Your child's school could offer paid parental leave if the district adopts a policy
What it does
The bill would let school districts and open-enrollment charter schools adopt a paid parental leave policy for full-time employees after a birth, including a birth by a gestational surrogate, or an adoption. A policy would have to give the primary caregiver eight consecutive weeks of paid leave, or four consecutive weeks for the spouse of the primary caregiver. An employee would need at least 12 months of full-time work to qualify, and the policy could not make an employee use paid vacation or sick leave first. Districts would also be entitled to a state allotment equal to the compensation paid for the leave, and the new rules would apply starting with the 2027-2028 school year.
What it means for your community
If your district or open-enrollment charter school puts a policy in place, you could get paid time off after a birth or an adoption, and your paycheck would keep coming during that leave. Districts would use the state allotment to cover what they pay out, so the cost would not fall only on local budgets. Because each district decides whether to adopt a policy, the benefit could differ from campus to campus. The Texas Education Agency would report every two years on how many employees took the leave and what it cost.
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