State Waiver Types — General

This page outlines information on the various general waivers available through TEA.

Accelerated Instruction (NEW in 24-25 School Year)

Texas law requires all students who do not achieve approaches or higher on STAAR grades 3 through 8 or EOC assessments be provided accelerated instruction. This one-year waiver of accelerated instruction applies to school districts or open enrollment charter schools listed on the Accelerated Instruction Waiver list located on the Accelerated Instruction webpage. If your school district or open enrollment charter school is included on the waiver list, you have 45 days from the list release date to submit your Accelerated Instruction Waiver. The deadline to request this waiver for the 2024-2025 school year is October 22, 2024.

Bilingual Education Exception and English as a Second Language (ESL) (NEW in 24-25 School Year)

All local educational agencies (LEAs), including all districts, charter schools, and districts of innovation, are required to identify and serve emergent bilingual (EB) students through bilingual education or ESL programs, per 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §89.1205.

Pursuant to 19 TAC §89.1207(a)(1) and (b)(1), an LEA that does not have the appropriately certified teachers for their required bilingual and/or ESL program(s) must apply to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for a bilingual education exception and/or ESL waiver.

This is a provisional measure taken to report the current needs of the district and to specify the actions to be taken in order to secure the appropriately certified staff, provide training and support to the teachers under the exception/waiver, and to verify the implementation of a temporary alternative methods that meet the affective, linguistic, and cognitive needs of the emergent bilingual (EB) students and align as closely as possible to the required bilingual or ESL program.

Certification

This waiver allows an individual to serve without the necessary certification requirements.

Certification for Teachers

Listed below are certification description types:

Allows a person to teach without the necessary certification requirements.
Allows qualified individuals to teach outside their areas of certification in Career and Technical Education (CTE).
Allows qualified individuals to teach outside their areas of certification in a subject or course for which no state assessment has been developed.
Allows qualified individuals to teach outside their areas of certification in Alternative Education.
Allows qualified individuals to teach ROTC classes outside their areas of certification.

Certification for Superintendent

Allows an individual to serve as superintendent without the necessary certification requirements.

Certification for Role other than Superintendent or Classroom Teacher

When requesting a certification waiver for a role other than a superintendent or classroom teacher (ex. Principal/Assistant Principal, School Counselor, School Librarian), select “Teacher Core Curriculum” in the “Area” dropdown in the Application for Certifications Waiver in TEAL.

Course Requirement

This waiver allows districts and charter schools to request a waiver to substitute a particular course or courses for state credit within the curriculum. The commissioner of education is prohibited from exempting essential knowledge and skills under Texas Education Code (TEC) §28.002 or minimum graduation requirements under TEC §28.025.

To determine if the course substitution is allowable:

For career and technical education (CTE) courses, contact the CTE unit in the Department of College, Career, and Military Preparation at (512) 936-6060.
For all other courses, contact the Division of Curriculum at (512) 463-9581.
This waiver request may be approved for up to three years.

Course Requirement - Career and Technical Education

This waiver allows districts and charter schools to request a waiver of the Texas Administrative Code to offer a Career and Technical Education (CTE) course for a credit length other than that specified in the code.

Foreign Exchange Student (Less than Five)

This waiver allows districts and charter schools to limit the number of foreign exchange students to five or less per high school. A request to limit the number to five or more per high school must be submitted as an expedited waiver application (TEC §25.001(e)).

The approval of this waiver is not retroactive. It takes effect on the date that the agency approves the application.
The districts and charter schools must enroll foreign exchange students who arrive in the district or who request enrollment in the district before the waiver approval date.
Only in the most compelling circumstances will a waiver request for less than five students per high school be considered.

Waiver Guidelines and FAQ

Pregnancy Related Services On-Campus

This waiver allows districts and charter schools to request a waiver to offer Pregnancy-Related Services Compensatory Education Home Instruction (CEHI) on a district's campus. Special education students who qualify for Pregnancy Related Services (PRS) may also receive homebound instruction on campus if the district has an approved on-campus instruction waiver. The waiver is not required for students receiving full-day instruction in a remote setting. The requirements of the waiver are as follows:

Provide transportation as needed.
Serve students at home if medically indicated.
Do not exceed student-teacher ratio of four students to one teacher.
Do not use self-paced computer based instruction to fulfill the four hours of CEHI.

Remote Conferencing Instruction/Remote Homebound Instruction (NEW in 24-25 School Year)

Remote Conferencing Instruction

Per the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook, Section 12.3.1, if a school district provides instruction through remote conferencing to a regular education student due to a temporary medical condition, the district may, with approval of a waiver request, count that instruction as classroom time for FSP funding purposes and count the student in attendance for FSP funding purposes, provided certain requirements are met.

Per the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook, Section 12.3.2, if a school district provides instruction through remote conferencing to a special education student for all or part of the school day, the district may count that instruction as classroom time for FSP funding purposes, including in the calculation of contact hours, provided certain requirements are met.

Remote Homebound Instruction

Remote homebound instruction means remote instruction in which a student receives individualized instruction through the General Education Homebound (GEH) program or Compensatory Education Home Instruction (CEHI) program and in which all requirements of the program are met except for in-person instruction from the homebound teacher.

If a school district provides remote homebound instruction to an eligible regular education student, the district may, with the approval of a waiver request, count the student in attendance for FSP funding purposes provided that all requirements of the homebound program are met except for face-to-face instruction from the homebound teacher.

If a school district provides remote homebound instruction to a special education student, the district may, with the approval of a waiver request, count the student in attendance for FSP funding purposes, including weighted funding purposes, provided that certain requirements are met.

School Safety

This waiver allows districts and charter schools to waive requirements related to the following school safety elements:

Emergency Operations Plan (TEC, §37.108)
Facilities Standards (TEC, §37.3251; 19 TAC, §61.1031)
Operational and Instructional Time for School Safety Training (TEC,§25.0815)
Other (available if the district or charter school is seeking a school safety-related waiver that does not fit into the specific reasons listed above)

Other as Specified

If your district or charter school would like to apply for one of the waivers described below, please select "Other" from the Waiver/Exception Application Type drop down menu.

Texas Virtual School Network (TXVSN) Course Review Process Waiver

All courses made available through the Texas Virtual School Network (TXVSN) must be reviewed and approved prior to being offered. Eligible school districts and open-enrollment charter schools may apply to the commissioner of education for a waiver from the TXVSN course review process that is administered by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). A waiver may be requested from the TXVSN course review process only. Each course is still required to meet all TXVSN course standards and requirements.

To request a waiver to the TXVSN course review process, the district or charter school authorized official must certify that each course meets all TXVSN course standards and requirements and complete the TEA waiver submission process through the TEAL system.

Other Miscellaneous

Any miscellaneous waivers that do not fit into any other category may be applied for as an "other" waiver.