Texas public and private schools are being pushed into new heart safety routines after lawmakers approved a measure named for Landon Payton, the Houston middle schooler whose death last year exposed serious holes in campus emergency response. The Landon Payton Act bundles required CPR and AED certification for specific staff, yearly practice drills and formal cardiac emergency response teams that every district must set up. From Houston to Fort Worth, district leaders say the law will turn what used to be local choice into mandatory equipment checks and staff training.
What the Landon Payton Act requires
Senate Bill 865, known as the Landon Payton Act, directs school districts and qualifying private schools to create a cardiac emergency response plan, form a response team and provide ongoing training in first aid, CPR and AED use for designated employees, according to Texas Legislature. The law names nurses, assistant nurses, coaches, physical-education instructors, band and cheer leaders, and students who serve as athletic trainers among those who must obtain and maintain certification.
When districts must act
The enrolled bill says it "applies beginning with the 2025-2026 school year" and, while some training requirements kick in right away, it gives districts more time to put full plans in place. The text requires implementation "not later than the first instructional day of the 2027-2028 school year," according to Texas Legislature. In practice, that means districts are juggling immediate training needs alongside a multiyear rollout for adopting and certifying formal plans.
How the law took shape
The measure grew out of the August 2024 death of 14-year-old Landon Payton at a Houston middle school and out of audits that uncovered dozens of campus AEDs with expired parts or other issues. As reported by Houston Chronicle, inspections in Houston ISD turned up hundreds of devices in need of maintenance, a gap the new law is meant to close.
Who is helping schools prepare
Hospitals and nonprofits are already stepping in with help. Cook Children's Project ADAM offers free cardiac-preparedness templates, training and a Heart Safe designation that guides campuses through building plans, and its Texas coordinator told Spectrum News that Cook Children's has worked with more than 800 Heart Safe schools and 29 Heart Safe districts. Project ADAM materials and school consultations are available through Cook Children's Project ADAM program pages and local hospital partners.
Districts face costs and logistics
Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Dr. Karen Molinar told Spectrum News that "everyone in the district is responsible for heart safety" as campuses move to train staff and run drills. At the same time, local news coverage and district leaders caution that the law brings little new state funding, leaving districts to cover training, certification and AED maintenance costs as they work toward the implementation deadline.
Parents who want to check how prepared their child's school is can ask for the campus cardiac emergency response plan and when the most recent drill took place. Districts can adapt Project ADAM templates and local hospital programs as they build out their systems. School boards and administrators will have to certify that work before the plan-implementation deadline, and hospitals such as Cook Children's are advertising free help for districts getting started, according to Cook Children's Project ADAM.
