With school sex abuse cases on the rise, House lawmakers passed a measure to help Texas families hold school districts accountable by removing public schools’ immunity from civil liability when students are sexually abused.
House Bill 4623 by freshman State Rep. Mitch Little (R–Lewisville) would create “joint and several liability” between a professional school employee who abuses a student and the school district itself, and provide for recovery of actual damages and attorneys fees.
“We have a sexual abuse crisis in our public schools in Texas. It’s indisputable, and we can’t look away,” Little said Tuesday as he laid out his first bill on the House floor.
Little cited an analysis by parent advocacy group Texas Education 911 titled “State-Sponsored Child Abuse” that found thousands of cases of educator sexual misconduct were reported to the Texas Education Agency over a three-year period.
“Yet enforcement actions remain either inconsistent or nonexistent,” he said.
HB 4623 would remove sovereign immunity from school districts for acts and omissions by their professional employees that constitute crimes of sexual misconduct or failure to report suspected abuse.
Professional school employees are defined to include superintendents and other administrators, teachers and teachers’ aides, counselors, nurses, bus drivers, school board trustees, and “any other person employed by a public school whose employment requires certification and the exercise of discretion.”
