Seven Business Days to Report a Predator Was Always Too Long

A teacher is credibly accused of misconduct with a student. Under the old Texas system, the district had up to seven business days to report it, enough time for someone to quietly resign and resurface at another school before the paperwork ever moved. SB571 cuts that window down to 48 hours, and in most cases, less.

Signed June 20, 2025, SB571 applies beginning the 2025-2026 school year, with the education savings account reporting provision starting the following year. It passed the Senate 30-1, the House with an amendment 126-10, and the Senate concurred 30-1.

Serious misconduct, physical mistreatment, romantic or sexual contact with a student, boundary violations, drug offenses, fund misappropriation, certification fraud, on-campus crimes, now has to be reported within 48 hours instead of up to seven business days. General child-abuse reporting for licensed professionals, teachers, nurses, doctors, day-care staff, drops from 48 hours to 24. Parents get a guaranteed statutory right to be notified when their own child was involved in an alleged incident.

A superintendent, director, or principal who intentionally conceals a required report, on purpose, not through honest administrative delay, now commits a state jail felony. That specific-intent requirement matters. It targets a genuine cover-up, not a school employee who missed a deadline while juggling a hundred other things.

For the first time, private schools carry the same 48-hour reporting obligation as public schools. Starting with the 2026-2027 school year, the state’s education savings account program gets the same accountability infrastructure, so as public dollars follow students into new educational settings, the reporting standard follows them too.

The bill creates a public registry of people ineligible to work in Texas schools, with temporary inclusion possible before a full hearing for someone arrested on a qualifying offense or found to pose an imminent threat. That temporary listing imposes a real reputational consequence before adjudication. It’s paired with a mandatory 17-day probable-cause hearing and a 61-day final hearing, and an automatic reversal if the educator is cleared, the same expedited-hearing structure courts have generally found sufficient for time-sensitive public-safety licensing actions.

A strong, well-balanced child-safety bill that closes real accountability gaps across public, private, and ESA-funded schools alike, while preserving due process for accused educators through guaranteed, prompt hearings. Support it.

This is our read of the bill. We encourage you to read it yourself and reach your own conclusions.