SB1049

Regular Session

Relating to excused absences from public school for the purpose of attending a released time course.

CriticalImmediate action required

Low Cost

Effective:2025-09-01

Enforcing Agencies

Texas Education Agency (TEA) • Local School Boards • Open-Enrollment Charter School Boards

Compliance Analysis

Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation

Implementation Timeline

Effective Date: September 1, 2025
Compliance Deadline: September 1, 2025 (Schools must process requests immediately upon the effective date, regardless of policy status).
Agency Rulemaking: Local School Boards and Charter Boards must adopt a formal policy governing these absences by January 1, 2026.
*Regulatory Gray Zone:* Between Sept 1, 2025, and Jan 1, 2026, schools are statutorily required to grant requests even if the local Board has not yet finalized the governing policy. Operate under temporary administrative regulations during this gap to mitigate liability.

Immediate Action Plan

Immediately: Draft the "Released Time" Board Policy and place it on the agenda for adoption prior to the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
By August 2025: Configure Student Information Systems (SIS) with new non-funded/excused attendance codes.
By August 2025: Finalize and distribute the Parental Consent/Liability Waiver form.
Ongoing: Identify local religious entities likely to offer courses and proactively establish data-reporting protocols before the first student request arrives.

Operational Changes Required

Contracts

Vendor Agreements: Prohibited. Do not sign service contracts or exchange funds with religious entities for these courses.
Data Sharing Agreements (MOUs): Execute MOUs with private entities to standardize the format and frequency of attendance reporting.
Facility Use Agreements: If the private entity requests to use school property, require a standard Facility Use Agreement with indemnification clauses; this must be treated separately from the released time academic arrangement.

Hiring/Training

Registrars & Attendance Clerks: Train staff on new attendance codes specific to "Section 25.0875 Released Time" to ensure these are logged as excused absences but distinguished from ADA-funding eligible presence.
Instructional Staff: Train teachers that while they cannot penalize students for these absences, they are not required to reteach missed lessons; the burden of missed work lies statutorily with the student.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

Parental Consent Forms: Create a mandatory intake form that explicitly cites Section 25.0875(c)(1)(D), acknowledging the school is not liable for the student during the released time.
Attendance Verification: Establish a workflow to receive and audit attendance logs from private entities weekly. If a student is marked absent by the private entity, the school must revoke the excused status for that period.

Fees & Costs

Transportation: Strictly Prohibited. Schools cannot fund or provide transportation. This cost falls entirely on the parent or private entity.
Administrative Costs: Costs must remain "de minimis." Automate attendance data entry where possible to avoid violating the prohibition on using public funds for these courses.

Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations

Definition of "Private Entity": The statute does not establish a vetting process for what constitutes a legitimate "released time course." Boards should define objective criteria in their policy to prevent abuse (e.g., requiring the entity to be a registered 501(c)(3) or established organization) to avoid parents claiming casual supervision counts as a "course."
Master Schedule Conflicts: The law is silent on whether a school can deny a request if the released time conflicts with a "singleton" core course (a required class offered only once per day). Schools should draft policies stating that released time cannot prevent a student from meeting graduation requirements.

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Legislative Timeline

This bill's path through the Texas Legislature

TopicsEducation Education--primary & Secondary Education--primary & Secondary--admission & Attendance Education--primary & Secondary--charter Schools Education--school Districts Religion

Official Analysis

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BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	S.B. 1049
	By: King
	Education K-16
	4/22/2025
	As Filed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

In the landmark 1952 decision Zorach v. Clauson, the United States Supreme Court ruled that public schools may release students during school hours for off-campus religious instruction, provided that there is parental consent and that the program is not publicly funded. The ruling established that public schools allowing release time for religious instruction is constitutional and permissible under United States law.

As interest in release time for religious instruction grows across our state, legislation is needed to strengthen a parent's right to request release time without facing bureaucratic barriers or potential denial by a local school district. S.B. 1049 requires that a school district or open-enrollment charter school, on the request of a parent or legal guardian, excuse a student to attend a "released time course" for at least one but not more than five hours a week. The bill defines a "released time course" as a course in religious instruction offered by a private entity.

As proposed, S.B. 1049 amends current law relating to excused absences from public school for the purpose of attending a released time course.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 25.087(b), to require a school district to excuse a student from attending school for certain purposes, including travel for those purposes, including for attending a course under Section 25.0875, and to make nonsubstantive changes.

SECTION 2. Amends Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Education Code, by adding Section 25.0875, as follows:

Sec. 25.0875. EXCUSED ABSENCE TO ATTEND RELEASED TIME COURSE. (a) Defines "released time course."

(b) Requires a school district or open-enrollment charter school, on the request of a parent or legal guardian of a student enrolled at the district or school and subject to the policy adopted under Subsection (c), to excuse the student from attending school to attend a released time course for at least one but not more than five hours a week.

(c) Requires each school district and open-enrollment charter school to adopt a policy for excusing a student enrolled at the district or school from attending school to attend a released time course. Provides that the policy:

(1) is required to require the student's parent or legal guardian to provide written consent for the student to attend the released time course; the private entity offering the released time course to maintain attendance records and make the records available to the district or school at which the student is enrolled; the private entity, parent or legal guardian, or student to assume responsibility for transportation, including transportation for a student with a disability, to and from any location at which the released time course is offered; the private entity to make provisions for and assume liability for the student enrolled in the released time course while the student is under the private entity's care; and the student to assume responsibility for any schoolwork issued during the student's absence;

(2) is required to prohibit the district or school from using district or school funds, excluding de minimis costs, to facilitate the provision of a released time course, and the private entity from offering the released time course on district or school property, unless permitted under a neutral policy of equal access that allows community organizations to use district or school property; and

(3) is prohibited from interfering with the ability of the student's parent or legal guardian to request or access a released time course for the student.

SECTION 3. Requires each school district and open-enrollment charter school, not later than January 1, 2026, to adopt the excused absence policy required by Section 25.0875, Education Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 4. Effective date: September 1, 2025.

House Sponsors

Rep. Phil KingRepublican · Primary Sponsor

Joint Sponsors

James Frank (R)

Bill Text(with markup)

S.B. No. 1049

View bill text in multiple formats on Texas Legislature website

Fiscal NoteView Original

	AN ACT
	relating to excused absences from public school for the purpose of
	attending a released time course.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Section 25.087(b), Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(b) A school district shall excuse a student from attending
	school for:
	(1) the following purposes, including travel for those
	purposes:
	(A) observing religious holy days;
	(B) attending a required court appearance;
	(C) appearing at a governmental office to
	complete paperwork required in connection with the student's
	application for United States citizenship;
	(D) taking part in a United States naturalization
	oath ceremony;
	(E) serving as an election clerk; [or]
	(F) if the student is in the conservatorship of
	the Department of Family and Protective Services, participating, as
	determined and documented by the department, in an activity:
	(i) ordered by a court under Chapter 262 or
	263, Family Code, provided that it is not practicable to schedule
	the participation outside of school hours; or
	(ii) required under a service plan under
	Subchapter B, Chapter 263, Family Code; or
	(G) attending a course under Section 25.0875;
	(2) a temporary absence resulting from an appointment
	with health care professionals for the student or the student's
	child if the student commences classes or returns to school on the
	same day of the appointment; or
	(3) an absence resulting from a serious or
	life-threatening illness or related treatment that makes the
	student's attendance infeasible, if the student or the student's
	parent or guardian provides a certification from a physician
	licensed to practice medicine in this state specifying the
	student's illness and the anticipated period of the student's
	absence relating to the illness or related treatment.
	SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 25.0875 to read as follows:
	Sec. 25.0875. EXCUSED ABSENCE TO ATTEND RELEASED TIME
	COURSE. (a) In this section, "released time course" means a course
	in religious instruction offered by a private entity.
	(b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
	shall, on the request of a parent or legal guardian of a student
	enrolled at the district or school and subject to the policy adopted
	under Subsection (c), excuse the student from attending school to
	attend a released time course for at least one but not more than
	five hours a week.
	(c) Each school district and open-enrollment charter school
	shall adopt a policy for excusing a student enrolled at the district
	or school from attending school to attend a released time course.
	The policy:
	(1) must require:
	(A) the student's parent or legal guardian to
	provide written consent for the student to attend the released time
	course;
	(B) the private entity offering the released time
	course to maintain attendance records and make the records
	available to the district or school at which the student is
	enrolled;
	(C) the private entity, parent or legal guardian,
	or student to assume responsibility for transportation, including
	transportation for a student with a disability, to and from any
	location at which the released time course is offered;
	(D) the private entity to make provisions for and
	assume liability for the student enrolled in the released time
	course while the student is under the private entity's care; and
	(E) the student to assume responsibility for any
	schoolwork issued during the student's absence;
	(2) must prohibit:
	(A) the district or school from using district or
	school funds, excluding de minimis costs, to facilitate the
	provision of a released time course; and
	(B) the private entity from offering the released
	time course on district or school property, unless permitted under
	a neutral policy of equal access that allows community
	organizations to use district or school property; and
	(3) may not interfere with the ability of the student's
	parent or legal guardian to request or access a released time course
	for the student.
	SECTION 3. Not later than January 1, 2026, each school
	district and open-enrollment charter school shall adopt the excused
	absence policy required by Section 25.0875, Education Code, as
	added by this Act.
	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 89TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION


April 22, 2025

TO:	Honorable Brandon Creighton, Chair, Senate Committee on Education K-16

FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board

IN RE:	SB1049 by King (Relating to excused absences from public school for the purpose of attending a released time course.), As Introduced

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.

Source Agencies:

LBB Staff:

JMc, NC, ASA, MJe

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about SB1049

What does Texas SB1049 do?

Texas public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools must immediately accommodate parental requests to excuse students for religious instruction ("released time") offered by private entities. This legislation shifts liability for these students to the private entity but imposes strict administrative burdens on schools regarding attendance tracking and master scheduling without additional funding. Implementation Timeline Effective Date: September 1, 2025 Compliance Deadline: September 1, 2025 (Schools must process requests immediately upon the effective date, regardless of policy status).

Who authored SB1049?

SB1049 was authored by Texas Senator Phil King during the Regular Session.

When was SB1049 signed into law?

SB1049 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025.

Which agencies enforce SB1049?

SB1049 is enforced by Texas Education Agency (TEA), Local School Boards and Open-Enrollment Charter School Boards.

How urgent is compliance with SB1049?

The compliance urgency for SB1049 is rated as "critical". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.

What is the cost impact of SB1049?

The cost impact of SB1049 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.

What topics does SB1049 address?

SB1049 addresses topics including education, education--primary & secondary, education--primary & secondary--admission & attendance, education--primary & secondary--charter schools and education--school districts.

Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025

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