By: Toth H.B. No. 43
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a public school classroom safety review and referral
program for students who engage in violent criminal conduct;
creating a criminal offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 37.088 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.088. CLASSROOM SAFETY REVIEW AND REFERRAL PROGRAM.
(a) If, after an investigation is completed, the principal of a
public primary or secondary school has reasonable grounds to
believe that a student engaged in violent criminal conduct,
including assaultive conduct, the principal shall:
(1) refer the student to the classroom safety review
committee established under Subsection (b); or
(2) make a report to any school district police
department, if applicable, or the police department of the
municipality in which the school is located or, if the school is not
in a municipality, the sheriff of the county in which the school is
located.
(b) Before the beginning of each school year, a public
primary or secondary school shall establish a classroom safety
review committee that consists of five classroom teachers who are
selected from all classroom teachers employed by the school through
a nomination and election process, as determined by the school.
(c) If a student is referred to the classroom safety review
committee under Subsection (a)(1), the committee shall review all
electronic, written, and verbal evidence or testimony or video
provided to the committee and interview any eyewitnesses. After
review, the committee shall, by majority vote, refer the student
to:
(1) a person designated by the school as the juvenile
diversion administrator under Subsection (d); or
(2) the classroom safety referral board established
under Subsection (e).
(d) A public primary or secondary school shall designate a
person as the juvenile diversion administrator for the school. If
the classroom safety review committee refers a student to the
juvenile diversion administrator under Subsection (c)(1), the
juvenile diversion administrator shall:
(1) require the student to perform a certain number of
hours of community service;
(2) require the student to participate in tutoring; or
(3) make a determination that the student is not
required to take any additional actions.
(e) A public primary or secondary school shall establish a
classroom safety referral board that consists of:
(1) two teachers who serve on the classroom safety
review committee;
(2) an assistant district attorney of the county in
which the school is located;
(3) an investigator from the sheriff's office in the
county in which the school is located; and
(4) a parent of a student enrolled at the school
selected by the board of trustees of the school district.
(f) If the classroom safety review committee refers a
student to the classroom safety referral board, the board shall
review all electronic, written, and verbal evidence or testimony or
video provided to the board and may hear new testimony from the
student or an eyewitness of the conduct. After review, the board, by
majority vote, shall:
(1) report the student's conduct to the local law
enforcement agency; or
(2) refer the student to the juvenile diversion
administrator under Subsection (d).
(g) Materials and information provided to or produced by the
classroom safety review committee or the classroom safety referral
board during a student review under this section must be maintained
in the student's school record until the student's 24th birthday.
(h) A person commits an offense if the person destroys
material or information described by Subsection (g) before the
period of maintenance required under that subsection has expired.
An offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
(i) If an educator commits an offense under Subsection (h),
the educator may be subject to termination or suspension of the
educator's contract.
(j) Any testimony provided by an educator to the classroom
safety review committee or the classroom safety referral board
under this section is confidential and may not be disclosed to any
other person.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2024-2025
school year.
SECTION 3. 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 on the 91st day after the last day of legislative
session.