(Texas Scorecard) – Grand Prairie and Coppell independent school districts are updating their policies in light of new Texas laws focusing on student learning environments and parental rights.
Library Books
With the passage of Senate Bill 13 filed by State Sen. Angela Paxton (R–McKinney), parents can now monitor all materials available in school libraries, as well as which books their children check out.
Additionally, the new law allows parents to petition school districts to create a school library advisory council (SLAC) by a quorum of 50 parents or by 10 percent of a school district’s parents. These SLACs give parents the ability to control which books are available to children in school libraries.
The passage of this bill follows parents’ concerns over library books containing inappropriate content accessible to young children.
Activist Bonnie Wallace went viral in February after reading explicit material from books available to school-age children at a school board meeting. She testified in support of SB 13 before its passage.
“I have searched probably a thousand libraries,” she stated. “Not one clean library have I found. I have not found one library that didn’t have this content from at least two or three of those books that I gave you.”
SB 13 was intended to remedy holes in a previous bill passed in 2023, known as the READER Act, which lacked provisions for enforcement.
At the school board meeting on Monday, Grand Prairie ISD’s legal counsel, Dr. Melissa Kates, announced that the district had already begun implementing a catalog for parents to see all books that are available to students, as well as which books their children check out.
The final determination of what constitutes appropriate library materials was given to librarians as Grand Prairie did not establish a SLAC. The motion passed 7-0.
However, Coppell ISD’s Director of Staff and Services Annelise Ford put forward a motion to create a SLAC, which passed 7-0.
Phone Use
State Rep. Caroline Fairly’s (R–Amarillo) House Bill 1481 requires school boards to implement a ban on personal devices used by students while on campus. The bill was signed by the governor on June 20, and requires school districts to adopt a policy within 90 days.
The bill gained strong bipartisan support in both legislative chambers due to overwhelming scientific and anecdotal evidence that phones are a distraction to learning.
“While technology plays an essential role in education, personal devices often serve as a distraction rather than a learning tool,” stated David Dunmoyer of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “Studies indicate that students check their phones more than 100 times per day on average, reducing their ability to focus on classroom instruction.”
The bill mandates school districts to adopt policies that either implement a campus-wide phone ban or create an on-campus storage system.
The cell phone prohibition policy currently in place at Grand Prairie ISD expands the existing ban. Students must keep phones off and put away in their backpacks while school is in session.
At Coppell ISD, the ban is enforced with the use of Faraday bags during school hours, so students can keep devices on their person while remaining undistracted.
Both districts are still developing policies to address infractions.