By: Allen, Nash, Shelton, Patrick, Torres H.B. No. 359
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to discipline in public schools, including the use of
corporal punishment and the prosecution of certain children for
school-related offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 37.0011 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.0011. USE OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. (a) In this
section, "corporal punishment" means the deliberate infliction of
physical pain by hitting, paddling, spanking, slapping, or any
other physical force used as a means of discipline. The term does
not include:
(1) physical pain caused by reasonable physical
activities associated with athletic training, competition, or
physical education; or
(2) the use of restraint as authorized under Section
37.0021.
(b) If the board of trustees of an independent school
district adopts a policy under Section 37.001(a)(8) under which
corporal punishment is permitted as a method of student discipline,
a district educator may use corporal punishment to discipline a
student unless the student's parent or guardian or other person
having lawful control over the student has previously provided a
written, signed statement prohibiting the use of corporal
punishment as a method of student discipline.
(c) To prohibit the use of corporal punishment as a method
of student discipline, each school year a student's parent or
guardian or other person having lawful control over the student
must provide a separate written, signed statement to the board of
trustees of the school district in the manner established by the
board.
(d) The student's parent or guardian or other person having
lawful control over the student may revoke the statement provided
to the board of trustees under Subsection (c) at any time during the
school year by submitting a written, signed revocation to the board
in the manner established by the board.
(e) The provisions in this section do not apply to counties
with a population of less than 50,000.
SECTION 2. Section 37.124, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) It is an exception to the application of Subsection (a)
that, at the time the person engaged in conduct prohibited under
that subsection, the person was a student in the sixth grade or a
lower grade level.
SECTION 3. Section 37.126, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section 37.125, a person commits
an offense if the person intentionally disrupts, prevents, or
interferes with the lawful transportation of children:
(1) to or from school on a vehicle owned or operated by
a county or independent school district; or
(2) to or from [or] an activity sponsored by a school
on a vehicle owned or operated by a county or independent school
district.
(c) It is an exception to the application of Subsection
(a)(1) that, at the time the person engaged in conduct prohibited
under that subdivision, the person was a student in the sixth grade
or a lower grade level.
SECTION 4. Section 42.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) It is an exception to the application of Subsections
(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), (5), or (6) that, at the time the person
engaged in conduct prohibited under the applicable subdivision, the
person was a student in the sixth grade or a lower grade level, and
the prohibited conduct occurred at a public school campus during
regular school hours.
SECTION 5. The change in law made by Sections 37.124,
Education Code, 37.126, Education Code, and 42.01, Penal Code, as
amended by this Act, applies only to an offense committed on or
after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an
offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any
element of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012
school year.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.