82R592 EAH-D
By: Berman H.B. No. 562
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the development of juvenile justice alternative
education programs in counties with a population greater than
125,000.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 25.086(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A child is exempt from the requirements of compulsory
school attendance if the child:
(1) attends a private or parochial school that
includes in its course a study of good citizenship;
(2) is eligible to participate in a school district's
special education program under Section 29.003 and cannot be
appropriately served by the resident district;
(3) has a physical or mental condition of a temporary
and remediable nature that makes the child's attendance infeasible
and holds a certificate from a qualified physician specifying the
temporary condition, indicating the treatment prescribed to remedy
the temporary condition, and covering the anticipated period of the
child's absence from school for the purpose of receiving and
recuperating from that remedial treatment;
(4) is expelled in accordance with the requirements of
law in a school district that does not participate in a [mandatory]
juvenile justice alternative education program under Section
37.011;
(5) is at least 17 years of age and:
(A) is attending a course of instruction to
prepare for the high school equivalency examination, and:
(i) has the permission of the child's parent
or guardian to attend the course;
(ii) is required by court order to attend
the course;
(iii) has established a residence separate
and apart from the child's parent, guardian, or other person having
lawful control of the child; or
(iv) is homeless as defined by 42 U.S.C.
Section 11302; or
(B) has received a high school diploma or high
school equivalency certificate;
(6) is at least 16 years of age and is attending a
course of instruction to prepare for the high school equivalency
examination, if:
(A) the child is recommended to take the course
of instruction by a public agency that has supervision or custody of
the child under a court order; or
(B) the child is enrolled in a Job Corps training
program under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C.
Section 2801 et seq.);
(7) is at least 16 years of age and is enrolled in a
high school diploma program under Chapter 18;
(8) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Mathematics
and Science under Subchapter G, Chapter 105;
(9) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Leadership in
the Humanities;
(10) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Mathematics
and Science at The University of Texas at Brownsville;
(11) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of International
Studies; or
(12) is specifically exempted under another law.
SECTION 2. Section 37.010(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Not later than the second business day after the date a
hearing is held under Section 37.009, the board of trustees of a
school district or the board's designee shall deliver a copy of the
order placing a student in a disciplinary alternative education
program under Section 37.006 or expelling a student under Section
37.007 and any information required under Section 52.04, Family
Code, to the authorized officer of the juvenile court in the county
in which the student resides. In a county that operates a program
under Section 37.011, an expelled student shall to the extent
provided by law or by the memorandum of understanding immediately
attend the educational program from the date of expulsion[, except
that in a county with a population greater than 125,000, every
expelled student who is not detained or receiving treatment under
an order of the juvenile court must be enrolled in an educational
program].
SECTION 3. Sections 37.011(a) and (k), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The juvenile board of a county with a population greater
than 125,000 may [shall] develop a juvenile justice alternative
education program, subject to the approval of the Texas Juvenile
Probation Commission. The juvenile board of a county with a
population of 125,000 or less may develop a juvenile justice
alternative education program. For the purposes of this
subchapter, only a disciplinary alternative education program
operated under the authority of a juvenile board of a county is
considered a juvenile justice alternative education program. A
juvenile justice alternative education program in a county with a
population of 125,000 or less:
(1) is not required to be approved by the Texas
Juvenile Probation Commission; and
(2) is not subject to Subsection (c), (d), (f), or (g).
(k) If the juvenile board of a county with a population
greater than 125,000 develops a juvenile justice alternative
education program, each [Each] school district in the [a] county
[with a population greater than 125,000] and the county juvenile
board shall annually enter into a joint memorandum of understanding
that:
(1) outlines the responsibilities of the juvenile
board concerning the establishment and operation of a juvenile
justice alternative education program under this section;
(2) defines the amount and conditions on payments from
the school district to the juvenile board for students of the school
district served in the juvenile justice alternative education
program whose placement was not made on the basis of an expulsion
required under Section 37.007(a), (d), or (e);
(3) identifies those categories of conduct that the
school district has defined in its student code of conduct as
constituting serious or persistent misbehavior for which a student
may be placed in the juvenile justice alternative education
program;
(4) identifies and requires a timely placement and
specifies a term of placement for expelled students for whom the
school district has received a notice under Section 52.041(d),
Family Code;
(5) establishes services for the transitioning of
expelled students to the school district prior to the completion of
the student's placement in the juvenile justice alternative
education program;
(6) establishes a plan that provides transportation
services for students placed in the juvenile justice alternative
education program;
(7) establishes the circumstances and conditions
under which a juvenile may be allowed to remain in the juvenile
justice alternative education program setting once the juvenile is
no longer under juvenile court jurisdiction; and
(8) establishes a plan to address special education
services required by law.
SECTION 4. (a) Subject to any memorandum of understanding
with a school district that is in effect on the effective date of
this Act, the juvenile board of a county with a population greater
than 125,000 may discontinue an existing juvenile justice
alternative education program on or after the effective date of
this Act.
(b) If the juvenile board of a county with a population
greater than 125,000 has obtained the approval of the Texas
Juvenile Probation Commission for a juvenile justice alternative
education program before the effective date of this Act, the
approval is continued in effect for purposes of Section 37.011(a),
Education Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 5. 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.