HB5608 - Relating to certain requirements regarding persons with disabilities enrolled in public institutions of higher education.

  89R17071 AND-F     By: Goodwin H.B. No. 5608       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to certain requirements regarding persons with   disabilities enrolled in public institutions of higher education.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is   amended by adding Section 61.06642 to read as follows:           Sec.   61.06642.     DOCUMENTATION REGARDING AND INFORMATION ON   ACCOMMODATIONS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES. (a) The board shall   adopt rules requiring institutions of higher education to accept as   proof that a person is a person with a disability documentation of:                 (1)     an individualized education program developed for   the person in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities   Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400 et seq.);                 (2)     services or accommodations provided to the person   by a primary or secondary school in accordance with Section 504,   Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794);                 (3)     a plan or record of service from a private school,   a public school, a state educational agency, or an institution of   higher education prepared for the person in accordance with the   Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Section 12101 et   seq.);                 (4)     a diagnosis or finding of a disability from a   licensed physician or other appropriate medical professional;                 (5)     a plan or other record related to the person's   disability from another institution of higher education or a   private or independent institution of higher education; or                 (6)     the person's service-related disability based on   the person's service in the armed forces of the United States, the   Texas Army National Guard, or the Texas Air National Guard.           (b)     The rules adopted under this section may provide for an   institution of higher education to establish less burdensome   options for documentation with which a person may establish that   the person is a person with a disability.           (c)     The rules adopted under this section must require   institutions of higher education to:                 (1)     provide specific and transparent information   about the institution's policies and procedures for determining the   accommodations available to persons with disabilities; and                 (2)     make the institution's policies and procedures   described by Subdivision (1) available to students, parents, and   faculty, including by providing the information during any student   orientation and on the institution's publicly accessible Internet   website.          SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.