The Texas Board of Occupational Therapy Examiners picks a vendor Friday to build a system that tracks whether the state’s roughly 20,800 occupational therapists and assistants have done their continuing education — 25 days before a state law requires the system to be running.
That law is Senate Bill 912, by Sen. César Blanco of El Paso, which became law without the Governor’s signature in June 2025. It orders every health-care licensing agency in Texas to stand up a tracking system by September 1, 2026, bars renewing a license until continuing education is verified, requires any audit to use the system’s records, and — this is the hard part — says the system may not cost the agency anything. The board’s April solicitation turned that into a disqualifier: a bid that is not free to the board gets thrown out. The money would come instead from fees charged to course providers. Offers closed June 22.
For licensees, the change is real. Texas occupational therapists and assistants renew every two years with 24 hours of continuing education, and they renew by simply attesting they did it. The board audits a random sample afterward, giving anyone selected 30 days to produce records they are required to keep for four years. Under the new law, verification comes before renewal, not after. The board has not published how large its random sample is.
One gap is worth watching. The law says the tracking system must be established “by rule,” and the board’s continuing education rules were not amended in 2025 or 2026 — its only rulemaking this year was a one-word typo fix, and nothing is pending in the Texas Register. Its sister board took the other road entirely: the Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners, which shares the same staff and the same executive director, used a clause in the law that lets agencies keep an existing arrangement, stayed with the tracker the state physical therapy association already runs, and adopted its rule last October.
Also up: 36 negotiated settlements with licensees, which the board votes on before it is told any of their names, and a closed-session item on the employment of the executive director who runs both boards’ shared staff. Nothing public explains what prompted the second one.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 9:00 a.m. CT Friday, August 7, 2026. The board meets four times a year; its last meeting was May 1.
- Where
- 1801 Congress Avenue, Suite 10.900, Austin 78701.
- Governing body & chair
- Texas Board of Occupational Therapy Examiners — nine members appointed by the Governor: four occupational therapists, two assistants, three public members. Stephanie Johnston, OTD, OTR, presiding officer.
- Format
- May be held by videoconference, with the presiding officer physically present at the Austin location. Public comment is item 3. Contact: Lea Weiss, 512-305-6900.
- Live video
- None advertised. If the meeting is held by videoconference, an audio recording is available on request after August 13.
- Full agenda
- Secretary of State Open Meeting Viewer · Board page
Board members
- Stephanie Johnston, OTD, OTR, Magnolia — presiding officer; occupational therapy educator.
- Karen Gardner, OTR, Brenham — secretary; occupational therapist. Term to 2029.
- Estrella Barrera, MOT, OTR, Austin — occupational therapist. Term to 2029.
- Erin Smith, OTD, Dallas — occupational therapist. Term to 2031.
- Sally Harris King, COTA, Houston — occupational therapy assistant.
- Lynn Wilde, Houston — occupational therapy assistant. Term to 2031.
- Blanca Cardenas, Mission — public member. Term to 2029.
- Chelsea Howell, McAllen — public member. Term to 2027.
- Eddie Jessie, Houston — public member. Term to 2031.
Roster: the board’s own members page would not load to repeated automated retrieval; the names, cities and terms above come from the 2026 Texas State Directory and match the four-two-three composition set by Occupations Code §454.051. Agency staff: Ralph Harper, executive director of the Executive Council of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Examiners; Lea Weiss, OT board coordinator.