Texas parental consent before a school district employee or contractor records a child, collects a child's biometric identifiers or conducts a psychological examination (section 26.009 as amended in 2025)

An employee or contractor of a school district must obtain the written consent of a child's parent before the employee or contractor may conduct a psychological or psychiatric examination or test, or psychological or psychiatric treatment, unless the examination, test or treatment is required under section 38.004 or state or federal law regarding requirements for special education.

The same consent is required before the employee or contractor may make or authorize the making of a videotape of a child or record or authorize the recording of a child's voice.

An employee or contractor of a school district is not required to obtain the consent of a child's parent before making a videotape of a child or authorizing the recording of a child's voice if the videotape or voice recording is to be used only for purposes of safety, including the maintenance of order and discipline in common areas of the school or on school buses, a purpose related to a cocurricular or extracurricular activity, a purpose related to regular classroom instruction, media coverage of the school, or a purpose related to the promotion of student safety under section 29.022.

Unless authorized by other law, the same consent is required before the employee or contractor may disclose a child's health or medical information to any person other than the child's parent, or collect, use, store, or disclose to any person other than the child's parent a child's biometric identifiers. A biometric identifier means a blood sample, hair sample, skin sample, DNA sample, body scan, retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or record of hand or face geometry.

A psychological or psychiatric examination or test means a method designed to elicit information regarding an attitude, habit, trait, opinion, belief, feeling, or mental disorder or a condition thought to lead to a mental disorder, regardless of the manner in which the method is presented or characterized, including a method presented or characterized as a survey, check-in, or screening or embedded in an academic lesson.

The written consent must be signed by the parent and returned to the district, and the child may not participate in the activity unless the district receives the parent's signed written consent.

Before the first instructional day of each school year, a school district must give the parent of each enrolled student written notice, signed by the parent and returned to the district, of any actions the district may take involving the authorized collection, use or storage of information as described by subsection (a)(3). A school district must retain the written informed consent of a child's parent as part of the child's education records.

The section does not require an employee or contractor of a school district to obtain the written consent of a child's parent before verbally asking the child about the child's general well-being. Section 26.009 was amended by Acts 2025, 89th Legislature, chapter 1125 (Senate Bill 12), effective September 1, 2025.