91Èȱ¬

House Bill (HB) 2 passed during the 89th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2025, and was signed into law by Governor Abbott. A previous To The Administrator Addressed correspondence (TAA) published on August 21, 2025, House Bill 2 (HB 2) Implementation: New Teacher Certification Requirements and Incentives for Uncertified Teachers, included information on new limitations to Texas school districts’ ability to waive teacher certification requirements for foundational curriculum courses within their district of innovation (DOI) plan.

This correspondence provides additional information on the process that districts must use if they wish to request approval from the commissioner of education to delay implementation of certification requirements for foundation curriculum courses until the beginning of the 2029-2030 school year.

These updates to Texas Education Code (TEC), §21.003, and new TEC, §21.0032, apply only to Texas school districts and do not apply to charter schools. Additional updates to TEC, §21.003 also specify that districts can no longer exempt themselves from the requirements outlined in TEC, §21.057, regarding parental notification.

Please share this information with the appropriate district and campus personnel.

Application Process for Access to a Delay of Teacher Certification Requirements 

Application Overview: 
The application submitted to the 91Èȱ¬ must include an evaluation of how the district will transition to certification during the delay of teacher certification requirements. As part of this application process, districts are required to do the following:

• Identify the total number of uncertified individuals currently assigned to teach foundation curriculum courses in 2025-2026 as of the date of submission.
• Specify at least one EPP partner who will support certification efforts and reduce the district’s percentage of uncertified teachers.
• Enter the date of approval by the district board of trustees to submit the application for commissioner of education approval.
• Provide the web page link to the district board of trustees’ meeting agenda where the plan for the delay of teacher certification requirements was approved.
• Provide the webpage link to the board-approved plan.

District Plan to Address Uncertified Teachers 

Prior to submitting the application, districts must create a plan for how they will meet the statutory guidelines for teacher certification requirements. The plan must include a reasonable timeline and strategy for how the district plans to come into compliance with the requirements before the start of the 2029-2030 academic year. Proposed strategies may include targeted goals to decrease the percentage of uncertified teachers annually, including by grade level/subject, strategies to support uncertified teachers in completing certification, and plans for recruiting future pipelines of certified teachers. As a part of this plan, districts should identify at least one educator preparation program (EPP) partner to support the effort. When developing the plan, districts are encouraged to review the and the . Both resources should provide districts with useful data to inform the development of their plan.

Once the district has developed their plan to address uncertified teachers, the district board of trustees must approve the plan. The board-approved plan should be posted in an easily accessible location on the district website. 91Èȱ¬ will then issue final approval through the application process.

Application Submission:
Districts interested in submitting a request for approval to delay implementation of teacher certification requirements can access the application here: . The application opens on October 16, 2025, and will close on March 2, 2026.

This application has been designed in Smartsheet to streamline the information districts are required to provide and facilitate secure submission, review, and approval processes for districts and the agency. IMPORTANT: To ensure you receive important updates about your application status, please add the following email address to your district’s safe sender list: automation@app.smartsheet.com. All approval or rejection notifications will be sent from this address via Smartsheet Automation.

Additional submission reminders:

1. Only one application should be filed per district; and
2. The application cannot be filed until after the district board of trustees approves it.

Application Approval:
All district applications will be subject to review and approval by the commissioner of education. Once submitted, applications will be reviewed and approved on a rolling schedule, with all notifications of approval shared no later than March 31, 2026.  

Questions 

For immediate questions regarding the contents of this TAA, please email HB2@tea.texas.gov.

For questions about the application submission, review and approval processes, please submit a Help Desk Ticket with the Subject Line: HB 2 Delay of Teacher Certification Requirements Application via Help Desk Ticket to .