84R1861 MK-D
By: Whitmire S.B. No. 107
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the removal, discipline, or transfer of a public school
student.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 25.0341(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) On the request of a parent or other person with
authority to act on behalf of a student who is a victim to whom
Subsection (a)(2) applies:
(1) the board of trustees of the school district shall
transfer the student to:
(A) a district campus other than:
(i) the campus to which the student was
assigned at the time the conduct occurred; or
(ii) the campus to which the student who
engaged in the conduct is assigned, if the student who engaged in
the conduct has been assigned to a different campus since the
conduct occurred; or
(B) a neighboring school district, if there is
only one campus in the district serving the grade level in which the
student is enrolled; or
(2) if the student does not wish to transfer to another
campus or district, the board of trustees may [shall] transfer the
student who engaged in the conduct to:
(A) a district campus other than the campus to
which the student who is the victim of the conduct is assigned; or
(B) the district's disciplinary alternative
education program or juvenile justice alternative education
program, if there is only one campus in the district serving the
grade level in which the student who engaged in the conduct is
enrolled.
SECTION 2. Section 37.002(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) A teacher may [shall] remove from class and send to the
principal for placement in a disciplinary alternative education
program or for expulsion, as appropriate, a student who engages in
conduct described under Section 37.006 or 37.007. If the student
has been removed from class, the [The] student may not be returned
to that teacher's class without the teacher's consent unless the
committee established under Section 37.003 determines that such
placement is the best or only alternative available. If the teacher
removed the student from class because the student has engaged in
the elements of any offense listed in Section 37.006(a)(2)(B) or
Section 37.007(a)(2)(A) or (b)(2)(C) against the teacher, the
student may not be returned to the teacher's class without the
teacher's consent. The teacher may not be coerced to consent.
SECTION 3. Section 37.0051(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) As provided by Section 25.0341(b)(2), a student may
[shall] be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary
alternative education program under Section 37.008 or a juvenile
justice alternative education program under Section 37.011.
SECTION 4. Sections 37.006(a), (b), (c), and (f), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A student may [shall] be removed from class and placed
in a disciplinary alternative education program as provided by
Section 37.008 if the student:
(1) engages in conduct involving a public school that
contains the elements of the offense of false alarm or report under
Section 42.06, Penal Code, or terroristic threat under Section
22.07, Penal Code; or
(2) commits the following on or within 300 feet of
school property, as measured from any point on the school's real
property boundary line, or while attending a school-sponsored or
school-related activity on or off of school property:
(A) engages in conduct punishable as a felony;
(B) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of assault under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code;
(C) sells, gives, or delivers to another person
or possesses or uses or is under the influence of:
(i) marihuana or a controlled substance, as
defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.
Section 801 et seq.; or
(ii) a dangerous drug, as defined by
Chapter 483, Health and Safety Code;
(D) sells, gives, or delivers to another person
an alcoholic beverage, as defined by Section 1.04, Alcoholic
Beverage Code, commits a serious act or offense while under the
influence of alcohol, or possesses, uses, or is under the influence
of an alcoholic beverage;
(E) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of an offense relating to an abusable volatile chemical under
Sections 485.031 through 485.034, Health and Safety Code; or
(F) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal Code,
or indecent exposure under Section 21.08, Penal Code.
(b) A [Except as provided by Section 37.007(d), a] student
may [shall] be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary
alternative education program under Section 37.008 if the student
engages in conduct on or off of school property that contains the
elements of the offense of retaliation under Section 36.06, Penal
Code, against any school employee.
(c) In addition to Subsections (a) and (b), a student may
[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.
(f) Subject to Section 37.007(e), a student who is younger
than 10 years of age may [shall] be removed from class and placed in
a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.008
if the student engages in conduct described by Section 37.007. An
elementary school student may not be placed in a disciplinary
alternative education program with any other student who is not an
elementary school student.
SECTION 5. Sections 37.007(a) and (d), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (k), a student may
[shall] be expelled from a school if the student, on school property
or while attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on
or off of school property:
(1) uses, exhibits, or possesses:
(A) [a firearm as defined by Section 46.01(3),
Penal Code;
[(B)] an illegal knife as defined by Section
46.01(6), Penal Code, or by local policy;
(B) [(C)] a club as defined by Section 46.01(1),
Penal Code; or
(C) [(D)] a weapon listed as a prohibited weapon
under Section 46.05, Penal Code;
(2) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
the offense of:
(A) aggravated assault under Section 22.02,
Penal Code, sexual assault under Section 22.011, Penal Code, or
aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.021, Penal Code;
(B) arson under Section 28.02, Penal Code;
(C) murder under Section 19.02, Penal Code,
capital murder under Section 19.03, Penal Code, or criminal
attempt, under Section 15.01, Penal Code, to commit murder or
capital murder;
(D) indecency with a child under Section 21.11,
Penal Code;
(E) aggravated kidnapping under Section 20.04,
Penal Code;
(F) aggravated robbery under Section 29.03,
Penal Code;
(G) manslaughter under Section 19.04, Penal
Code;
(H) criminally negligent homicide under Section
19.05, Penal Code; or
(I) continuous sexual abuse of young child or
children under Section 21.02, Penal Code; or
(3) engages in conduct specified by Section
37.006(a)(2)(C) or (D), if the conduct is punishable as a felony.
(d) A student may [shall] be expelled if the student engages
in conduct that contains the elements of any offense listed in
Subsection (a), or [and may be expelled] if the student engages in
conduct that contains the elements of any offense listed in
Subsection (b)(2)(C), against any employee or volunteer in
retaliation for or as a result of the person's employment or
association with a school district, without regard to whether the
conduct occurs on or off of school property or while attending a
school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off of school
property.
SECTION 6. Sections 37.009(a) and (f), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Not later than the third class day after the day on which
a student is removed from class by the teacher under Section
37.002(b) or (d) or is removed or disciplined by the school
principal or other appropriate administrator under Section
37.001(a)(2), 37.005, 37.0051, [or] 37.006, or 37.0081, the
principal or other appropriate administrator shall schedule a
conference among the principal or other appropriate administrator,
a parent or guardian of the student, the teacher removing the
student from class, if any, and the student. At the conference, the
student is entitled to written or oral notice of the reasons for the
removal or discipline, an explanation of the basis for the removal
or discipline, and an opportunity to respond to the reasons for the
removal or discipline. If removed from class, the [The] student may
not be returned to the regular classroom pending the conference.
Following the conference, and whether or not each requested person
is in attendance after valid attempts to require the person's
attendance, the principal shall order the placement of the student
for a period consistent with the student code of conduct. If school
district policy allows a student to appeal to the board of trustees
or the board's designee a decision of the principal or other
appropriate administrator, other than an expulsion under Section
37.007, the decision of the board or the board's designee is final
and may not be appealed. If the period of the placement is
inconsistent with the guidelines included in the student code of
conduct under Section 37.001(a)(5), the order must give notice of
the inconsistency. The period of the placement may not exceed one
year unless, after a review, the district determines that:
(1) the student is a threat to the safety of other
students or to district employees; or
(2) extended placement is in the best interest of the
student.
(f) Before a student may be expelled under Section 37.007 or
Section 37.0081, the board or the board's designee must provide the
student a hearing at which the student is afforded appropriate due
process as required by the federal constitution and which the
student's parent or guardian is invited, in writing, to attend. At
the hearing, the student is entitled to be represented by the
student's parent or guardian or another adult who can provide
guidance to the student and who is not an employee of the school
district. If the school district makes a good-faith effort to
inform the student and the student's parent or guardian of the time
and place of the hearing, the district may hold the hearing
regardless of whether the student, the student's parent or
guardian, or another adult representing the student attends. If
the decision to expel a student is made by the board's designee, the
decision may be appealed to the board. The decision of the board
may be appealed by trial de novo to a district court of the county in
which the school district's central administrative office is
located.
SECTION 7. Section 37.011(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) If a student admitted into the public schools of a
school district under Section 25.001(b) is expelled from school for
conduct [for which expulsion is required] under Section 37.007(a),
(d), or (e), the juvenile court, the juvenile board, or the juvenile
board's designee, as appropriate, shall:
(1) if the student is placed on probation under
Section 54.04, Family Code, order the student to attend the
juvenile justice alternative education program in the county in
which the student resides from the date of disposition as a
condition of probation, unless the child is placed in a
post-adjudication treatment facility;
(2) if the student is placed on deferred prosecution
under Section 53.03, Family Code, by the court, prosecutor, or
probation department, require the student to immediately attend the
juvenile justice alternative education program in the county in
which the student resides for a period not to exceed six months as a
condition of the deferred prosecution;
(3) in determining the conditions of the deferred
prosecution or court-ordered probation, consider the length of the
school district's expulsion order for the student; and
(4) provide timely educational services to the student
in the juvenile justice alternative education program in the county
in which the student resides, regardless of the student's age or
whether the juvenile court has jurisdiction over the student.
SECTION 8. Section 37.303, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.303. REMOVAL OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER FROM
REGULAR CLASSROOM. Notwithstanding any provision of Subchapter A,
on receiving notice under Article 15.27, Code of Criminal
Procedure, or Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, that a
student is required to register as a sex offender under that
chapter, a school district may [shall] remove the student from the
regular classroom and determine the appropriate placement of the
student in the manner provided by this subchapter.
SECTION 9. Section 37.304(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A school district may [shall] place a student to whom
this subchapter applies 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.
SECTION 10. This Act applies beginning with the 2015-2016
school year.
SECTION 11. 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, 2015.