Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB622 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	82R20568 EAH-D
2	2	By: Hochberg H.B. No. 622
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 622:
4	4	By: Dutton C.S.H.B. No. 622
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 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 misbehavior
26	26	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 that consideration will be given, as a
34	34	factor in each decision concerning suspension, removal to a
35	35	disciplinary alternative education program, expulsion, or
36	36	placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program,
37	37	regardless of whether the decision concerns a mandatory or
38	38	discretionary action, to:
39	39	(A) self-defense;
40	40	(B) intent or lack of intent at the time the
41	41	student engaged in the conduct;
42	42	(C) a student's disciplinary history; or
43	43	(D) a disability that substantially impairs the
44	44	student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's
45	45	conduct;
46	46	(5) provide guidelines for setting the length of a
47	47	term of:
48	48	(A) a removal under Section 37.006; and
49	49	(B) an expulsion under Section 37.007;
50	50	(6) address the notification of a student's parent or
51	51	guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by
52	52	the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary
53	53	alternative education program, or expulsion;
54	54	(7) prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit
55	55	lists and ensure that district employees enforce those
56	56	prohibitions; and
57	57	(8) provide, as appropriate for students at each grade
58	58	level, methods, including options, for:
59	59	(A) managing students in the classroom and on
60	60	school grounds;
61	61	(B) disciplining students; and
62	62	(C) preventing and intervening in student
63	63	discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making
64	64	hit lists.
65	65	SECTION 2. Section 37.007(c), Education Code, is amended to
66	66	read as follows:
67	67	(c) A student may be expelled if the student, while placed
68	68	in a disciplinary [an] alternative education program, engages [for
69	69	disciplinary reasons, continues to engage] in documented serious
70	70	[or persistent] misbehavior while on the program campus despite
71	71	documented behavioral interventions [that violates the district's
72	72	student code of conduct]. For purposes of this subsection,
73	73	"serious misbehavior" means:
74	74	(1) deliberate violent behavior that poses a direct
75	75	threat to the health or safety of others;
76	76	(2) extortion, meaning the gaining of money or other
77	77	property by force or threat;
78	78	(3) conduct that constitutes coercion, as defined by
79	79	Section 1.07, Penal Code; or
80	80	(4) conduct that constitutes the offense of:
81	81	(A) public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal
82	82	Code;
83	83	(B) indecent exposure under Section 21.08, Penal
84	84	Code;
85	85	(C) criminal mischief under Section 28.03, Penal
86	86	Code;
87	87	(D) personal hazing under Section 37.152; or
88	88	(E) harassment under Section 42.07(a)(1), Penal
89	89	Code, of a student or district employee.
90	90	SECTION 3. Section 37.009(c), Education Code, is amended to
91	91	read as follows:
92	92	(c) Before it may place a student in a disciplinary
93	93	alternative education program for a period that extends beyond the
94	94	end of the school year, the board or the board's designee must
95	95	determine that:
96	96	(1) the student's presence in the regular classroom
97	97	program or at the student's regular campus presents a danger of
98	98	physical harm to the student or to another individual; or
99	99	(2) the student has engaged in serious [or persistent]
100	100	misbehavior, as defined by Section 37.007(c) [that violates the
101	101	district's student code of conduct].
102	102	SECTION 4. Sections 37.011(k) and (l), Education Code, are
103	103	amended to read as follows:
104	104	(k) Each school district in a county with a population
105	105	greater than 125,000 and the county juvenile board shall annually
106	106	enter into a joint memorandum of understanding that:
107	107	(1) outlines the responsibilities of the juvenile
108	108	board concerning the establishment and operation of a juvenile
109	109	justice alternative education program under this section;
110	110	(2) defines the amount and conditions on payments from
111	111	the school district to the juvenile board for students of the school
112	112	district served in the juvenile justice alternative education
113	113	program whose placement was not made on the basis of an expulsion
114	114	required under Section 37.007(a), (d), or (e);
115	115	(3) establishes [identifies those categories of
116	116	conduct] that [the school district has defined in its student code
117	117	of conduct as constituting serious or persistent misbehavior for
118	118	which] a student may be placed in the juvenile justice alternative
119	119	education program if the student engages in serious misbehavior, as
120	120	defined by Section 37.007(c);
121	121	(4) identifies and requires a timely placement and
122	122	specifies a term of placement for expelled students for whom the
123	123	school district has received a notice under Section 52.041(d),
124	124	Family Code;
125	125	(5) establishes services for the transitioning of
126	126	expelled students to the school district prior to the completion of
127	127	the student's placement in the juvenile justice alternative
128	128	education program;
129	129	(6) establishes a plan that provides transportation
130	130	services for students placed in the juvenile justice alternative
131	131	education program;
132	132	(7) establishes the circumstances and conditions
133	133	under which a juvenile may be allowed to remain in the juvenile
134	134	justice alternative education program setting once the juvenile is
135	135	no longer under juvenile court jurisdiction; and
136	136	(8) establishes a plan to address special education
137	137	services required by law.
138	138	(l) The school district shall be responsible for providing
139	139	an immediate educational program to students who engage in behavior
140	140	resulting in expulsion under Section 37.007(b)[, (c),] and (f) but
141	141	who are not eligible for admission into the juvenile justice
142	142	alternative education program in accordance with the memorandum of
143	143	understanding required under this section. The school district may
144	144	provide the program or the school district may contract with a
145	145	county juvenile board, a private provider, or one or more other
146	146	school districts to provide the program. The memorandum of
147	147	understanding shall address the circumstances under which such
148	148	students who continue to engage in serious [or persistent]
149	149	misbehavior, as defined by Section 37.007(c), shall be admitted
150	150	into the juvenile justice alternative education program.
151	151	SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2012-2013
152	152	school year.
153	153	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.