Amends TCA Title 49.

Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, this bill requires the department of education to establish a two-year pilot program consisting of a representative sample of LEAs to study whether the use of advanced technologies capable of reliably monitoring and detecting children at potential risk of harming themselves or others based on their internet use patterns is effective at reducing rates of youth suicide and violence. The department must limit the study to internet use on devices given to students by an LEA, which remain the property of the LEA, which can connect to a cellular network or the internet, and that include a computer, smartphone, or tablet ("school-issued electronic devices"). This bill is repealed December 31, 2026. PROCUREMENT OF TECHNOLOGY This bill requires the department to conduct a competitive procurement process to select a vendor that is domiciled in the United States to provide internet protection software technology for installation on all school-issued electronic devices for each LEA that is selected to participate in the pilot program pursuant to this bill at no cost to the LEA. The internet protection software technology must be capable of the following: (1) Monitoring students' internet browsing activity on only a school-issued electronic device; (2) Detecting and notifying school counselors or other school officials who are authorized to make referrals for mental health evaluations or services or law enforcement authorities if a student is repeatedly searching for content suggestive of the potential for self-harm or violence. However, such capability must not be used to make referrals for use by a student that is required for the completion of a school assignment; (3) Detecting other potential safety concerns to be determined by the department, and that may include cyberbullying or exposure to inappropriate content; and (4) Blocking access to foreign-owned social media and video sharing websites. Further, the internet protection software technology must also allow a student's parent or guardian to (i) supervise and manage internet access for the student through the use of parental controls; (ii) block the student's access to foreign-owned social media and video sharing websites; (iii) receive a notification if the student attempts to access internet content that promotes self-harm or violence; (iv) detect online bullying; and (v) receive a notification if the student downloads inappropriate material. This bill requires the department to award a contract to provide internet protection software technology for the pilot program established under this bill to the vendor that is selected by August 1, 2024. Before internet protection software technology is downloaded onto a student's school-issued electronic device for purposes of the pilot program, the student's LEA must provide the student's parent, legal guardian, custodian, or caregiver a copy of the LEA's policy on the rights of parents and students developed pursuant to present law policy for student surveys, analyses or evaluation. SELECTING LEAs FOR PARTICIPATION This bill requires the department, in consultation with the department of safety, to select at least one urban, one rural, and one suburban LEA to participate in the pilot program, and at least one LEA from each grand division. This bill requires the department to strive to ensure the combined number of school-issued electronic devices on which the selected software is installed for purposes of the pilot program is no less than 200,000 devices. Under this program, the combined number of school-issued electronic devices on which the selected software is installed for purposes of the pilot program must not exceed 250,000 devices. This bill also requires the department to make applications for participation in the pilot program established under this bill available to all LEAs by July 1, 2024, and the department must select the LEAs to participate in the pilot program established under this bill by August 1, 2024. All access and disclosure made pursuant to this bill must comply with relevant privacy laws. PROGRAM STUDY This bill requires the department to study the effectiveness of the pilot program and produce a report no later than December 1, 2026. The department must, no later than December 31, 2026, submit the report of the effectiveness of the pilot program to the education committee of the senate, the education instruction committee of the house of representatives, and the education administration committee of the house of representatives. The participating LEAs and the vendor selected pursuant to this bill must provide the department with data that is necessary for the department to produce the report required by this bill. The report must include the following information: (1) The number of times the internet protection software technology detected an instance of a student searching the internet about self-harm; (2) The number of times the internet protection software technology detected an instance of a student searching the internet about doing harm to others; (3) The number of referrals for mental health evaluations or services made by school counselors or other school officials who are authorized to make such referrals based on instances detected by the internet protection software technology; (4) The number of incidents referred to law enforcement based on instances detected by the internet protection software technology; and (5) Additional data concerning the efficacy of the internet protection software technology, as determined by the department. Unless otherwise required by a law or a court order, data collected from school-issued electronic devices using internet protection software technology under the pilot program must be deleted within one calendar year of the conclusion of the pilot program.