SB 400 Texas Senate · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to requiring parental consent for psychological or psychiatric examination, testing, or treatment conducted by a school district employee.

SB 400 requires Texas public school employees to obtain written parental consent before conducting psychological or psychiatric examinations, tests, or treatment of students. The bill defines these activities broadly to include surveys, check-ins, or screenings embedded in lessons, unless mandated by special education law. Parents must sign consent forms for their child to participate, with exceptions for general well-being check-ins that don’t require written permission. The law applies starting the 2025-2026 school year and does not affect routine student wellness conversations. It directly affects all Texas public school students and their parents, changing how schools handle mental health-related student interactions.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Nov 2024
Committee Review
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Mar 2025
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Nov 20, 2024 Last action Apr 9, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Engrossed · 3 edits · Mar 24, 2025
MINOR
The bill text was significantly reformatted and reorganized from an introduced version to an engrossed version, with the core legislative content remaining substantially the same. The primary changes involve structural formatting, spacing, and the addition of new subsection (c) which clarifies exceptions to the consent requirements. These changes ensure the bill maintains its original intent while improving clarity and adding important protections for routine student interactions.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains focused on requiring parental consent for psychological or psychiatric examinations, testing, or treatment conducted by school district employees, with no substantive change to applicability.
REQUIREMENT

Added new subsection (c) clarifying that consent is not required for verbally asking students about their general well-being, and preserving existing rights to counseling consent and child abuse reporting duties.

TECHNICAL

Reformatted bill structure with improved spacing, removed extraneous line numbers, and standardized text formatting throughout the document.

Corrected bill number formatting from 'S.B.ANo.A400' to 'SB 400' and updated sponsor attribution format.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 24, 2025

How they voted

272
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 30
Mar 24, 2025
D Democratic10
7 Yea 2 Nay 1
70% Yea
R Republican20
20 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
30
Key actions
8
Committee
7
Amendments
3
Apr 9, 2025
Committee
Referred to Public Education
lower
Apr 9, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
Mar 25, 2025
Introduced
Received from the Senate
lower
Mar 24, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed
upper
Mar 24, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed to engrossment as amended
upper
Mar 24, 2025
Upper · Passed
Amended
upper
Mar 24, 2025
Introduced
Amendment(s) offered
upper
Mar 17, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee report printed and distributed
upper
Mar 17, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported favorably as substituted
upper
Mar 13, 2025
Upper · Passed
Vote taken in committee
upper
Feb 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
Left pending in committee
upper
Feb 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
Testimony taken in committee
upper
Feb 3, 2025
Committee
Referred to Education K-16
upper
Feb 3, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
upper
1 primary · 7 co-sponsors

Sponsors