Your middle schooler would take a required human trafficking course, and high schoolers would lose half an elective credit for it
What it does
HB 880 would add human trafficking awareness to the required curriculum in Texas public schools. The State Board of Education would write the essential knowledge and skills, covering causes, warning signs, how traffickers recruit children, online safety, how to report suspected trafficking, and services for survivors. The bill would also require students in grades 6 through 8 to finish a one-semester human trafficking awareness course, and it would be required only once during middle school. High school students would need half a credit in human trafficking awareness, and the bill would cut high school elective credits from five to four and a half to pay for it. The changes would start with students entering sixth or ninth grade in the 2027-2028 school year. The bill would take effect right away if it gets the two-thirds vote it needs, or on September 1, 2027 otherwise.
What it means for your community
If you have children in public school, this would change their schedules and class choices. Middle schoolers would spend a semester on the topic, and high schoolers would give up half an elective credit, which could mean fewer arts, career, or other elective options depending on how your campus builds its schedule. Local school boards would still set their own calendars, but the state would set the requirement and the course content. Nothing changes until the Legislature passes the bill, and even then it starts with the 2027-2028 school year.
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