By: Allen, A. Johnson of Harris, H.B. No. 1626
Thompson of Harris, Wu, Hull, et al.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a public school student's transition from an
alternative education program to a regular educational
environment, including parental rights related to that transition,
and the admission of certain students with a criminal or
disciplinary history.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.104(b), Education Code, as amended by
Chapters 542 (S.B. 168), 887 (S.B. 1697), 915 (H.B. 3607), 974 (S.B.
2081), and 1046 (S.B. 1365), Acts of the 87th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2021, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(b) An open-enrollment charter school is subject to:
(1) a provision of this title establishing a criminal
offense;
(2) the provisions in Chapter 554, Government Code;
and
(3) 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, except class size limits for prekindergarten
classes imposed under Section 25.112, which do not apply;
(I) extracurricular activities under Section
33.081;
(J) discipline management practices or behavior
management techniques under Section 37.0021;
(K) health and safety under Chapter 38;
(L) the provisions of Subchapter A, Chapter 39;
(M) public school accountability and special
investigations under Subchapters A, B, C, D, F, G, and J, Chapter
39, and Chapter 39A;
(N) the requirement under Section 21.006 to
report an educator's misconduct;
(O) intensive programs of instruction under
Section 28.0213;
(P) the right of a school employee to report a
crime, as provided by Section 37.148;
(Q) bullying prevention policies and procedures
under Section 37.0832;
(R) the right of a school under Section 37.0052
to place a student who has engaged in certain bullying behavior in a
disciplinary alternative education program or to expel the student;
(S) the right under Section 37.0151 to report to
local law enforcement certain conduct constituting assault or
harassment;
(T) a parent's right to information regarding the
provision of assistance for learning difficulties to the parent's
child as provided by Sections 26.004(b)(11) and 26.0081(c) and (d);
(U) establishment of residency under Section
25.001;
(V) school safety requirements under Sections
37.108, 37.1081, 37.1082, 37.109, 37.113, 37.114, 37.1141, 37.115,
37.207, and 37.2071;
(W) the early childhood literacy and mathematics
proficiency plans under Section 11.185;
(X) the college, career, and military readiness
plans under Section 11.186; [and]
(Y) [(X)] parental options to retain a student
under Section 28.02124; and
(Z) the requirements for a student's transition
from an alternative education program under Section 37.023.
SECTION 2. Section 25.001, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (b-3) and (b-4) to read as follows:
(b-3) Except as provided by Subsection (b-4) and
notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 37, the board of trustees
of a school district or the board's designee may not refuse to
enroll a student based on the student's criminal, juvenile, or
disciplinary history or standing. A district shall promptly enroll
a student released from an alternative education program, as
defined by Section 37.023, who is otherwise eligible for enrollment
under Subsection (b). This subsection may not be construed to
prohibit the board or the board's designee from:
(1) revoking admission of a student under Subsection
(b-1);
(2) refusing to admit a person under 18 years of age
whom the board is not required to admit under Subsection (d);
(3) transferring a student in accordance with Section
25.0341 or 25.0342; or
(4) expelling a student or placing a student in a
disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.008 or
a juvenile justice alternative education program under Section
37.011 in accordance with Section 37.0051, 37.0052, 37.006, 37.007,
37.0081, or 37.011, as applicable.
(b-4) Subsection (b-3) does not apply to the inter-district
transfer of a student under Subchapter B.
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 37.023, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 37.023. TRANSITION FROM ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM
TO REGULAR EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT [CLASSROOM].
SECTION 4. Section 37.023, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c), (d), and (e) and adding Subsections
(c-1), (d-1), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
(c) Not later than five instructional days after the date of
a student's release from an alternative education program, the
campus administrator shall hold a meeting to coordinate the
student's enrollment and transition to a regular educational
environment [classroom]. The coordination must include assistance
and recommendations from the student's parent or a person standing
in parental relation to the student and, as applicable:
(1) school counselors;
(2) school district peace officers;
(3) school resource officers;
(4) licensed clinical social workers;
(5) campus behavior coordinators;
(6) classroom teachers who are or may be responsible
for implementing the student's personalized transition plan
developed under Subsection (d);
(7) for a student who is a student with a disability as
defined by Section 21.001, the campus special education
administrator or other campus administrator responsible for
overseeing the student's educational program, as applicable;
(8) for a student who is a court-related child, the
liaison officer appointed under Section 37.014; and
(9) [(7)] any other appropriate school district
personnel.
(c-1) The campus administrator shall, before finalizing a
personalized transition plan for a student under Subsection (d),
provide to the student's parent or a person standing in parental
relation to the student:
(1) a list of the people who will be assisting in the
student's enrollment and transition to a regular educational
environment under Subsection (c); and
(2) an opportunity to meet, either in person or
remotely, with the people included on the list described by
Subdivision (1) to:
(A) discuss any proposed assistance or
recommendations for the student's transition; and
(B) provide information regarding the student
that may be useful in developing the plan.
(d) The enrollment and transition assistance required by
Subsection (c) must include a personalized transition plan for the
student developed by the campus administrator. A personalized
transition plan:
(1) must include recommendations for the best
educational placement of the student based on a review of the
student's previous coursework, course credit earned, performance
on any assessment instrument administered under Section 37.0082,
and educational record, including:
(A) a calculation of the number of course credits
the student has earned toward graduation requirements, as
determined under Subsection (g); and
(B) a description of appropriate courses in which
the student should be placed; and
(2) may include:
(A) recommendations for counseling, behavioral
management, or academic assistance for the student with a
concentration on the student's academic or career goals;
(B) recommendations for assistance for obtaining
access to mental health services provided by the district or
school, a local mental health authority, or another private or
public entity; and
(C) the provision of information to the student's
parent or a person standing in parental relation to the student
about the process to request a full individual and initial
evaluation of the student for purposes of special education
services under Section 29.004[; and
[(D) a regular review of the student's progress
toward the student's academic or career goals].
(d-1) After a student has transitioned to a regular
educational environment under this section, the campus
administrator or the administrator's designee shall conduct
reviews at the beginning of each semester and the end of each school
year of the student's progress toward the student's academic or
career goals.
(e) As soon as practicable after completing a student's
personalized transition plan under Subsection (d) [If
practicable], the campus administrator shall provide an electronic
or written copy of the personalized transition plan to [, or the
administrator's designee, shall meet with] the student's parent or
a person standing in parental relation to the student [to
coordinate plans for the student's transition].
(g) A school district shall adopt a policy that, to the
greatest extent possible, allows for credits that were successfully
completed while the student was enrolled in an alternative
education program or at a previous school, including a school
within the Windham School District, to fulfill credits required for
high school graduation, provided that the completed courses meet
the standards adopted under Section 28.002(c). The policy adopted
under this subsection may provide for partial credit, if determined
appropriate by the district.
(h) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to
implement this section.
SECTION 5. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
school year.
SECTION 7. 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, 2023.