Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2083 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

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1	1	By: Menéndez S.B. No. 2083
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to a public school student's transition from an
7	7	alternative education program to a regular classroom and the
8	8	admission of certain students with a criminal or disciplinary
9	9	history.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 25.001, Education Code, is amended by
12	12	adding Subsection (b-3) to read as follows:
13	13	(b-3) The board of trustees of a school district may not
14	14	refuse to admit a student based on the student's criminal,
15	15	juvenile, or disciplinary history including arrests, criminal
16	16	charges, criminal adjudications, convictions, placements on
17	17	community supervision, or detentions. A district shall promptly
18	18	enroll a student released from an alternative education program, as
19	19	defined by Section 37.023, who is otherwise eligible for enrollment
20	20	under Subsection (b).
21	21	SECTION 2. Section 37.023, Education Code, is amended by
22	22	amending Subsections (c), (d), and (e) and adding Subsections (d-1)
23	23	and (g) to read as follows:
24	24	(c) Not later than five instructional days after the date of
25	25	a student's release from an alternative education program, the
26	26	campus administrator shall coordinate the student's enrollment and
27	27	transition to a regular classroom. The coordination must include
28	28	assistance and recommendations from:
29	29	(1) school counselors;
30	30	(2) school district peace officers;
31	31	(3) school resource officers;
32	32	(4) licensed clinical social workers;
33	33	(5) campus behavior coordinators;
34	34	(6) classroom teachers who are or may be responsible
35	35	for implementing the student's personalized transition plan
36	36	developed under Subsection (d);
37	37	(7) if the student is younger than 18 years of age and
38	38	subject to Subsection (e), the student's parent or a person
39	39	standing in parental relation to the student; and
40	40	(8) [(7)] any other appropriate school district
41	41	personnel.
42	42	(d) The assistance required by Subsection (c) must include a
43	43	personalized transition plan for the student developed by the
44	44	campus administrator. A personalized transition plan:
45	45	(1) must include recommendations for the best
46	46	educational placement of the student, based on a review of the
47	47	student's previous coursework, course credit earned, and
48	48	educational record and including:
49	49	(A) a calculation of the number of course credits
50	50	the student has earned toward graduation requirements, as
51	51	determined under Subsection (g);
52	52	(B) a description of appropriate courses in which
53	53	the student should be placed; and
54	54	(C) an explanation of the requirements of the
55	55	student's individualized education program, behavior intervention
56	56	plan, or plan created under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973
57	57	(29 U.S.C. Section 794), if applicable; and
58	58	(2) may include:
59	59	(A) recommendations for counseling, behavioral
60	60	management, or academic assistance for the student with a
61	61	concentration on the student's academic or career goals;
62	62	(B) recommendations for assistance for obtaining
63	63	access to mental health services provided by the district or
64	64	school, a local mental health authority, or another private or
65	65	public entity; and
66	66	(C) the provision of information to the student's
67	67	parent or a person standing in parental relation to the student
68	68	about the process to request a full individual and initial
69	69	evaluation of the student for purposes of special education
70	70	services under Section 29.004[;and
71	71	[(D) a regular review of the student's progress
72	72	toward the student's academic or career goals].
73	73	(d-1) After a student has transitioned to a regular
74	74	classroom under this section, the campus administrator shall
75	75	conduct reviews at the beginning of each school year and the end of
76	76	each grading period of the student's progress toward the student's
77	77	academic or career goals.
78	78	(e) If a student's parent or a person standing in parental
79	79	relation to the student is unavailable to assist under Subsection
80	80	(c) [practicable], the campus administrator shall provide an
81	81	electronic or written copy of the personalized transition plan
82	82	developed under Subsection (d) to [, or the administrator's
83	83	designee, shall meet with] the [student's] parent or [a] person
84	84	[standing in parental relation to the student to coordinate plans
85	85	for the student's transition].
86	86	(g) A campus administrator shall, to the greatest extent
87	87	possible, consider credits successfully completed while the
88	88	student was enrolled in an alternative education program or at a
89	89	previous school as fulfilling credits required for high school
90	90	graduation.
91	91	SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
92	92	school year.
93	93	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
94	94	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
95	95	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
96	96	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
97	97	Act takes effect September 1, 2023.