82R20568 EAH-D
By: Hochberg H.B. No. 622
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 622:
By: Dutton C.S.H.B. No. 622
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to disciplinary action taken against certain public school
students on the basis of serious misbehavior.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.001(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The board of trustees of an independent school district
shall, with the advice of its district-level committee established
under Subchapter F, Chapter 11, adopt a student code of conduct for
the district. The student code of conduct must be posted and
prominently displayed at each school campus or made available for
review at the office of the campus principal. In addition to
establishing standards for student conduct, the student code of
conduct must:
(1) specify the circumstances, in accordance with this
subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom,
campus, or disciplinary alternative education program, including
circumstances in which a student engages in serious misbehavior
under Section 37.007(c);
(2) specify conditions that authorize or require a
principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student
to a disciplinary alternative education program;
(3) outline conditions under which a student may be
suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by
Section 37.007;
(4) specify that consideration will be given, as a
factor in each decision concerning suspension, removal to a
disciplinary alternative education program, expulsion, or
placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program,
regardless of whether the decision concerns a mandatory or
discretionary action, to:
(A) self-defense;
(B) intent or lack of intent at the time the
student engaged in the conduct;
(C) a student's disciplinary history; or
(D) a disability that substantially impairs the
student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's
conduct;
(5) provide guidelines for setting the length of a
term of:
(A) a removal under Section 37.006; and
(B) an expulsion under Section 37.007;
(6) address the notification of a student's parent or
guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by
the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary
alternative education program, or expulsion;
(7) prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit
lists and ensure that district employees enforce those
prohibitions; and
(8) provide, as appropriate for students at each grade
level, methods, including options, for:
(A) managing students in the classroom and on
school grounds;
(B) disciplining students; and
(C) preventing and intervening in student
discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making
hit lists.
SECTION 2. Section 37.007(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) A student may be expelled if the student, while placed
in a disciplinary [an] alternative education program, engages [for
disciplinary reasons, continues to engage] in documented serious
[or persistent] misbehavior while on the program campus despite
documented behavioral interventions [that violates the district's
student code of conduct]. For purposes of this subsection,
"serious misbehavior" means:
(1) deliberate violent behavior that poses a direct
threat to the health or safety of others;
(2) extortion, meaning the gaining of money or other
property by force or threat;
(3) conduct that constitutes coercion, as defined by
Section 1.07, Penal Code; or
(4) conduct that constitutes the offense of:
(A) public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal
Code;
(B) indecent exposure under Section 21.08, Penal
Code;
(C) criminal mischief under Section 28.03, Penal
Code;
(D) personal hazing under Section 37.152; or
(E) harassment under Section 42.07(a)(1), Penal
Code, of a student or district employee.
SECTION 3. Section 37.009(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) Before it may place a student in a disciplinary
alternative education program for a period that extends beyond the
end of the school year, the board or the board's designee must
determine that:
(1) the student's presence in the regular classroom
program or at the student's regular campus presents a danger of
physical harm to the student or to another individual; or
(2) the student has engaged in serious [or persistent]
misbehavior, as defined by Section 37.007(c) [that violates the
district's student code of conduct].
SECTION 4. Sections 37.011(k) and (l), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(k) Each school district in 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) establishes [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 if the student engages in serious misbehavior, as
defined by Section 37.007(c);
(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.
(l) The school district shall be responsible for providing
an immediate educational program to students who engage in behavior
resulting in expulsion under Section 37.007(b)[, (c),] and (f) but
who are not eligible for admission into the juvenile justice
alternative education program in accordance with the memorandum of
understanding required under this section. The school district may
provide the program or the school district may contract with a
county juvenile board, a private provider, or one or more other
school districts to provide the program. The memorandum of
understanding shall address the circumstances under which such
students who continue to engage in serious [or persistent]
misbehavior, as defined by Section 37.007(c), shall be admitted
into the juvenile justice alternative education program.
SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2012-2013
school year.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.