HOUSTON – A federal judge temporarily banned Houston Independent School District (HISD), Katy Independent School District (Katy ISD), and Plano Independent School District (PISD) from enforcing sections 3,7,24, and 27 of Senate Bill 12 (SB 12).
The remaining ISDs in Texas must follow SB 12 as written.
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What does this mean?
In short, these three school districts are not allowed to:
- Ban diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
- Prohibit teachers and staff from supporting a student with social transitioning.
- Restrict instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Prohibit student clubs related to gender identity and sexual orientation.
- Limit outside organizations from assisting in student clubs.
What is not paused?
The remaining 23 provisions in SB 12 remain in effect (there are 27 in total).
Parents still have expanded access to their child’s records, including library checkout information, academic reports, counselling documentation, and health records.
Schools must continue to notify parents about changes to a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health and cannot encourage students to withhold health-related information from their parents.
Written consent is still required before psychological or psychiatric exams, certain health services, human sexuality instruction, and certain surveys or data collection.
If a parent thinks a school isn’t following the law, then they can file a formal written complaint with their child’s school district. If this is you, ask your child’s school district for its official grievance form (in Texas, it’s usually known as the FNG complaint process), fill it out by clearly stating what law or policy you believe was violated, with timelines, dates, and facts.
In addition, all other parental rights, notice and transparency requirements, reporting obligations, implementation provisions, and administrative requirements in SB 12 remain enforceable in HISD, Katy ISD, and Plano ISD.
What is SB 12?
SB 12 is a law that was passed on June 20, 2025.
According to the bill’s caption, SB 12 is related to “parental rights in public education, to certain public school requirements and prohibitions regarding instruction, diversity, equity, inclusion duties, and social transitioning, and to student clubs at public schools.”
SB 12 enhances parental and guardian access to their child’s school life, granting them full access to student records rather than limiting them to select categories of information.
The law also requires schools to notify parents about changes to a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health and to obtain written consent before conducting any health-related exams or offering human sexuality instruction.
Supporters of SB 12 say the law amplifies parental oversight and increases transparency in public education.
Critics argue that SB 12 limits how schools address diversity, gender identity, and student-led organizations.
Those broader debates are continuing in court.
Recap
Houston ISD, Katy ISD, and Plano ISD are temporarily prohibited from enforcing four sections of SB 12. The remaining provisions remain in effect. The rest of Texas’s public schools have to enforce SB 12 in full, unless a court rules otherwise.