Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1949 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Johnson of Harris H.B. No. 1949
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to establishing a pilot program in designated public high
7	7	schools in certain municipalities for placement of students in
8	8	Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs as an alternative
9	9	to placement in disciplinary or juvenile justice alternative
10	10	education programs.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Chapter 37, Education Code, is amended by adding
13	13	Subchapter A-1 to read as follows:
14	14	SUBCHAPTER A-1. PILOT PROGRAM IN DESIGNATED HIGH SCHOOLS IN
15	15	CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES FOR ALTERNATIVE DISCIPLINARY PLACEMENT:
16	16	JUNIOR RESERVE OFFICERS' TRAINING CORPS (JROTC)
17	17	Sec. 37.031. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM. (a) A pilot
18	18	program is established under this subchapter for placement of high
19	19	school students in Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs
20	20	as an alternative, in accordance with Section 37.032, to placement
21	21	in disciplinary alternative education programs or juvenile justice
22	22	alternative education programs.
23	23	(b) The pilot program applies only to a student enrolled in
24	24	a high school:
25	25	(1) located in a municipality that has more than 20
26	26	percent of the population 18 to 24 years of age who have not
27	27	graduated from high school, according to the most recent American
28	28	Community Survey five-year estimates compiled by the United States
29	29	Census Bureau; and
30	30	(2) designated by the agency under Subsection (c).
31	31	(c) The agency shall designate not more than two high
32	32	schools that offer Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs
33	33	to participate in the pilot program. The commissioner by rule shall
34	34	adopt additional criteria that promote positive student
35	35	educational outcomes for the agency to use in making designations
36	36	under this subchapter.
37	37	(d) The application of this subchapter to a student enrolled
38	38	in a high school located in a municipality described by Subsection
39	39	(b)(1) is not affected if, after the high school is designated under
40	40	Subsection (c), the high school graduation rate in the
41	41	municipality changes and the municipality no longer meets the
42	42	requirements of Subsection (b)(1).
43	43	Sec. 37.032. PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS AND EXCEPTIONS.
44	44	(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of Subchapter A and except
45	45	as provided by Subsection (c), a student subject to this subchapter
46	46	who is otherwise required or permitted under Subchapter A to be
47	47	placed in a disciplinary alternative education program or juvenile
48	48	justice alternative education program may, instead of that
49	49	placement, be required to participate in a Junior Reserve Officers'
50	50	Training Corps program if the student meets the initial eligibility
51	51	requirements for the program.
52	52	(b) A student required to participate in a Junior Reserve
53	53	Officers' Training Corps program as authorized under this
54	54	subchapter shall continue to attend the student's regularly
55	55	assigned classes, except that the student's schedule may be
56	56	modified to the extent necessary to provide for required attendance
57	57	in the program.
58	58	(c) This subchapter does not apply if:
59	59	(1) the student is removed from class and placed into
60	60	another appropriate classroom or into in-school suspension under
61	61	Section 37.002 or is suspended under Section 37.005;
62	62	(2) the student engages in conduct described by
63	63	Section 37.006(a)(2)(B) or Section 37.007(a)(2) or (b)(2)(C);
64	64	(3) the continued presence of the student in the
65	65	regular classroom threatens the safety of other students or
66	66	teachers; or
67	67	(4) the student engages in conduct for which the
68	68	student is required to be expelled from the student's regular
69	69	campus under federal law.
70	70	Sec. 37.033. STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT. (a)
71	71	In addition to
72	72	the requirements for the student code of conduct under Section
73	73	37.001, the student code of conduct for a school district that
74	74	includes a school designated under Section 37.031(c) must,
75	75	consistent with this subchapter and as applied to the designated
76	76	school:
77	77	(1) specify conditions that authorize a principal or
78	78	other appropriate administrator to require a student to participate
79	79	in a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program;
80	80	(2) specify that consideration will be given, as a
81	81	factor in each decision concerning participation in a Junior
82	82	Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, to:
83	83	(A) self-defense;
84	84	(B) intent or lack of intent at the time the
85	85	student engaged in the conduct;
86	86	(C) a student's disciplinary history; or
87	87	(D) a disability that substantially impairs the
88	88	student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's
89	89	conduct;
90	90	(3) provide guidelines that promote positive student
91	91	educational outcomes for determining placement in a Junior Reserve
92	92	Officers' Training Corps program as an alternative to placement in
93	93	a disciplinary alternative education program or juvenile justice
94	94	alternative education program;
95	95	(4) provide guidelines for setting the length of a
96	96	term of required participation in a Junior Reserve Officers'
97	97	Training Corps program; and
98	98	(5) address the notification of a student's parent or
99	99	guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by
100	100	the student that results in required participation in a Junior
101	101	Reserve Officers' Training Corps program.
102	102	(b) This section does not require the student code of
103	103	conduct to specify a minimum term of required participation in a
104	104	Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program.
105	105	Sec. 37.034. DETERMINATION REGARDING CERTAIN CONDUCT.
106	106	Section 37.006(e) applies to this subchapter.
107	107	Sec. 37.035. NOTICE TO PARENTS. (a) Not later than the
108	108	third class day after the date a student is required to participate
109	109	in a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program as authorized
110	110	under this subchapter, the school district shall notify the
111	111	student's parent or guardian of the student's placement. The notice
112	112	must include the reason for the placement.
113	113	(b) A noncustodial parent may request in writing that a
114	114	school district or school, for the remainder of the school year in
115	115	which the request is received, provide that parent with a copy of
116	116	any written notification relating to the student's placement as
117	117	authorized under this subchapter that is generally provided by the
118	118	district or school to a student's parent or guardian.
119	119	Sec. 37.036. TERM OF PLACEMENT. (a) The board of trustees
120	120	of the school district or the board's designee shall set a term for
121	121	a student's required participation in a Junior Reserve Officers'
122	122	Training Corps program as authorized under this subchapter. The
123	123	term must be for a period consistent with the guidelines adopted
124	124	under the student code of conduct in accordance with Section
125	125	37.033(a)(4). If the period of placement is inconsistent with the
126	126	guidelines adopted under the student code of conduct, the notice
127	127	under Section 37.035(a) must provide an explanation of the
128	128	inconsistency.
129	129	(b) Before a student may be required to participate in a
130	130	Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program as authorized under
131	131	this subchapter for a period that extends beyond the end of a school
132	132	year, the board of trustees or the board's designee must determine
133	133	that the student has engaged in serious or persistent misbehavior
134	134	that violates the district's student code of conduct. The period of
135	135	required participation may not exceed one year unless, after
136	136	review, the board or the board's designee determines that extended
137	137	placement is in the best interest of the student.
138	138	Sec. 37.037. APPEAL. Notwithstanding Section 7.057(e), the
139	139	decision to require a student to participate in a Junior Reserve
140	140	Officers' Training Corps program as authorized under this
141	141	subchapter may be appealed by the student or the student's parent or
142	142	guardian as provided by Sections 7.057(b), (c), (d), and (f).
143	143	Sec. 37.038. NOTICE TO EDUCATORS. (a) The board of
144	144	trustees of the school district shall inform each educator who has
145	145	responsibility for, or is under the direction and supervision of an
146	146	educator who has responsibility for, the instruction of a student
147	147	who is required to participate in a Junior Reserve Officers'
148	148	Training Corps program as authorized under this subchapter.
149	149	(b) Each educator shall keep the information received under
150	150	this section confidential from any person not entitled to the
151	151	information under this section, except that the educator may share
152	152	the information with the student's parent or guardian as provided
153	153	for by state or federal law.
154	154	(c) The State Board for Educator Certification may revoke or
155	155	suspend the certification of an educator who intentionally violates
156	156	this section or Section 37.039.
157	157	Sec. 37.039. TRANSFER OF STUDENT UNDER PILOT PROGRAM. (a)
158	158	If a student required to participate in a Junior Reserve Officers'
159	159	Training Corps program as authorized under this subchapter enrolls
160	160	in another school district before the expiration of the period of
161	161	required participation, the board of trustees of the school
162	162	district requiring the participation shall provide to the district
163	163	in which the student enrolls, at the same time other records of the
164	164	student are provided, a copy of the placement order. The district
165	165	in which the student enrolls shall inform each educator who will
166	166	have responsibility for, or will be under the direction and
167	167	supervision of an educator who will have responsibility for, the
168	168	instruction of the student of the contents of the placement order.
169	169	(b) Each educator shall keep the information received under
170	170	this section confidential from any person not entitled to the
171	171	information under this section, except that the educator may share
172	172	the information with the student's parent or guardian as provided
173	173	for by state or federal law.
174	174	(c) Subject to Subsection (d), the school district in which
175	175	the student enrolls may continue the Junior Reserve Officers'
176	176	Training Corps program placement under the terms of the order or may
177	177	allow the student to attend regular classes without completing the
178	178	period of required participation.
179	179	(d) If the school the student attends in the school district
180	180	in which the student enrolls does not offer a Junior Reserve
181	181	Officers' Training Corps program, the student may be placed in a
182	182	disciplinary alternative education program or a juvenile justice
183	183	alternative education program under the procedures provided by this
184	184	subchapter for the remainder of the term set under Section 37.036.
185	185	Sec. 37.040. PROCEDURE FOR ADDRESSING SUBSEQUENT CONDUCT
186	186	AFTER PROGRAM PARTICIPATION. A student required to participate in
187	187	a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program as authorized
188	188	under this subchapter is subject to the provisions of Subchapter A
189	189	relating to removal from class and placement in a disciplinary
190	190	alternative education program or juvenile justice alternative
191	191	education program if the student, after completion of any required
192	192	participation in a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program
193	193	as authorized under this subchapter, engages in subsequent conduct
194	194	requiring or permitting the student to be removed from class and
195	195	placed in a disciplinary alternative education program or juvenile
196	196	justice alternative education program under Subchapter A.
197	197	Sec. 37.041. APPLICABILITY TO SUBCHAPTER A. Sections
198	198	37.002, 37.006, and 37.007 are subject to this subchapter.
199	199	Sec. 37.042. REVIEW OF PROGRAM; REPORT. Not later than
200	200	January 1, 2019, the commissioner shall review the pilot program
201	201	established under this subchapter and submit to the governor, the
202	202	lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
203	203	and the presiding officer of each legislative standing committee
204	204	with primary jurisdiction over primary and secondary education a
205	205	written report regarding the progress made by the pilot program in
206	206	improving student educational outcomes.
207	207	Sec. 37.043. EXPIRATION. This subchapter expires September
208	208	1, 2019.
209	209	SECTION 2. Section 37.020, Education Code, is amended by
210	210	adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
211	211	(d) For each placement in a Junior Reserve Officers'
212	212	Training Corps program under Subchapter A-1, the district shall
213	213	report:
214	214	(1) information identifying the student, including
215	215	the student's race, sex, and date of birth, that will enable the
216	216	agency to compare placement data with information collected through
217	217	other reports;
218	218	(2) information indicating whether the placement was
219	219	based on:
220	220	(A) conduct violating the student code of conduct
221	221	adopted under Section 37.001;
222	222	(B) conduct for which placement in a disciplinary
223	223	alternative education program or juvenile justice alternative
224	224	education program is otherwise required or permitted by this
225	225	subchapter; or
226	226	(C) conduct occurring while a student was
227	227	enrolled in another district and for which placement in a Junior
228	228	Reserve Officers' Training Corps program is permitted by Section
229	229	37.039;
230	230	(3) the number of full or partial days the student was
231	231	assigned to the program and the number of full or partial days the
232	232	student attended the program;
233	233	(4) the number of placements that were inconsistent
234	234	with the guidelines included in the student code of conduct under
235	235	Section 37.033(a)(4);
236	236	(5) information regarding the academic performance of
237	237	the student on assessment instruments required under Section
238	238	39.023, as applicable, during the year preceding, during the year
239	239	of, and during the year following placement in the program, to the
240	240	extent available; and
241	241	(6) information indicating whether the student
242	242	dropped out of school, to the extent available.
243	243	(e) Subsection (d) and this subsection expire September 1,
244	244	2019.
245	245	SECTION 3. (a) Not later than December 1, 2017, the
246	246	commissioner of education shall adopt rules for the Texas Education
247	247	Agency to use to designate public high schools to participate in the
248	248	pilot program established under Subchapter A-1, Chapter 37,
249	249	Education Code, as added by this Act.
250	250	(b) Not later than January 1, 2018, the Texas Education
251	251	Agency shall designate not more than two public high schools to
252	252	participate in the pilot program established under Subchapter A-1,
253	253	Chapter 37, Education Code, as added by this Act.
254	254	(c) The pilot program established under Subchapter A-1,
255	255	Chapter 37, Education Code, as added by this Act, shall be
256	256	implemented in each high school designated under that subchapter
257	257	beginning with the spring semester of the 2017-2018 school year.
258	258	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
259	259	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
260	260	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
261	261	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
262	262	Act takes effect September 1, 2017.