Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB2657 Compare Versions

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1	1	81R25500 EAH-F
2	2	By: Hochberg H.B. No. 2657
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2657:
4	4	By: Hochberg C.S.H.B. No. 2657
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to disciplinary action taken against certain public school
10	10	students on the basis of serious and persistent misbehavior.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 37.001(a), Education Code, is amended to
13	13	read as follows:
14	14	(a) The board of trustees of an independent school district
15	15	shall, with the advice of its district-level committee established
16	16	under Subchapter F, Chapter 11, adopt a student code of conduct for
17	17	the district. The student code of conduct must be posted and
18	18	prominently displayed at each school campus or made available for
19	19	review at the office of the campus principal. In addition to
20	20	establishing standards for student conduct, the student code of
21	21	conduct must:
22	22	(1) specify the circumstances, in accordance with this
23	23	subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom,
24	24	campus, or disciplinary alternative education program, including
25	25	circumstances in which a student engages in serious and persistent
26	26	misbehavior under Section 37.007(c);
27	27	(2) specify conditions that authorize or require a
28	28	principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student
29	29	to a disciplinary alternative education program;
30	30	(3) outline conditions under which a student may be
31	31	suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by
32	32	Section 37.007;
33	33	(4) specify whether consideration is given, as a
34	34	factor in a decision to order suspension, removal to a disciplinary
35	35	alternative education program, or expulsion, to:
36	36	(A) self-defense;
37	37	(B) intent or lack of intent at the time the
38	38	student engaged in the conduct;
39	39	(C) a student's disciplinary history; or
40	40	(D) a disability that substantially impairs the
41	41	student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's
42	42	conduct;
43	43	(5) provide guidelines for setting the length of a
44	44	term of:
45	45	(A) a removal under Section 37.006; and
46	46	(B) an expulsion under Section 37.007;
47	47	(6) address the notification of a student's parent or
48	48	guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by
49	49	the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary
50	50	alternative education program, or expulsion;
51	51	(7) prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit
52	52	lists and ensure that district employees enforce those
53	53	prohibitions; and
54	54	(8) provide, as appropriate for students at each grade
55	55	level, methods, including options, for:
56	56	(A) managing students in the classroom and on
57	57	school grounds;
58	58	(B) disciplining students; and
59	59	(C) preventing and intervening in student
60	60	discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making
61	61	hit lists.
62	62	SECTION 2. Section 37.007(c), Education Code, is amended to
63	63	read as follows:
64	64	(c) A student may be expelled if the student, while placed
65	65	in a disciplinary [an] alternative education program, engages [for
66	66	disciplinary reasons, continues to engage] in documented serious
67	67	and [or] persistent misbehavior while on the program campus despite
68	68	documented behavioral interventions [that violates the district's
69	69	student code of conduct]. For purposes of this subsection,
70	70	"serious and persistent misbehavior" means three or more
71	71	occurrences within an academic year of any of the following:
72	72	(1) aggressive action, meaning deliberate violent
73	73	behavior that poses a direct threat to the health or safety of
74	74	others;
75	75	(2) extortion, meaning the gaining of money or other
76	76	property by force or threat;
77	77	(3) conduct that constitutes coercion, as defined by
78	78	Section 1.07, Penal Code; or
79	79	(4) conduct that constitutes the offense of:
80	80	(A) public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal
81	81	Code;
82	82	(B) indecent exposure under Section 21.08, Penal
83	83	Code;
84	84	(C) criminal mischief under Section 28.03, Penal
85	85	Code;
86	86	(D) personal hazing under Section 37.152; or
87	87	(E) harassment under Section 42.07(a)(1), Penal
88	88	Code, of a student or district employee.
89	89	SECTION 3. Section 37.009(c), Education Code, is amended to
90	90	read as follows:
91	91	(c) Before it may place a student in a disciplinary
92	92	alternative education program for a period that extends beyond the
93	93	end of the school year, the board or the board's designee must
94	94	determine that:
95	95	(1) the student's presence in the regular classroom
96	96	program or at the student's regular campus presents a danger of
97	97	physical harm to the student or to another individual; or
98	98	(2) the student has engaged in serious and [or]
99	99	persistent misbehavior, as defined by Section 37.007(c) [that
100	100	violates the district's student code of conduct].
101	101	SECTION 4. Sections 37.011(k) and (l), Education Code, are
102	102	amended to read as follows:
103	103	(k) Each school district in a county with a population
104	104	greater than 125,000 and the county juvenile board shall annually
105	105	enter into a joint memorandum of understanding that:
106	106	(1) outlines the responsibilities of the juvenile
107	107	board concerning the establishment and operation of a juvenile
108	108	justice alternative education program under this section;
109	109	(2) defines the amount and conditions on payments from
110	110	the school district to the juvenile board for students of the school
111	111	district served in the juvenile justice alternative education
112	112	program whose placement was not made on the basis of an expulsion
113	113	required under Section 37.007(a), (d), or (e);
114	114	(3) establishes [identifies those categories of
115	115	conduct] that [the school district has defined in its student code
116	116	of conduct as constituting serious or persistent misbehavior for
117	117	which] a student may be placed in the juvenile justice alternative
118	118	education program if the student engages in serious and persistent
119	119	misbehavior, as defined by Section 37.007(c);
120	120	(4) identifies and requires a timely placement and
121	121	specifies a term of placement for expelled students for whom the
122	122	school district has received a notice under Section 52.041(d),
123	123	Family Code;
124	124	(5) establishes services for the transitioning of
125	125	expelled students to the school district prior to the completion of
126	126	the student's placement in the juvenile justice alternative
127	127	education program;
128	128	(6) establishes a plan that provides transportation
129	129	services for students placed in the juvenile justice alternative
130	130	education program;
131	131	(7) establishes the circumstances and conditions
132	132	under which a juvenile may be allowed to remain in the juvenile
133	133	justice alternative education program setting once the juvenile is
134	134	no longer under juvenile court jurisdiction; and
135	135	(8) establishes a plan to address special education
136	136	services required by law.
137	137	(l) The school district shall be responsible for providing
138	138	an immediate educational program to students who engage in behavior
139	139	resulting in expulsion under Section 37.007(b)[, (c),] and (f) but
140	140	who are not eligible for admission into the juvenile justice
141	141	alternative education program in accordance with the memorandum of
142	142	understanding required under this section. The school district may
143	143	provide the program or the school district may contract with a
144	144	county juvenile board, a private provider, or one or more other
145	145	school districts to provide the program. The memorandum of
146	146	understanding shall address the circumstances under which such
147	147	students who continue to engage in serious and [or] persistent
148	148	misbehavior, as defined by Section 37.007(c), shall be admitted
149	149	into the juvenile justice alternative education program.
150	150	SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2010-2011
151	151	school year.
152	152	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.