The 87th Texas Legislature, Regular Session passed Senate Bill (SB) 1697, which amends state law to allow parents and guardians to elect for a student to repeat a grade or retake a high school course, per Texas Education Code (TEC) §28.02124. The legislation gives parents or guardians the right to opt for their child to --
1. repeat prekindergarten;
2. enroll in prekindergarten if the child was eligible to enroll in prekindergarten in the previous school year, under TEC, §29.153(b), and has not yet enrolled in kindergarten;
3. repeat kindergarten;
4. enroll in kindergarten if the child would have enrolled in kindergarten in the previous school year and has not yet enrolled in first grade; and
5. for grades one through three, repeat the grade the student was enrolled in the previous school year.
For the 2021-2022 school year only, parents or guardians have the right to opt for their child to --
6. for grades four through eight, repeat the grade the student was enrolled in during the 2020-2021 school year; and
7. for courses taken for high school credit, repeat any course in which the student was enrolled during the 2020-2021 school year. (Original grade will not be adjusted.)
Please note: If you are interested in electing for your child to repeat a grade or retake a high school course, the request must be made in writing to your school principal by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, August 10, 2021.
Important UIL Implications Related to SB 1697 It should be noted that students who are held back are ineligible the first six weeks of the next school year for UIL. Other possible UIL implications to be considered include the middle school age rule for seventh grade athletic competition. In order to be eligible to participate in seventh grade UIL activities, a student cannot have reached his/her 14th birthday on or before September 1. In order to be eligible to compete in eighth grade athletic competition, a student cannot have reached his/her 15th birthday on or before September 1.
In order to be eligible to compete in high school athletics, a student cannot have reached 19 years of age on or before September 1 of the current school year. A student is only eligible to compete four consecutive calendar years at the varsity level.