85R12521 CAE-D
By: Hall S.B. No. 1309
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to state requirements for teacher training and student
instruction regarding certain subjects in public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.451, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
(h) Notwithstanding any other law, a school district may not
be required to provide staff training regarding:
(1) Internet safety;
(2) teen dating violence;
(3) bullying;
(4) student parenthood;
(5) child abuse; or
(6) school bus transportation safety.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 28.0026 to read as follows:
Sec. 28.0026. INSTRUCTION NOT REQUIRED. Notwithstanding
any other law, a school district may not be required to provide
student instruction regarding:
(1) Internet safety;
(2) teen dating violence;
(3) bullying;
(4) student parenthood;
(5) child abuse; or
(6) school bus transportation safety.
SECTION 3. Section 34.008(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) A mass transit authority contracting under this section
for daily transportation of pre-primary, primary, or secondary
students to or from school shall conduct, in a manner and on a
schedule approved by the county or district school board, the
following education programs:
(1) a program to inform the public that public school
students will be riding on the authority's or company's buses; and
(2) a program to educate the drivers of the buses to be
used under the contract of the special needs and problems of public
school students riding on the buses[; and
[(3) a program to educate public school students on
bus riding safety and any special considerations arising from the
use of the authority's or company's buses].
SECTION 4. Section 37.001(a), Education Code, as amended by
Chapters 487 (S.B. 1541) and 1409 (S.B. 1114), Acts of the 83rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, is reenacted and 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, disciplinary alternative education program, or vehicle
owned or operated by the district;
(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, on school
grounds, and on a vehicle owned or operated by the district;
(B) disciplining students; and
(C) preventing and intervening in student
discipline problems[, including bullying, harassment, and making
hit lists].
SECTION 5. Section 37.0831(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) A dating violence policy must:
(1) include a definition of dating violence that
includes the intentional use of physical, sexual, verbal, or
emotional abuse by a person to harm, threaten, intimidate, or
control another person in a dating relationship, as defined by
Section 71.0021, Family Code; and
(2) address safety planning, enforcement of
protective orders, school-based alternatives to protective orders,
and [training for teachers and administrators,] counseling for
affected students[, and awareness education for students and
parents].
SECTION 6. The following provisions of the Education Code
are repealed:
(1) Sections 28.002(p), (p-2), (p-3), (p-4), and (s);
and
(2) Section 38.004(b).
SECTION 7. This Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018
school year.
SECTION 8. 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, 2017.