87R2677 MLH-D     By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 369       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the notice required regarding the requirement to submit   a financial aid application as a condition of high school   graduation for public school students.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Sections 28.0256(a), (c), and (d), Education   Code, are amended to read as follows:          (a)  Before graduating from high school, each student must   complete and submit a free application for federal student aid   (FAFSA) or a Texas application for state financial aid (TASFA),   except as otherwise provided by Subsection (b).          (c)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school   shall adopt a form to be used for purposes of Subsection (b). The   form must [be]:                (1)  be approved by the agency; [and]                (2)  provide the student or the student's parent or   other person standing in parental relation, as applicable, the   opportunity to decline to complete and submit a financial aid   application, as provided by Subsection (b); and                (3)  be made available in English, Spanish, and any   other language spoken by a majority of the students enrolled in a   bilingual education or special language program under Subchapter B,   Chapter 29, in the district or school.          (d)  If a school counselor notifies a school district whether   a student has complied with this section for purposes of   determining whether the student meets high school graduation   requirements under Section 28.025, the school counselor may only   indicate whether the student has complied with this section and may   not indicate the manner in which the student complied. A school   counselor may not indicate that a student has not complied with this   section if the school district or open-enrollment charter school   fails to provide the form adopted under Subsection (c) to the   student or the student's parent or other person standing in   parental relation to the student.          SECTION 2.  This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022   school year.          SECTION 3.  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, 2021.