H.B. No. 359
AN ACT
relating to discipline in public schools, including the use of
certain disciplinary methods 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.
SECTION 2. Section 37.0021(b), Education Code, is amended
by adding Subdivision (4) to read as follows:
(4) "Law enforcement duties" means activities of a
peace officer relating to the investigation and enforcement of
state criminal laws and other duties authorized by the Code of
Criminal Procedure.
SECTION 3. Section 37.0021, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsections (h) and (i) to read
as follows:
(g) This section and any rules or procedures adopted under
this section do not apply to:
(1) a peace officer [while] performing law enforcement
duties, except as provided by Subsection (i);
(2) juvenile probation, detention, or corrections
personnel; or
(3) an educational services provider with whom a
student is placed by a judicial authority, unless the services are
provided in an educational program of a school district.
(h) This section and any rules or procedures adopted under
this section apply to a peace officer only if the peace officer:
(1) is employed or commissioned by a school district;
or
(2) provides, as a school resource officer, a regular
police presence on a school district campus under a memorandum of
understanding between the district and a local law enforcement
agency.
(i) A school district shall report electronically to the
agency, in accordance with standards provided by commissioner rule,
information relating to the use of restraint by a peace officer
performing law enforcement duties on school property or during a
school-sponsored or school-related activity. A report submitted
under this subsection must be consistent with the requirements
adopted by commissioner rule for reporting the use of restraint
involving students with disabilities.
SECTION 4. 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 5. 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 6. Section 42.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) Subsections (a)(1), (2), (3), (5), and (6) do not apply
to a person who, at the time the person engaged in conduct
prohibited under the applicable subdivision, 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 7. The commissioner of education shall adopt rules
as provided by Section 37.0021(i), Education Code, as added by this
Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 8. 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 9. This Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012
school year.
SECTION 10. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 359 was passed by the House on May 13,
2011, by the following vote: Yeas 84, Nays 55, 4 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 359 on May 25, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 80, Nays 64, 3
present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 359 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 23, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays
2
.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor