84R6994 GCB-D
By: Muñoz, Jr. H.B. No. 3501
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the placement of a student who is a moderate or high
risk sex offender in a juvenile justice alternative education
program or a disciplinary alternative education program with
certain monitoring requirements.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.011(k), Education Code, is 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 that 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) establishes that a student to whom Subchapter I
applies shall be placed in the juvenile justice alternative
education program if the student is assigned a numeric risk level of
two or three based on an assessment conducted in accordance with
Article 62.007, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(5) 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;
(6) [(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;
(7) [(6)] establishes a plan that provides
transportation services for students placed in the juvenile justice
alternative education program;
(8) [(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
(9) [(8)] establishes a plan to address special
education services required by law.
SECTION 2. Section 37.304, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.304. PLACEMENT OF LOW RISK REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER
WHO IS UNDER COURT SUPERVISION. (a) A school district shall place
a student to whom this subchapter applies who is assigned a numeric
risk level of one based on an assessment conducted in accordance
with Article 62.007, Code of Criminal Procedure, and who is under
any form of court supervision, including probation, community
supervision, or parole, in the appropriate alternative education
program as provided by Section 37.309 for at least one semester.
(b) If a student described by Subsection (a) transfers to
another school district during the student's mandatory placement in
an alternative education program under Subsection (a), the district
to which the student transfers may:
(1) require the student to complete an additional
semester in the appropriate alternative education program without
conducting a review of the student's placement for that semester
under Section 37.306; or
(2) count any time spent by the student in an
alternative education program in the district from which the
student transfers toward the mandatory placement requirement under
Subsection (a).
SECTION 3. Section 37.305, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.305. PLACEMENT OF LOW RISK REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER
WHO IS NOT UNDER COURT SUPERVISION. A school district may place a
student to whom this subchapter applies who is assigned a numeric
risk level of one based on an assessment conducted in accordance
with Article 62.007, Code of Criminal Procedure, and who is not
under any form of court supervision in the appropriate alternative
education program as provided by Section 37.309 for one semester or
in the regular classroom. The district may not place the student
in the regular classroom if the district board of trustees
determines that the student's presence in the regular classroom:
(1) threatens the safety of other students or
teachers;
(2) will be detrimental to the educational process; or
(3) is not in the best interests of the district's
students.
SECTION 4. The heading to Section 37.306, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 37.306. REVIEW OF PLACEMENT OF LOW RISK REGISTERED SEX
OFFENDER IN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM.
SECTION 5. Section 37.306(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) At the end of the first semester of the [a student's]
placement in an alternative education program under Section 37.304
or 37.305 of a student who is assigned a numeric risk level of one
based on an assessment conducted in accordance with Article 62.007,
Code of Criminal Procedure, the school district board of trustees
shall convene a committee to review the student's placement in the
alternative education program. The committee must be composed of:
(1) a classroom teacher from the campus to which the
student would be assigned were the student not placed in an
alternative education program;
(2) the student's parole or probation officer or, in
the case of a student who does not have a parole or probation
officer, a representative of the local juvenile probation
department;
(3) an instructor from the alternative education
program to which the student is assigned;
(4) a school district designee selected by the board
of trustees; and
(5) a school counselor employed by the school
district.
SECTION 6. Section 37.308, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.308. TRANSFER OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER. (a)
Except as provided by Section 37.304(b), a school district shall
determine whether to place a student to whom this subchapter
applies who is assigned a numeric risk level of one based on an
assessment conducted in accordance with Article 62.007, Code of
Criminal Procedure, and who transfers to the district in the
appropriate alternative education program as provided by Section
37.309 or in a regular classroom. The school district shall follow
the procedures specified under Section 37.306 in making the
determination.
(b) The school district shall make a placement
determination solely as provided by Section 37.309 with respect to
a student to whom this subchapter applies who transfers to the
district and who is assigned a numeric risk level of two or three
based on an assessment conducted in accordance with Article 62.007,
Code of Criminal Procedure.
SECTION 7. Section 37.309, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(b) A school district shall place a student who is required
by the board of trustees to attend an alternative education program
under this subchapter in a juvenile justice alternative education
program if:
(1) the memorandum of understanding entered into
between the school district and juvenile board under Section
37.011(k) provides for or requires the placement of students to
whom this subchapter applies in the juvenile justice alternative
education program; or
(2) a court orders the placement of the student in a
juvenile justice alternative education program.
(c) If a student to whom this subchapter applies who is
assigned a numeric risk level of two or three based on an assessment
conducted in accordance with Article 62.007, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is not placed in a juvenile justice alternative
education program in accordance with Subsection (b), the school
district shall ensure the student is not left unsupervised in the
presence of other students and is supervised by an educator or
school administrator of the district at all times while present on
campus.
SECTION 8. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies to
a student who, based on an assessment conducted in accordance with
Article 62.007, Code of Criminal Procedure:
(1) is assigned a numeric risk level of two or three on
or after the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether:
(A) the student began receiving educational
services from a school district before, on, or after that date; or
(B) the offense or conduct for which the student
became subject to registration as a sex offender under Chapter 62,
Code of Criminal Procedure, occurred before, on, or after that
date; or
(2) has been assigned a numeric risk level of two or
three and begins receiving educational services at or transfers to
a school district on or after the effective date of this Act,
regardless of whether the numeric risk level was assigned before,
on, or after that date.
(b) For a student who, on the effective date of this Act, has
been assigned a risk level of two or three based on an assessment
conducted in accordance with Article 62.007, Code of Criminal
Procedure, before the effective date of this Act, the school
district shall, as provided by Section 37.309, Education Code, as
amended by this Act, transfer the student to a juvenile justice
alternative education program or institute supervision by an
educator or school administrator, as appropriate, not later than
January 1, 2016.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.