Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2952 Compare Versions

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Version 2 (New)

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1	1	88R3367 JTZ-F
2	2	By: Cunningham H.B. No. 2952
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to procedures for the suspension, expulsion, or placement
8	8	in a disciplinary alternative education program or juvenile justice
9	9	alternative education program of a public school student enrolled
10	10	in a school district.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 37.009, Education Code, is amended by
13	13	amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (a-1),
14	14	(a-2), (a-3), (a-4), and (a-5) to read as follows:
15	15	(a) Not later than the third class day after the day on which
16	16	a student is removed from class by the teacher under Section
17	17	37.002(b) or (d) or by the school principal or other appropriate
18	18	administrator under Section 37.001(a)(2) or 37.006, the campus
19	19	behavior coordinator or other appropriate administrator shall
20	20	schedule a conference among the campus behavior coordinator or
21	21	other appropriate administrator, a parent or guardian of the
22	22	student or another adult representing the student who is not an
23	23	employee of the school district, the teacher removing the student
24	24	from class, if any, and the student. If the school district makes a
25	25	good-faith effort to inform the student and the student's parent or
26	26	guardian of the time and place of the conference, the district may
27	27	hold the conference regardless of whether the student, the
28	28	student's parent or guardian, or another adult representing the
29	29	student attends. At the conference, the student is entitled to
30	30	written or oral notice of the reasons for the removal, an
31	31	explanation of the basis for the removal, all evidence to be
32	32	considered in making a determination under this subsection, subject
33	33	to Subsection (a-2), and an opportunity to respond to the reasons
34	34	for the removal. The student may not be returned to the regular
35	35	classroom pending the conference. Following the conference, and
36	36	whether or not each requested person is in attendance after valid
37	37	attempts to require the person's attendance, the campus behavior
38	38	coordinator, after consideration of the factors under Section
39	39	37.001(a)(4), shall order the placement of the student for a period
40	40	consistent with the student code of conduct. In determining the
41	41	student's placement, the campus behavior coordinator must make a
42	42	good-faith effort to corroborate and assess the validity of the
43	43	evidence considered and may not consider oral statements that are
44	44	not reduced to writing or recorded. Before ordering the
45	45	suspension, expulsion, removal to a disciplinary alternative
46	46	education program, or placement in a juvenile justice alternative
47	47	education program of a student, the behavior coordinator must
48	48	consider whether the student acted in self-defense, the intent or
49	49	lack of intent at the time the student engaged in the conduct, the
50	50	student's disciplinary history, and whether the student has a
51	51	disability that substantially impairs the student's capacity to
52	52	appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's conduct, regardless of
53	53	whether the decision of the behavior coordinator concerns a
54	54	mandatory or discretionary action. If school district policy
55	55	allows a student to appeal to the board of trustees or the board's
56	56	designee a decision of the campus behavior coordinator or other
57	57	appropriate administrator, other than an expulsion under Section
58	58	37.007 or except as provided by Subsection (b), the decision of the
59	59	board or the board's designee is final and may not be appealed. If
60	60	the period of the placement is inconsistent with the guidelines
61	61	included in the student code of conduct under Section 37.001(a)(5),
62	62	the order must give notice of the inconsistency. The period of the
63	63	placement may not exceed one year unless, after a review, the
64	64	district determines that the student is a threat to the safety of
65	65	other students or to district employees.
66	66	(a-1) For purposes of this section, "evidence" means any
67	67	tangible material, including written statements, audio or visual
68	68	recordings, or information obtained from social media.
69	69	(a-2) Evidence provided to a student, the student's parent
70	70	or guardian, or another adult representing the student under
71	71	Subsection (a) must be:
72	72	(1) for handwritten statements, provided in a typed
73	73	format; and
74	74	(2) redacted as necessary to ensure that information
75	75	provided by another student does not reveal the student's identity,
76	76	unless the district determines the identifying information is
77	77	necessary for the conference under that subsection.
78	78	(a-3) A school district shall maintain the original copy of
79	79	any evidence provided in a typed format or redacted under
80	80	Subsection (a-2) until the determination under Subsection (a) is
81	81	final, including any appeals to the commissioner or a district
82	82	court in Travis County under Section 7.057.
83	83	(a-4) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
84	84	implement and enforce Subsections (a), (a-2), and (a-3).
85	85	(a-5) A student may not be placed in a disciplinary
86	86	alternative education program for the student's first disciplinary
87	87	violation for a school year or for a period longer than three days
88	88	unless the student engaged in:
89	89	(1) conduct for which the student is required or
90	90	permitted to be placed in a disciplinary alternative education
91	91	program under Section 37.0051, 37.0052, 37.006, 37.007, 37.0081, or
92	92	37.019 or Subchapter I;
93	93	(2) conduct that constitutes an offense under
94	94	Subchapter E, other than Section 37.123, or Subchapter F;
95	95	(3) bullying, as defined by Section 37.0832;
96	96	(4) harassment, as defined by Section 37.001; or
97	97	(5) making a hit list, as defined by Section 37.001.
98	98	(b) If a student's placement in a disciplinary alternative
99	99	education program is to extend beyond seven [60] days or the end of
100	100	the next grading period, whichever is earlier, the board or the
101	101	board's designee must provide the student a hearing at which the
102	102	student is afforded due process in the same manner a student is
103	103	afforded due process in a hearing under Subsection (f) and to which
104	104	the [a] student's parent or guardian is invited, in writing, to
105	105	attend. At the proceeding, the student is entitled to be
106	106	represented by the student's parent or guardian or another adult
107	107	who can provide guidance to the student and who is not an employee
108	108	of the school district. If the school district makes a good-faith
109	109	effort to inform the student and the student's parent or guardian of
110	110	the time and place of the hearing, the district may hold the hearing
111	111	regardless of whether the student, the student's parent or
112	112	guardian, or another adult representing the student attends [notice
113	113	of and an opportunity to participate in a proceeding before the
114	114	board of trustees of the school district or the board's designee, as
115	115	provided by policy of the board of trustees of the district].
116	116	Before placing a student in a disciplinary alternative education
117	117	program, the board or the board's designee must consider the
118	118	circumstances surrounding the student's conduct and the student's
119	119	disciplinary history. If the [Any] decision to place the student in
120	120	a disciplinary alternative education program [of the board or the
121	121	board's designee] under this subsection is made by the board's
122	122	designee, the decision [final and] may [not] be appealed to the
123	123	board. The decision of the board may be appealed by trial de novo to
124	124	a district court of the county in which the district's central
125	125	administrative office is located.
126	126	SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
127	127	school year.
128	128	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
129	129	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
130	130	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
131	131	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
132	132	Act takes effect September 1, 2023.