House Bill (HB) 1605 Webinar Series and Proclamation 2024 Update

This correspondence provides local educational agencies (LEAs) with a high-level overview of important updates regarding House Bill (HB) 1605. During the 88th Texas Legislature (Regular Session), HB 1605 was passed, establishing an expanded process for the State Board of Education (SBOE) to approve high-quality instructional materials, adding more funding to the Instructional Materials and Technology Allotment (IMTA), prohibiting three-cueing in early literacy instruction, protecting teacher planning time, and expanding parent access to instructional materials being used in classrooms.  

While the Texas Education Agency (TEA) works to update all impacted technical assistance resources and web pages, be aware that the bill was signed into law on June 13, 2023, and portions of the law apply beginning with the 2023–2024 school year. The SBOE’s proposed timeline for its required changes will be communicated as that timeline is determined and communicated to TEA.  

SBOE Actions 

There are three (3) categories of responsibility that the SBOE is charged with implementing in the bill: 

1. To approve an overall instructional materials review process, to be known as the Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA). Criteria will include:
   • Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) coverage
   • Quality 
   • Suitable for grade and subject  
   • Free from factual error  
   • No harmful content and other statutory compliance 
   • Publisher parent portal compliance 
2. To create a new vocabulary and literary works list addendum for the Reading Language Arts (RLA) TEKS. 
3. To establish requirements for parent transparency, including a process for local reviews of instructional materials, and a requirement for publishers of newly reviewed and approved instructional materials to make their materials available to parents through an internet portal. 

Proclamation 2024 

As part of HB 1605, Proclamation 2024 was preserved and will continue as planned. Proclamation 2024 includes a call for materials in science (grades K–12), technology applications (grades K–8), personal financial literacy and economics, and several career and technical education (CTE) courses. The SBOE is scheduled to adopt materials for Proclamation 2024 in November 2023. The adopted materials will go into classrooms in the 2024–2025 school year.  

The SBOE does not plan to review materials associated with courses from Proclamation 2024 in the next year using the new IMRA process established by HB 1605. For this reason, LEAs should proceed with plans to adopt materials for use in the 2024–2025 school year. For clarity, this means that science materials adopted by the SBOE during the Proclamation 2024 process (which will likely occur in November 2023) will be the only science materials adopted by the state in the next 24 months. No subsequent approval under the new HB 1605 IMRA process is planned for the near future. 

HB 1605 Webinar Series 

New funding for SBOE-approved instructional materials under HB 1605 will be accessible after the SBOE completes its initial round of reviews under the new IMRA process. Independent of the new funding, there are some statutory changes in HB 1605 that take effect now that LEAs must follow. TEA is hosting a series of webinars to address components of the bill that are most relevant to LEAs. 

Series topics are prioritized by the effective date of sections of the bill and their impact on LEAs. Below is a list of upcoming webinars and registration links:   

Topic: House Bill 1605 Overview for Local Educational Agencies
Date: Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Time: 1:00 p.m.  
Description: An overview of the major components of HB 1605 and projected timeline of implementation milestones.  
Registration: Virtual Webinar Registration Link 

Topic: Planning and Non-Instructional Duties of Teachers 
Date: Friday, September 29, 2023 
Time: 11:00 a.m.  
Description: An overview of the statutory protections of planning time for classroom teachers in HB 1605 and guidance on the supplemental duty agreement with a teacher. [Texas Education Code, §11.164 and §21.4045] 
Registration: Virtual Webinar Registration Link 

Topic: Three-Cueing and Phonics Instructional Materials 
Date: Friday, October 6, 2023 
Time: 11:00 a.m.   
Description: An overview of the prohibition of three-cueing in instructional materials and guidance on how to implement with considerations for House Bill (HB) 3, issued by the 86th Texas Legislature in 2019, which directs all Texas school districts to provide phonics curriculum that uses systematic, direct instruction in kindergarten through third grade to ensure all students obtain necessary early-literacy skills. 
Registration: Virtual Webinar Registration Link 

TEA recognizes that the impacts of HB 1605 may be significant for some LEAs. While those impacts are analyzed, TEA will provide subsequent communications to support LEAs. TEA has existing resources and web pages that focus on instructional materials review and adoption, and these will be updated as much as possible as the SBOE completes rulemaking procedures for the IMRA process. However, updates cannot be completed for some of these resources until the SBOE rulemaking procedures for the IMRA process have ended.  

While the SBOE completes its rulemaking process, it is critical that LEAs comply with HB 1605 requirements and use the webinar series for assistance with implementation.  

For questions, please visit the TEA HelpDesk.