Since the close of the 86^thLegislative Session, charter districts have been working hard to learn all they can about House Bill 3 (H.B. 3)—the new school overhaul to Texas school finance. This is understandable, because as Education Commissioner Mike Morath said recently, “H.B. 3 is the most significant change in Texas to education finance since 1890.” However, Texas legislators passed over 100 other bills to which charter districts should pay attention. This blog post highlights other important charter-related bills that passed the 86^thLegislative Session. These bills include the following.

• House Bill 76 Allows a student participating in UIL may request an electrocardiogram from any health care professional.
• House Bill 496 Requires traditional public schools and charters to create a bleeding control protocol for health and safety purposes.
• House Bill 678 Allows students to earn one foreign language credit toward high school graduation requirements by completing a course in American Sign Language.
• House Bill 1244 Changes the United States History End-of-course Assessment so that it includes 10 randomly-selected questions from the citizenship test administered by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services as part of the naturalization process.
• Senate Bill 213 Allows for the continued use of individual graduation committees by extending the expiration date from September 1, 2019 to September 1, 2023.

As charter leaders plan for the 2019-20 school year, they should start making adjustments to their district and campus policies and procedures to make sure they are complying with these new laws. They should also educate their staff members about these changes during professional development. Most important, they should watch for upcoming TCSA newsletters and TEA guidance. New and important information will keep coming throughout the next two months.