By: Garcia S.B. No. 370
(In the Senate - Filed December 20, 2016; February 1, 2017,
read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
May 9, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 3; May 9, 2017, sent
to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 370 By: Lucio
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the discipline and behavior management of a student
enrolled in a grade level below grade three at a school district or
open-enrollment charter school.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.104(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) An open-enrollment charter school is subject to:
(1) a provision of this title establishing a criminal
offense; and
(2) a prohibition, restriction, or requirement, as
applicable, imposed by this title or a rule adopted under this
title, relating to:
(A) the Public Education Information Management
System (PEIMS) to the extent necessary to monitor compliance with
this subchapter as determined by the commissioner;
(B) criminal history records under Subchapter C,
Chapter 22;
(C) reading instruments and accelerated reading
instruction programs under Section 28.006;
(D) accelerated instruction under Section
28.0211;
(E) high school graduation requirements under
Section 28.025;
(F) special education programs under Subchapter
A, Chapter 29;
(G) bilingual education under Subchapter B,
Chapter 29;
(H) prekindergarten programs under Subchapter E
or E-1, Chapter 29;
(I) extracurricular activities under Section
33.081;
(J) discipline management practices or behavior
management techniques under Sections [Section] 37.0021, 37.0182,
37.0183, and 37.023, including the staff development training
required under Section 21.451(d)(4);
(K) health and safety under Chapter 38;
(L) public school accountability under
Subchapters B, C, D, E, F, G, and J, Chapter 39;
(M) the requirement under Section 21.006 to
report an educator's misconduct;
(N) intensive programs of instruction under
Section 28.0213; and
(O) the right of a school employee to report a
crime, as provided by Section 37.148.
SECTION 2. Section 21.451(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The staff development:
(1) may include training in:
(A) technology;
(B) conflict resolution;
(C) discipline strategies, including classroom
management, district discipline policies, and the student code of
conduct adopted under Section 37.001 and Chapter 37; and
(D) preventing, identifying, responding to, and
reporting incidents of bullying;
(2) subject to Subsection (e) and to Section 21.3541
and rules adopted under that section, must include training that is
evidence-based [based on scientifically based research], as
defined by Section 8101, Every Student Succeeds Act [9101, No Child
Left Behind Act of 2001] (20 U.S.C. Section 7801), and that:
(A) relates to instruction of students with
disabilities; and
(B) is designed for educators who work primarily
outside the area of special education; [and]
(3) must include suicide prevention training that must
be provided:
(A) on an annual basis, as part of a new employee
orientation, to all new school district and open-enrollment charter
school educators; and
(B) to existing school district and
open-enrollment charter school educators on a schedule adopted by
the agency by rule; and
(4) notwithstanding Subdivision (1)(C), must include
for educators who work with students enrolled in a grade level below
grade three training on the positive behavior and early detection
and prevention programs under Section 37.0183.
SECTION 3. 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) state that a student enrolled in a grade level
below grade three may not be placed in out-of-school suspension
except as authorized by this subchapter;
(6) 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;
(7) [(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;
(8) [(7)] prohibit bullying, harassment, and making
hit lists and ensure that district employees enforce those
prohibitions; and
(9) [(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, including
disciplining students enrolled in a grade level below grade three
using behavior management techniques that comply with the minimum
standards established under Section 37.0182 as an alternative to
out-of-school suspension; and
(C) preventing and intervening in student
discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making
hit lists.
SECTION 4. Section 37.005, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) A student enrolled in a grade level below grade three
may not be placed in out-of-school suspension.
SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 37.0182, 37.0183, and 37.023 to read as
follows:
Sec. 37.0182. APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS. (a) The commissioner by rule shall
establish minimum standards for behavior management techniques
that may be used for a student enrolled in a grade level below grade
three as an alternative to placing the student in out-of-school
suspension under Section 37.005. The standards must require a
behavior management technique to be a positive behavior support
that is age appropriate and research based.
(b) The agency shall develop a database of positive behavior
support systems that satisfy the standards established under
Subsection (a) and make the database available to each school
district and open-enrollment charter school.
Sec. 37.0183. POSITIVE BEHAVIOR AND EARLY DETECTION AND
PREVENTION PROGRAMS FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS. (a) Each school
district shall develop and implement for students enrolled in a
grade level below grade three a positive behavior program that:
(1) is age appropriate and research based;
(2) models positive behaviors;
(3) promotes a positive school climate;
(4) uses only behavior management techniques that
comply with the minimum standards established under Section
37.0182;
(5) does not rely on the use of out-of-school
suspensions or placements in a disciplinary alternative education
program as a means of managing problematic behavior; and
(6) includes behavior management strategies such as
positive behavioral interventions and supports, trauma-informed
practices, social and emotional learning, referral services, and
restorative practices.
(b) Each school district shall develop and implement an
early detection and prevention program to address the needs of
students enrolled in a grade level below grade three who are
experiencing behavioral or disciplinary challenges. The program
must be designed to provide appropriate evaluations, services, and
supports to the student and the student's family.
(c) A program under Subsection (a) or (b) must include
methods for improving in-school suspension by incorporating
behavior management techniques that comply with the minimum
standards established under Section 37.0182.
(d) In developing a program under Subsection (a) or (b), a
school district may request assistance from a regional education
service center.
(e) Each school district shall:
(1) submit to the agency written procedures detailing
the implementation of each program under this section;
(2) make the procedures under Subdivision (1) publicly
available; and
(3) train educators and other student support staff as
necessary to implement the programs as required by this section.
(f) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to
implement this section.
Sec. 37.023. SANCTIONS FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS. The
commissioner may sanction, in a manner determined appropriate by
the commissioner, a school district or open-enrollment charter
school that:
(1) permits a student enrolled in a grade level below
grade three to be placed in out-of-school suspension unless the
suspension is authorized by this subchapter; or
(2) fails to comply with a requirement under Section
37.0183.
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2018-2019
school year.
SECTION 7. Not later than September 1, 2018, each school
district and open-enrollment charter school shall submit to the
Texas Education Agency the procedures required under Section
37.0183, Education Code, as added by this Act.
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.
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