89R14633 GP-D
By: Cunningham H.B. No. 3754
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a school district conference or hearing following a
public school student's removal from a classroom or expulsion.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 37.009(a) and (f), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Not later than the third class day after the day on which
a student is removed from class by the teacher under Section
37.002(b) or (d) or by the school principal or other appropriate
administrator under Section 37.001(a)(2) or 37.006, the campus
behavior coordinator or other appropriate administrator shall
schedule a conference among the campus behavior coordinator or
other appropriate administrator, a parent or guardian of the
student or another adult who can provide guidance to the student and
who is not an employee of the school district, the teacher removing
the student from class, if any, and the student. At the conference,
the student is entitled to written or oral notice of the reasons for
the removal, an explanation of the basis for the removal, and an
opportunity to respond to the reasons for the removal. The student
may not be returned to the regular classroom pending the
conference. Following the conference, [and whether or not each
requested person is in attendance after valid attempts to require
the person's attendance,] the campus behavior coordinator, after
consideration of the factors under Section 37.001(a)(4), shall
order the placement of the student for a period consistent with the
student code of conduct. Before ordering the suspension,
expulsion, removal to a disciplinary alternative education
program, or placement in a juvenile justice alternative education
program of a student, the behavior coordinator must consider
whether the student acted in self-defense, the intent or lack of
intent at the time the student engaged in the conduct, the student's
disciplinary history, and whether the student has a disability that
substantially impairs the student's capacity to appreciate the
wrongfulness of the student's conduct, regardless of whether the
decision of the behavior coordinator concerns a mandatory or
discretionary action. If school district policy allows a student
to appeal to the board of trustees or the board's designee a
decision of the campus behavior coordinator or other appropriate
administrator, other than an expulsion under Section 37.007, the
decision of the board or the board's designee is final and may not
be appealed. If the period of the placement is inconsistent with
the guidelines included in the student code of conduct under
Section 37.001(a)(5), the order must give notice of the
inconsistency. The period of the placement may not exceed one year
unless, after a review, the district determines that the student is
a threat to the safety of other students or to district employees.
(f) Before a student may be expelled under Section 37.007,
the board or the board's designee must provide the student a hearing
at which the student is afforded appropriate due process as
required by the federal constitution and which the student's parent
or guardian is invited, in writing, to attend. At the hearing, the
student is entitled to be represented by the student's parent or
guardian or another adult who can provide guidance to the student
and who is not an employee of the school district. [If the school
district makes a good-faith effort to inform the student and the
student's parent or guardian of the time and place of the hearing,
the district may hold the hearing regardless of whether the
student, the student's parent or guardian, or another adult
representing the student attends.] Before ordering the expulsion
of a student, the board of trustees must consider whether the
student acted in self-defense, the intent or lack of intent at the
time the student engaged in the conduct, the student's disciplinary
history, and whether the student has a disability that
substantially impairs the student's capacity to appreciate the
wrongfulness of the student's conduct, regardless of whether the
decision of the board concerns a mandatory or discretionary action.
If the decision to expel a student is made by the board's designee,
the decision may be appealed to the board. The decision of the
board may be appealed by trial de novo to a district court of the
county in which the school district's central administrative office
is located.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
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 September 1, 2025.