By: Strama (Senate Sponsor - Watson) H.B. No. 968
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 20, 2011;
April 26, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Education; May 19, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0;
May 19, 2011, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 968 By: Patrick
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to expulsion from school or placement in a disciplinary
alternative education program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 37.006(c) and (d), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(c) In addition to Subsections (a) and (b), a student shall
be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative
education program under Section 37.008 based on conduct occurring
off campus and while the student is not in attendance at a
school-sponsored or school-related activity if:
(1) the student receives deferred prosecution under
Section 53.03, Family Code, for conduct defined as:
(A) a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code; or
(B) the felony offense of aggravated robbery
under Section 29.03, Penal Code;
(2) a court or jury finds that the student has engaged
in delinquent conduct under Section 54.03, Family Code, for conduct
defined as:
(A) a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code; or
(B) the felony offense of aggravated robbery
under Section 29.03, Penal Code; or
(3) the superintendent or the superintendent's
designee has a reasonable belief that the student has engaged in a
conduct defined as:
(A) a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code; or
(B) the felony offense of aggravated robbery
under Section 29.03, Penal Code.
(d) In addition to Subsections (a), (b), and (c), a student
may be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative
education program under Section 37.008 based on conduct occurring
off campus and while the student is not in attendance at a
school-sponsored or school-related activity if:
(1) the superintendent or the superintendent's
designee has a reasonable belief that the student has engaged in
conduct defined as a felony offense other than aggravated robbery
under Section 29.03, Penal Code, or those offenses defined in Title
5, Penal Code; and
(2) the continued presence of the student in the
regular classroom threatens the safety of other students or
teachers or will be detrimental to the educational process.
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 37.0081(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Subject to Subsection (h), but notwithstanding any
other provision of this subchapter, the board of trustees of a
school district, or the board's designee, after an opportunity for
a hearing may expel a student and elect to place the student in an
alternative setting as provided by Subsection (a-1) if:
(1) the student:
(A) has received deferred prosecution under
Section 53.03, Family Code, for conduct defined as:
(i) a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code;
or
(ii) the felony offense of aggravated
robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code;
(B) has been found by a court or jury to have
engaged in delinquent conduct under Section 54.03, Family Code, for
conduct defined as:
(i) a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code;
or
(ii) the felony offense of aggravated
robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code;
(C) is charged with engaging in conduct defined
as:
(i) a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code;
or
(ii) the felony offense of aggravated
robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code;
(D) has been referred to a juvenile court for
allegedly engaging in delinquent conduct under Section 54.03,
Family Code, for conduct defined as:
(i) a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code;
or
(ii) the felony offense of aggravated
robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code;
(E) has received probation or deferred
adjudication for a felony offense under Title 5, Penal Code, or the
felony offense of aggravated robbery under Section 29.03, Penal
Code;
(F) has been convicted of a felony offense under
Title 5, Penal Code, or the felony offense of aggravated robbery
under Section 29.03, Penal Code; or
(G) has been arrested for or charged with a
felony offense under Title 5, Penal Code, or the felony offense of
aggravated robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code; and
(2) the board or the board's designee determines that
the student's presence in the regular classroom:
(A) threatens the safety of other students or
teachers;
(B) will be detrimental to the educational
process; or
(C) is not in the best interests of the
district's students.
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. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, this Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012 school year.
(b) Sections 37.007(c) and 37.011(k) and (l), Education
Code, as amended by this Act, apply beginning with the 2012-2013
school year.
SECTION 6. 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.
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