, aims to increase public awareness of and participation in public school board meetings.

To that end, HB 1522 changes the notice requirement for school board meetings from 72 hours before the scheduled time of the meeting to three business days before the scheduled date of the meeting. “Business days” is not defined by the bill. However, a conservative interpretation suggests that if, for example,a board was scheduled to meet on a Monday, the notice of the meeting must be posted the prior Tuesday—allowing for a full three business days between the date the notice was posted and the date the meeting is scheduled to be held.

The bill also imposes additional notice requirements when the board intends on discussing or adopting a budget. In those instances, the notice of the meeting must include:

·        a physical copy of the proposed budget (unless the proposed budget is clearly accessible on the home page of the district’s website); and

·        a taxpayer impact statement.

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SB12—Parental Rights

Several provisions in Senate Bill 12 (“SB 12”), authored by Brandon Creighton, will substantially impact the way school boards handle public comment and grievances.

SB 12 requires school boards to adopt a parental engagement policy that, among other things, must require the board to prioritize public comment by prioritizing those comments at the beginning of each board meeting. The parental engagement policy must also require board meetings to be held outside of typical work hours.

In terms of changes to grievance procedures, SB 12 allows a grievant to choose whether they want their grievance to be heard in open or closed session. If the board is not otherwise required by law to hear the grievance in open or closed session, then the board must comply with the grievant’s request.

In addition, at least five business days before the grievance hearing, the district must provide the grievant with a description of any information the board intends to rely on that is not contained in the record. The grievance hearing must also be recorded by either audio or audio-visual means or by transcript created by a certified court reporter.

SB 12 also imposes changes to deadlines for Level III/board-level, grievances. Specifically, SB 12 requires the board to hold a Level III grievance hearing no later than 60 days after the Level II (or previous) decision was made. It is important to note that the 60-day deadline runs from the date of the Level II decision, not the date the grievant appeals the Level II decision. SB 12also changes the deadline for the board to issue their Level III decision. Previously, under DGBA (LOCAL), a board could either issue their decision at the time of the hearing or at any time before their next board meeting. If the board did not issue a decision before the next board meeting, then the grievance was deemed denied. SB 12 requires the board to issue their decision no later than the 30^th day after the date on which the grievance is heard.

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Leon| Alcala has compiled a broad list of education-related bills passed during the 89^th legislative regular session. That list can be accessed here. If you are a client and have questions regarding any of these bills, please contact our office.

Correction Note: A previous version of this Legal Brief erroneously included analysis of HB 2520 pertaining to notice requirements. That bill was vetoed by Governor Abbott on June 22, 2025.

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