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Welcome to the annual Back to School edition of the DRTx monthly newsletter. This newsletter will highlight three key pieces of legislation passed in the 2025 Texas Legislative Session that impact students with disabilities.
To learn about other laws passed that could affect your child, attend our free 2025 Back to School Webinar at 12 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday, September 10 (register for the webinar).
Education Savings Accounts (School Vouchers)
The new Texas Education Savings Account (ESA) program, created by Senate Bill 2, will launch for the 2026–2027 school year. Here are some important things to know about ESAs:
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This law allots a higher level of funding – up to $30,000 annually – for students who would receive special education services if they were enrolled in public school. The amount is based on a student’s most recent IEP.
- SB 2 establishes a lottery system for selecting participants in the ESA program, with priority for low-income students with disabilities.
- Private schools are not required to provide special education services to students with disabilities, but they are subject to laws like the ADA or Section 504. (Private schools owned or controlled by a religious organization are not subject to the ADA.)
Please see our new Texas Education Savings Accounts resource for more details.
School Discipline
House Bill 6 made significant changes to the Texas Education Code school discipline laws including:
- Teachers may now remove a student for a single instance of interference, bullying, and behavior that is unruly, disruptive, or abusive.
- Students may now be placed in in-school suspension for an unlimited amount of time.
- Students below Grade 3 may now be placed in out-of-school suspension if their conduct threatens the immediate health and safety of other students or if there is documented conduct that results in repeated or significant disruption to the classroom.
See our new School Discipline Changes for 2025-26 resource for more details.
School Safety
Senate Bill 57 revised Texas Education Code school safety laws. Here are some highlights:
- Every school district must have a school safety and security committee. Previously, neither special education representation on the committee was required, nor attention to disability accommodations during safety drills and emergency situations was required.
- Every school district must have a multi-hazard emergency operations plan that outlines responsibilities and action steps in the event of an emergency. Previously, the plans only had to include a general description of steps to protect students with disabilities.
- Every school year, schools must conduct safety drills so students and staff have practiced how to evacuate and take shelter during an emergency. Previously, state law was silent about students with disabilities and how they should be accommodated during drills.
Our new School Safety 2025-26 resource provides more details.
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