H.B. No. 785
AN ACT
relating to behavior improvement plans and behavioral intervention
plans for certain public school students and notification and
documentation requirements regarding certain behavior management
techniques.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.005, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
(h) If a behavior improvement plan or a behavioral
intervention plan is included as part of a student's individualized
education program under Subsection (g), the committee shall review
the plan at least annually and more frequently if appropriate to
address:
(1) changes in a student's circumstances that may
impact the student's behavior, such as:
(A) the placement of the student in a different
educational setting;
(B) an increase or persistence in disciplinary
actions taken regarding the student for similar types of behavioral
incidents;
(C) a pattern of unexcused absences; or
(D) an unauthorized unsupervised departure from
an educational setting; or
(2) the safety of the student or others.
SECTION 2. Section 37.0021(d), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(d) The commissioner by rule shall adopt procedures for the
use of restraint and time-out by a school district employee or
volunteer or an independent contractor of a district in the case of
a student with a disability receiving special education services
under Subchapter A, Chapter 29. A procedure adopted under this
subsection must:
(1) be consistent with:
(A) professionally accepted practices and
standards of student discipline and techniques for behavior
management; and
(B) relevant health and safety standards; [and]
(2) identify any discipline management practice or
behavior management technique that requires a district employee or
volunteer or an independent contractor of a district to be trained
before using that practice or technique; and
(3) require a school district to:
(A) provide written notification to the
student's parent or person standing in parental relation to the
student for each use of restraint that includes:
(i) the name of the student;
(ii) the name of the district employee or
volunteer or independent contractor of the district who
administered the restraint;
(iii) the date of the restraint;
(iv) the time that the restraint started
and ended;
(v) the location of the restraint;
(vi) the nature of the restraint;
(vii) a description of the activity in
which the student was engaged immediately preceding the use of the
restraint;
(viii) the behavior of the student that
prompted the restraint;
(ix) any efforts made to de-escalate the
situation and any alternatives to restraint that were attempted;
(x) if the student has a behavior
improvement plan or a behavioral intervention plan, whether the
plan may need to be revised as a result of the behavior that led to
the restraint; and
(xi) if the student does not have a behavior
improvement plan or a behavioral intervention plan, information on
the procedure for the student's parent or person standing in
parental relation to the student to request an admission, review,
and dismissal committee meeting to discuss the possibility of
conducting a functional behavioral assessment of the student and
developing a plan for the student;
(B) include in a student's special education
eligibility school records:
(i) a copy of the written notification
provided to the student's parent or person standing in parental
relation to the student under Paragraph (A);
(ii) information on the method by which the
written notification was sent to the parent or person; and
(iii) the contact information for the
parent or person to whom the district sent the notification; and
(C) if the student has a behavior improvement
plan or behavioral intervention plan, document each use of time-out
prompted by a behavior of the student specified in the student's
plan, including a description of the behavior that prompted the
time-out.
SECTION 3. Section 37.004, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) If a school district takes a disciplinary action
regarding a student with a disability who receives special
education services that constitutes a change in placement under
federal law, the district shall:
(1) not later than the 10th school day after the change
in placement:
(A) seek consent from the student's parent or
person standing in parental relation to the student to conduct a
functional behavioral assessment of the student, if a functional
behavioral assessment has never been conducted on the student or
the student's most recent functional behavioral assessment is more
than one year old; and
(B) review any previously conducted functional
behavioral assessment of the student and any behavior improvement
plan or behavioral intervention plan developed for the student
based on that assessment; and
(2) as necessary:
(A) develop a behavior improvement plan or
behavioral intervention plan for the student if the student does
not have a plan; or
(B) if the student has a behavior improvement
plan or behavioral intervention plan, revise the student's plan.
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022
school year.
SECTION 5. 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, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 785 was passed by the House on April
8, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 148, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 785 was passed by the Senate on May
19, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor