2023 Texas Statutes › Education Code › Title 2 - Public Education › Subtitle G - Safe Schools › Chapter 38 - Health and Safety › Subchapter A. General Provisions › Section 38.001. Immunization; Requirements; Exceptions

Sec. 38.001.  IMMUNIZATION;  REQUIREMENTS;  EXCEPTIONS.  (a)  Each student shall be fully immunized against diphtheria, rubeola, rubella, mumps, tetanus, and poliomyelitis, except as provided by Subsection (c).
Text of subsection as amended by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 43 (H.B. 1098), Sec. 1
(b)  Subject to Subsections (b-1) and (c), the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission may modify or delete any of the immunizations in Subsection (a) or may require immunizations against additional diseases as a requirement for admission to any elementary or secondary school.
Text of subsection as amended by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 94 (H.B. 1059), Sec. 2
(b)  Subject to Subsection (c), the Department of State Health Services may modify or delete any of the immunizations in Subsection (a) or may require immunizations against additional diseases as a requirement for admission to any elementary or secondary school.
(b-1)  Each year, the Department of State Health Services shall prepare a list of the immunizations required under this section for admission to public schools and of any additional immunizations the department recommends for school-age children. The department shall prepare the list in English and Spanish and make the list available in a manner that permits a school district to easily post the list on the district's Internet website as required by Section 38.019.
(c)  Immunization is not required for a person's admission to any elementary or secondary school if the person applying for admission:
(1)  submits to the admitting official:
(A)  an affidavit or a certificate signed by a physician who is duly registered and licensed to practice medicine in the United States, in which it is stated that, in the physician's opinion, the immunization required poses a significant risk to the health and well-being of the applicant or any member of the applicant's family or household;  or
(B)  an affidavit signed by the applicant or, if a minor, by the applicant's parent or guardian stating that the applicant declines immunization for reasons of conscience, including a religious belief;  or
(2)  is a member of the armed forces of the United States and is on active duty.
(c-1)  An affidavit submitted under Section (c)(1)(B) must be on a form described by Section 161.0041, Health and Safety Code, and must be submitted to the admitting official not later than the 90th day after the date the affidavit is notarized.
(d)  The Department of State Health Services shall provide the required immunization to children in areas where no local provision exists to provide those services.
(e)  A person may be provisionally admitted to an elementary or secondary school if the person has begun the required immunizations and if the person continues to receive the necessary immunizations as rapidly as is medically feasible.  The Department of State Health Services shall adopt rules relating to the provisional admission of persons to an elementary or secondary school.
(f)  A person who has not received the immunizations required by this section for reasons of conscience, including because of the person's religious beliefs, may be excluded from school in times of emergency or epidemic declared by the commissioner of public health.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995.  Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 198, Sec. 2.160, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 43 (H.B. 1098), Sec. 1, eff. May 8, 2007.
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 94 (H.B. 1059), Sec. 2, eff. May 15, 2007.