Tex. Educ. Code § 25.0875 · Subchapter C. OPERATION OF SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
EXCUSED ABSENCE TO ATTEND RELEASED TIME COURSE.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) In this section, "released time course" means a course in religious instruction offered by a private entity.
(b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school shall, on the request of a parent or legal guardian of a student enrolled at the district or school and subject to the policy adopted under Subsection (c), excuse the student from attending school to attend a released time course for at least one but not more than five hours a week.
(c) Each school district and open-enrollment charter school shall adopt a policy for excusing a student enrolled at the district or school from attending school to attend a released time course. The policy:
(1) must require:
(A) the student's parent or legal guardian to provide written consent for the student to attend the released time course;
(B) the private entity offering the released time course to maintain attendance records and make the records available to the district or school at which the student is enrolled;
(C) the private entity, parent or legal guardian, or student to assume responsibility for transportation, including transportation for a student with a disability, to and from any location at which the released time course is offered;
(D) the private entity to make provisions for and assume liability for the student enrolled in the released time course while the student is under the private entity's care; and
(E) the student to assume responsibility for any schoolwork issued during the student's absence;
(2) must prohibit:
(A) the district or school from using district or school funds, excluding de minimis costs, to facilitate the provision of a released time course; and
(B) the private entity from offering the released time course on district or school property, unless permitted under a neutral policy of equal access that allows community organizations to use district or school property; and
(3) may not interfere with the ability of the student's parent or legal guardian to request or access a released time course for the student.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1140 (S.B. 1049), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2025.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.25.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 749dabdb8277681a716fb2a2af4c66fc145b6c04a9f8e6de7409816e485ca47b
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
Cited by 1 provision
Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Educ. Code § 25.0875. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.