2025 Texas sessionsRegular and both called sessions have ended. This index covers House and Senate bills, not resolutions. Statuses come from official reports.

2025 · Regular session · House bill

HB367

HB367 requires school districts to adopt a physician-certification form for absences caused by a student’s serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment when attendance is not feasible.

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Official caption: Relating to verification of excused absences from public school for students with severe or life-threatening illnesses.

Signed by governorSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists House author(s): Rosenthal, Oliverson, Simmons, Plesa, Kerwin. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

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Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.

Bill highlights

Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.

HB367 requires school districts to adopt a physician-certification form for absences caused by a student’s serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment when attendance is not feasible.
For this type of excused absence, a district may not demand more documentation or information than its adopted form requires.
The underlying right to a qualifying serious-illness absence already existed; HB367 changes how it is documented.

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What does it do?

HB367 requires school districts to adopt a physician-certification form for absences caused by a student’s serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment when attendance is not feasible. The physician must be licensed in Texas and identify the illness, state that it is serious or life-threatening, give the anticipated absence period, and state that the illness makes attendance infeasible during that period. A student, parent or guardian supplies the certification on the district’s form. Final law

For this type of excused absence, a district may not demand more documentation or information than its adopted form requires. Each district must adopt the form as soon as practicable after the law takes effect. The law does not create one statewide form or excuse every ordinary illness without medical certification. It took effect June 20, 2025, and applies beginning with the 2025–2026 school year. Implementation and timing · Official history

The underlying right to a qualifying serious-illness absence already existed; HB367 changes how it is documented. Existing law also protects these absences from counting against minimum attendance for class credit and allows reasonable time to make up missed schoolwork. The form is not an automatic passing grade or a waiver of all academic work. Existing attendance protections: sections 25.087(d) and 25.092(a-3)

What changed along the way?

The introduced, House committee, House-passed, Senate committee and enrolled versions have the same substantive requirements. Both committees reported the bill without amendments, and the official amendment index lists none. The final votes were 149–0 in the House, with one present but not voting, and 31–0 in the Senate. Introduced text · All versions · Amendment index · Final certifications

For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.

Official bill versions

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?

Students with serious illnesses and their families could face a clearer documentation process and fewer demands beyond the district’s form. Physicians must supply the specified findings, while districts must create and administer their forms. Those are expected practical effects, not evidence that every district has implemented the law correctly or that every absence will qualify. Required certification and documentation limit

The Legislative Budget Board anticipated no state fiscal impact and assumed implementation costs could be handled with existing resources. Its local-impact section specifically notes that local education agencies must adopt the forms; it does not provide a dollar estimate for that work. HB367 makes no appropriation. Latest posted fiscal note

Official sources

Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.