Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3325 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R12811 AND-F
2	2	By: Allen H.B. No. 3325
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to a public school student's transition from an
10	10	alternative education program to a regular educational
11	11	environment, including parental rights related to that transition,
12	12	and the admission of certain students with a criminal or
13	13	disciplinary history.
14	14	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	15	SECTION 1. Section 12.104(b), Education Code, is amended to
16	16	read as follows:
17	17	(b) An open-enrollment charter school is subject to:
18	18	(1) a provision of this title establishing a criminal
19	19	offense;
20	20	(2) the provisions in Chapter 554, Government Code;
21	21	and
22	22	(3) a prohibition, restriction, or requirement, as
23	23	applicable, imposed by this title or a rule adopted under this
24	24	title, relating to:
25	25	(A) the Public Education Information Management
26	26	System (PEIMS) to the extent necessary to monitor compliance with
27	27	this subchapter as determined by the commissioner;
28	28	(B) criminal history records under Subchapter C,
29	29	Chapter 22;
30	30	(C) reading instruments and accelerated reading
31	31	instruction programs under Section 28.006;
32	32	(D) accelerated instruction under Section
33	33	28.0211;
34	34	(E) high school graduation requirements under
35	35	Section 28.025;
36	36	(F) special education programs under Subchapter
37	37	A, Chapter 29;
38	38	(G) bilingual education under Subchapter B,
39	39	Chapter 29;
40	40	(H) prekindergarten programs under Subchapter E
41	41	or E-1, Chapter 29, except class size limits for prekindergarten
42	42	classes imposed under Section 25.112, which do not apply;
43	43	(I) extracurricular activities under Section
44	44	33.081;
45	45	(J) discipline management practices or behavior
46	46	management techniques under Section 37.0021;
47	47	(K) health and safety under Chapter 38;
48	48	(L) the provisions of Subchapter A, Chapter 39;
49	49	(M) public school accountability and special
50	50	investigations under Subchapters A, B, C, D, F, G, and J, Chapter
51	51	39, and Chapter 39A;
52	52	(N) the requirement under Section 21.006 to
53	53	report an educator's misconduct;
54	54	(O) intensive programs of instruction under
55	55	Section 28.0213;
56	56	(P) the right of a school employee to report a
57	57	crime, as provided by Section 37.148;
58	58	(Q) bullying prevention policies and procedures
59	59	under Section 37.0832;
60	60	(R) the right of a school under Section 37.0052
61	61	to place a student who has engaged in certain bullying behavior in a
62	62	disciplinary alternative education program or to expel the student;
63	63	(S) the right under Section 37.0151 to report to
64	64	local law enforcement certain conduct constituting assault or
65	65	harassment;
66	66	(T) a parent's right to information regarding the
67	67	provision of assistance for learning difficulties to the parent's
68	68	child as provided by Sections 26.004(b)(11) and 26.0081(c) and (d);
69	69	(U) establishment of residency under Section
70	70	25.001;
71	71	(V) school safety requirements under Sections
72	72	37.0814, 37.108, 37.1081, 37.1082, 37.1083, 37.1084, 37.1085,
73	73	37.1086, 37.109, 37.113, 37.114, 37.1141, 37.115, 37.207, and
74	74	37.2071 and Subchapter J, Chapter 37;
75	75	(W) the early childhood literacy and mathematics
76	76	proficiency plans under Section 11.185;
77	77	(X) the college, career, and military readiness
78	78	plans under Section 11.186; [and]
79	79	(Y) parental options to retain a student under
80	80	Section 28.02124; and
81	81	(Z) the requirements for a student's transition
82	82	from an alternative education program under Section 37.023.
83	83	SECTION 2. Section 25.001, Education Code, is amended by
84	84	adding Subsections (b-3) and (b-4) to read as follows:
85	85	(b-3) Except as provided by Subsection (b-4) and
86	86	notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 37, the board of trustees
87	87	of a school district or the board's designee may not refuse to
88	88	enroll a student based on the student's criminal, juvenile, or
89	89	disciplinary history or standing. A district shall promptly enroll
90	90	a student released from an alternative education program, as
91	91	defined by Section 37.023, who is otherwise eligible for enrollment
92	92	under Subsection (b). This subsection may not be construed to
93	93	prohibit the board or the board's designee from:
94	94	(1) revoking admission of a student under Subsection
95	95	(b-1);
96	96	(2) refusing to admit a person under 18 years of age
97	97	whom the board is not required to admit under Subsection (d);
98	98	(3) transferring a student in accordance with Section
99	99	25.0341 or 25.0342; or
100	100	(4) expelling a student or placing a student in a
101	101	disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.008 or
102	102	a juvenile justice alternative education program under Section
103	103	37.011 in accordance with Section 37.0051, 37.0052, 37.006, 37.007,
104	104	37.0081, or 37.011, as applicable.
105	105	(b-4) Subsection (b-3) does not apply to the interdistrict
106	106	transfer of a student under Subchapter B.
107	107	SECTION 3. The heading to Section 37.023, Education Code,
108	108	is amended to read as follows:
109	109	Sec. 37.023. TRANSITION FROM ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM
110	110	TO REGULAR EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT [CLASSROOM].
111	111	SECTION 4. Section 37.023, Education Code, is amended by
112	112	amending Subsections (c), (d), and (e) and adding Subsections
113	113	(c-1), (d-1), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
114	114	(c) Not later than five instructional days after the date of
115	115	a student's release from an alternative education program, the
116	116	campus administrator shall hold a meeting to coordinate the
117	117	student's enrollment and transition to a regular educational
118	118	environment [classroom]. The coordination must include assistance
119	119	and recommendations from the student's parent or a person standing
120	120	in parental relation to the student and, as applicable:
121	121	(1) school counselors;
122	122	(2) school district peace officers;
123	123	(3) school resource officers;
124	124	(4) licensed clinical social workers;
125	125	(5) campus behavior coordinators;
126	126	(6) classroom teachers who are or may be responsible
127	127	for implementing the student's personalized transition plan
128	128	developed under Subsection (d);
129	129	(7) for a student who is a student with a disability as
130	130	defined by Section 21.001, the campus special education
131	131	administrator or other campus administrator responsible for
132	132	overseeing the student's educational program, as applicable;
133	133	(8) for a student who is a court-related child, the
134	134	liaison officer appointed under Section 37.014; and
135	135	(9) [(7)] any other appropriate school district
136	136	personnel.
137	137	(c-1) The campus administrator shall, before finalizing a
138	138	personalized transition plan for a student under Subsection (d),
139	139	provide to the student's parent or a person standing in parental
140	140	relation to the student:
141	141	(1) a list of the people who will be assisting in the
142	142	student's enrollment and transition to a regular educational
143	143	environment under Subsection (c); and
144	144	(2) an opportunity to meet, either in person or
145	145	remotely, with the people included on the list described by
146	146	Subdivision (1) to:
147	147	(A) discuss any proposed assistance or
148	148	recommendations for the student's transition; and
149	149	(B) provide information regarding the student
150	150	that may be useful in developing the plan.
151	151	(d) The enrollment and transition assistance required by
152	152	Subsection (c) must include a personalized transition plan for the
153	153	student developed by the campus administrator. A personalized
154	154	transition plan:
155	155	(1) must include:
156	156	(A) recommendations for the best educational
157	157	placement of the student based on a review of the student's previous
158	158	coursework, course credit earned, performance on any assessment
159	159	instrument administered under Section 37.0082, and educational
160	160	record, including:
161	161	(i) a calculation of the number of course
162	162	credits the student has earned toward graduation requirements, as
163	163	determined under Subsection (g); and
164	164	(ii) a description of appropriate courses
165	165	in which the student should be placed; and
166	166	(B) the provision of information to the student's
167	167	parent or a person standing in parental relation to the student
168	168	regarding the process to request a full individual and initial
169	169	evaluation of the student for purposes of special education
170	170	services under Section 29.004; and
171	171	(2) may include:
172	172	(A) recommendations for counseling, behavioral
173	173	management, or academic assistance for the student with a
174	174	concentration on the student's academic or career goals; and
175	175	(B) recommendations for assistance for obtaining
176	176	access to mental health services provided by the district or
177	177	school, a local mental health authority, or another private or
178	178	public entity[; and
179	179	[(C) a regular review of the student's progress
180	180	toward the student's academic or career goals].
181	181	(d-1) After a student has transitioned to a regular
182	182	educational environment under this section, the campus
183	183	administrator or the administrator's designee shall conduct
184	184	reviews at the beginning of each semester and the end of each school
185	185	year of the student's progress toward the student's academic or
186	186	career goals.
187	187	(e) As soon as practicable after completing a student's
188	188	personalized transition plan under Subsection (d) [If
189	189	practicable], the campus administrator shall provide an electronic
190	190	or written copy of the personalized transition plan to [, or the
191	191	administrator's designee, shall meet with] the student's parent or
192	192	a person standing in parental relation to the student [to
193	193	coordinate plans for the student's transition].
194	194	(g) A school district shall adopt a policy that, to the
195	195	greatest extent possible, allows for credits that were successfully
196	196	completed while the student was enrolled in an alternative
197	197	education program or at a previous school, including a school in the
198	198	Windham School District, to fulfill credits required for high
199	199	school graduation, provided that the completed courses meet the
200	200	standards adopted under Section 28.002(c). The policy adopted
201	201	under this subsection may provide for partial credit, if determined
202	202	appropriate by the district.
203	203	(h) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to
204	204	implement this section.
205	205	SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
206	206	school year.
207	207	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
208	208	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
209	209	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
210	210	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
211	211	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.