By: Creighton S.B. No. 2428
(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2023; March 23, 2023, read
first time and referred to Committee on Education; May 1, 2023,
reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
following vote: Yeas 13, Nays 0; May 1, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2428 By: Parker
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the removal of a public school student from the
classroom for the possession or use of an e-cigarette.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.006, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) to
read as follows:
(a) A student shall be removed from class and placed in a
disciplinary alternative education program as provided by Section
37.008 if the student:
(1) engages in conduct involving a public school that
contains the elements of the offense of false alarm or report under
Section 42.06, Penal Code, or terroristic threat under Section
22.07, Penal Code; or
(2) subject to Subsections (a-1) and (a-2), commits
the following on or within 300 feet of school property, as measured
from any point on the school's real property boundary line, or while
attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off
of school property:
(A) engages in conduct punishable as a felony;
(B) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of assault under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code;
(C) sells, gives, or delivers to another person
or possesses or uses or is under the influence of:
(i) marihuana or a controlled substance, as
defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.
Section 801 et seq.; or
(ii) a dangerous drug, as defined by
Chapter 483, Health and Safety Code;
(D) sells, gives, or delivers to another person
an alcoholic beverage, as defined by Section 1.04, Alcoholic
Beverage Code, commits a serious act or offense while under the
influence of alcohol, or possesses, uses, or is under the influence
of an alcoholic beverage;
(E) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of an offense relating to an abusable volatile chemical under
Sections 485.031 through 485.034, Health and Safety Code;
(F) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal Code,
or indecent exposure under Section 21.08, Penal Code; or
(G) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of harassment under Section 42.07(a)(1), (2), (3),
or (7), Penal Code, against an employee of the school district.
(a-1) If a disciplinary alternative education program is at
capacity at the time a student is required to be removed from class
and placed in the program under Subsection (a) for possession or use
of an e-cigarette, as defined by Section 161.081, Health and Safety
Code, and school personnel cannot readily determine that the
e-cigarette contains a substance described by Subsection
(a)(2)(C), the student shall be:
(1) placed in in-school suspension; and
(2) if a position becomes available in the program
before the expiration of the period of the placement, transferred
to the program for the remainder of the period.
(a-2) If a disciplinary alternative education program is at
capacity at the time a student is required to be removed from class
and placed in the program under Subsection (a) for engaging in
violent conduct, as defined by commissioner rule, a student who has
been removed to the program for possession or use of an e-cigarette,
as defined by Section 161.081, Health and Safety Code:
(1) may be removed from the program and placed in
in-school suspension to make a position in the program available
for the student who engaged in violent conduct; and
(2) if removed from the program under Subdivision (1)
and a position in the program becomes available before the
expiration of the period of the placement, shall be returned to the
program for the remainder of the period.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 37.0065 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.0065. E-CIGARETTE EDUCATION REQUIREMENT. (a) In
this section, "e-cigarette" has the meaning assigned by Section
161.081, Health and Safety Code.
(b) The agency shall develop a program to educate students
required to be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary
alternative education program or in in-school suspension under
Section 37.006 for possession or use of an e-cigarette about the
risks of substance abuse and use of e-cigarettes. The program may be
provided in person or online and must include an end-of-course
assessment.
(c) A student described by Subsection (b) must complete the
program developed under that subsection and achieve a satisfactory
score on the end-of-course assessment before the student may return
to class.
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
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, 2023.
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