By: West S.B. No. 424
(In the Senate - Filed January 23, 2019; February 14, 2019,
read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
April 3, 2019, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 11,
Nays 0; April 3, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to determining appropriate disciplinary action to be taken
against a public school student who is in foster care or who is
homeless.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.001(a), Education Code, is 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;
(E) a student's status in the conservatorship of
the Department of Family and Protective Services; or
(F) a student's status as a student who is
homeless;
(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;
(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; and
(9) include an explanation of the provisions regarding
refusal of entry to or ejection from district property under
Section 37.105, including the appeal process established under
Section 37.105(h).
SECTION 2. Section 37.001(b), Education Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (4) to read as follows:
(4) "Student who is homeless" has the meaning assigned
to the term "homeless children and youths" under 42 U.S.C. Section
11434a.
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020
school year.
SECTION 4. 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, 2019.
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