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Texas Education Code - Section 51.925. Religious Holy Days

Legal Research Home > Texas Lawyer > Education Code > Texas Education Code - Section 51.925. Religious Holy Days

§ 51.925. RELIGIOUS HOLY DAYS.  (a) An institution of 
higher education may not discriminate against or penalize in any 
way a member of the faculty of the institution who is absent from 
work for the observance of a religious holy day and gives proper 
notice of that absence if the customary and generally applicable 
educational practices of the institution permit general personal 
absence by members of the faculty. If personal absence is 
customarily penalized, the penalty for absence due to observance of 
a religious holy day under this section shall be forfeiture of one 
day's pay equivalent for each day of absence.
	(b)  In this section, "institution of higher education" has 
the meaning assigned by Subdivision (7) of Section 61.003 of this 
code, except that the term includes the Southwest Collegiate 
Institute for the Deaf and Texas State Technical Institute.
	(c)  In this section, "proper notice" means that the faculty 
member shall provide a listing of religious holy days to be observed 
during the semester to the chairman of the department and shall 
provide notice of such days in advance to all students whose class 
would be canceled due to the faculty member's absence.  Notice 
herein shall be in writing and shall be personally delivered to the 
chairman of the department, receipt therefor being acknowledged and 
dated by the chairman, or by certified mail, return receipt 
requested, addressed to the chairman.
	(d)  In this section, "religious holy day" means a holy day 
observed by a religion whose places of worship are exempt from 
property taxation under Section 11.20, Tax Code.

Added by Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 520, § 1, eff. Aug. 26, 1985.  
Renumbered from § 51.911 by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 16, § 
19.01(19), eff. Aug. 26, 1991.

Last modified: August 10, 2007