BUSHLAND

The 87th Texas Legislature, Regular Session passed Senate Bill (SB) 1697, which amends state law to allow parents and guardians to elect for a student to repeat a grade or retake a high school course, per Texas Education Code (TEC) §28.02124. The legislation, which went into effect on June 16, 2021, gives parents or guardians the right to opt for their child to –

1. repeat prekindergarten;
2. enroll in prekindergarten if the child was eligible to enroll in prekindergarten in the previous school year, under TEC, §29.153(b), and has not yet enrolled in kindergarten;
3. repeat kindergarten;
4. enroll in kindergarten if the child would have enrolled in kindergarten in the previous school year and has not yet enrolled in first grade*; and
5. for grades one through three, repeat the grade the student was enrolled in the previous school year.
   
   According to January 2021 enrollment data, roughly 24,000 kindergarten-aged students did not enroll in kindergarten during the 2020-21 school year.
   
   For the 2021-2022 school year only, parents or guardians have the right to opt for their child—
    
6. for grades four through eight, repeat the grade the student was enrolled in during the 2020-2021 school year; and
7. for courses taken for high school credit, repeat any course in which the student was enrolled during the 2020-2021 school year.

Information for parents related to these options is available on two TEA webpages at:

• https://tea.texas.gov/repeatgrade
• https://tea.texas.gov/restartkinder

Written requests mus be submitted using the TEA form located in the links above to your child’s campus principal.

If you have any additional questions, please contact:

Dr. Tom Giles

Assistant Superintendent