House Bill 1886

SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 8, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 8.061 to read as follows:

Sec. 8.061. DYSLEXIA SPECIALIST. Each regional education service center shall employ as a dyslexia specialist a person licensed as a dyslexia therapist under Chapter 403, Occupations Code, to provide school districts served by the center with support and resources that are necessary to assist students with dyslexia and the families of students with dyslexia.

SECTION 2. Sections 38.003(a) and (b-1), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) Students enrolling in public schools in this state shall be screened or tested, as appropriate, for dyslexia and related disorders at appropriate times in accordance with a program

approved by the State Board of Education. The program must include screening at the end of the school year of each student in kindergarten and each student in the first grade.

(b-1) Unless otherwise provided by law, a student determined to have dyslexia during screening or testing under Subsection (a) or accommodated because of dyslexia may not be rescreened or retested for dyslexia for the purpose of reassessing the student's need for accommodations until the district reevaluates the information obtained from previous screening or testing of the student.

SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 38, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 38.0032 to read as follows:

Sec. 38.0032. DYSLEXIA TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES.

(a) The agency shall annually develop a list of training opportunities regarding dyslexia that satisfy the requirements of Section 21.054(b). The list of training opportunities must include at least one opportunity that is available online.

(b) A training opportunity included in the list developed under Subsection (a) must:

(1) comply with the knowledge and practice standards of an international organization on dyslexia; and

(2) enable an educator to:

(A) understand and recognize dyslexia; and

(B) implement instruction that is systematic, explicit, and evidence-based to meet the educational needs of a student with dyslexia.

SECTION 4. Section 38.003, Education Code, as amended by this Act, applies beginning with the 2017-2018 school year.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2017.