HB 604

relating to the scheduling of the first day of school for students
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1.  Section 12A.003(b), Education Code, is amended
(b)  A local innovation plan must:
(1)  provide for a comprehensive educational program
for the district, which [program] may include:
(A)  innovative curriculum, instructional
methods, and provisions regarding community participation, campus
governance, and parental involvement;
(B)  except as provided by Section 12A.004(a),
modifications to the school day or year;
(C)  provisions regarding the district budget and
(D)  accountability and assessment measures that
exceed the requirements of state and federal law; and
(E)  any other innovations prescribed by the board
(2)  identify requirements imposed by this code that
inhibit the goals of the plan and from which the district should be
exempted on adoption of the plan, subject to Section 12A.004.
SECTION 2.  Section 12A.004(a), Education Code, is amended
(a)  A local innovation plan may not provide for the
exemption of a district designated as a district of innovation from
the following provisions of this title:
(1)  a state or federal requirement applicable to an
open-enrollment charter school operating under Subchapter D,
(2)  Subchapters A, C, D, and E, Chapter 11, except that
a district may be exempt from Sections 11.1511(b)(5) and (14) and
(3)  state curriculum and graduation requirements
adopted under Chapter 28; [and]
(4)  academic and financial accountability and
sanctions under Chapters 39 and 39A; and
(5)  the first day of instruction requirements under
SECTION 3.  Section 25.0811(a), Education Code, is amended
(a)  Except as provided by this section, a school district
may not begin instruction for students for a school year before the
first [fourth] Monday in September [August]. A school district may:
(1)  begin instruction for students for a school year
before the first [fourth] Monday in September [August] if the
district operates a year-round system under Section 25.084; or
(2)  begin instruction for students for a school year
on or after the third [first] Monday in August at a campus or at not
more than 20 percent of the campuses in the district if:
(A)  the district has a student enrollment of
(B)  the district at the beginning of the school
year provides, financed with local funds, days of instruction for
students at the campus or at each of the multiple campuses, in
addition to the minimum instructional time [number of days of
instruction] required under Section 25.081;
(C)  the campus or each of the multiple campuses
is [are] undergoing comprehensive reform, as determined by the
board of trustees of the district; and
(D)  a majority of the students at the campus or at
each of the multiple campuses are educationally disadvantaged.
SECTION 4.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, this Act applies beginning with the 2026-2027 school
(b)  Sections 12A.003 and 12A.004, Education Code, as
amended by this Act, apply only to a local innovation plan adopted
or renewed on or after the effective date of this Act.  A local
innovation plan adopted or renewed before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the plan was
adopted or renewed, and the former law is continued in effect for
SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.