Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4651 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R15145 RDR-F
2	2	By: Allen H.B. No. 4651
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the period for which a public school student may be
10	10	placed in a disciplinary alternative education program or expelled.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 37.001(a), Education Code, is amended to
13	13	read as follows:
14	14	(a) The board of trustees of an independent school district
15	15	shall, with the advice of its district-level committee established
16	16	under Subchapter F, Chapter 11, adopt a student code of conduct for
17	17	the district. The student code of conduct must be posted and
18	18	prominently displayed at each school campus or made available for
19	19	review at the office of the campus principal. In addition to
20	20	establishing standards for student conduct, the student code of
21	21	conduct must:
22	22	(1) specify the circumstances, in accordance with this
23	23	subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom,
24	24	campus, disciplinary alternative education program, or vehicle
25	25	owned or operated by the district;
26	26	(2) specify conditions that authorize or require a
27	27	principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student
28	28	to a disciplinary alternative education program;
29	29	(3) outline conditions under which a student may be
30	30	suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by
31	31	Section 37.007;
32	32	(4) specify that consideration will be given, as a
33	33	factor in each decision concerning suspension, removal to a
34	34	disciplinary alternative education program, expulsion, or
35	35	placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program,
36	36	regardless of whether the decision concerns a mandatory or
37	37	discretionary action, to:
38	38	(A) self-defense;
39	39	(B) intent or lack of intent at the time the
40	40	student engaged in the conduct;
41	41	(C) a student's disciplinary history;
42	42	(D) a disability that substantially impairs the
43	43	student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's
44	44	conduct;
45	45	(E) a student's status in the conservatorship of
46	46	the Department of Family and Protective Services; or
47	47	(F) a student's status as a student who is
48	48	homeless;
49	49	(5) provide guidelines for setting the length of a
50	50	term of:
51	51	(A) a removal under Section 37.006, which may not
52	52	exceed 30 days; and
53	53	(B) an expulsion under Section 37.007, which may
54	54	not exceed 60 days;
55	55	(6) address the notification of a student's parent or
56	56	guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by
57	57	the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary
58	58	alternative education program, or expulsion;
59	59	(7) prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit
60	60	lists and ensure that district employees enforce those
61	61	prohibitions;
62	62	(8) provide, as appropriate for students at each grade
63	63	level, methods, including options, for:
64	64	(A) managing students in the classroom, on school
65	65	grounds, and on a vehicle owned or operated by the district;
66	66	(B) disciplining students; and
67	67	(C) preventing and intervening in student
68	68	discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making
69	69	hit lists; and
70	70	(9) include an explanation of the provisions regarding
71	71	refusal of entry to or ejection from district property under
72	72	Section 37.105, including the appeal process established under
73	73	Section 37.105(h).
74	74	SECTION 2. Sections 37.009(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (h),
75	75	Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
76	76	(a) Not later than the third class day after the day on which
77	77	a student is removed from class by the teacher under Section
78	78	37.002(b) or (d) or by the school principal or other appropriate
79	79	administrator under Section 37.001(a)(2) or 37.006, the campus
80	80	behavior coordinator or other appropriate administrator shall
81	81	schedule a conference among the campus behavior coordinator or
82	82	other appropriate administrator, a parent or guardian of the
83	83	student, the teacher removing the student from class, if any, and
84	84	the student. At the conference, the student is entitled to written
85	85	or oral notice of the reasons for the removal, an explanation of the
86	86	basis for the removal, and an opportunity to respond to the reasons
87	87	for the removal. The student may not be returned to the regular
88	88	classroom pending the conference. Following the conference, and
89	89	whether or not each requested person is in attendance after valid
90	90	attempts to require the person's attendance, the campus behavior
91	91	coordinator, after consideration of the factors under Section
92	92	37.001(a)(4), shall order the placement of the student for a period
93	93	consistent with the student code of conduct. Before ordering the
94	94	suspension, expulsion, removal to a disciplinary alternative
95	95	education program, or placement in a juvenile justice alternative
96	96	education program of a student, the behavior coordinator must
97	97	consider whether the student acted in self-defense, the intent or
98	98	lack of intent at the time the student engaged in the conduct, the
99	99	student's disciplinary history, and whether the student has a
100	100	disability that substantially impairs the student's capacity to
101	101	appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's conduct, regardless of
102	102	whether the decision of the behavior coordinator concerns a
103	103	mandatory or discretionary action. If school district policy
104	104	allows a student to appeal to the board of trustees or the board's
105	105	designee a decision of the campus behavior coordinator or other
106	106	appropriate administrator, other than an expulsion under Section
107	107	37.007, the decision of the board or the board's designee is final
108	108	and may not be appealed. The [If the] period of the placement must
109	109	be consistent [is inconsistent] with the guidelines included in the
110	110	student code of conduct under Section 37.001(a)(5)[, the order must
111	111	give notice of the inconsistency]. [The period of the placement may
112	112	not exceed one year unless, after a review, the district determines
113	113	that the student is a threat to the safety of other students or to
114	114	district employees.]
115	115	(b) If a student's placement in a disciplinary alternative
116	116	education program is to extend beyond 10 [60] days or the end of the
117	117	next grading period, whichever is earlier, a student's parent or
118	118	guardian is entitled to notice of and an opportunity to participate
119	119	in a proceeding before the board of trustees of the school district
120	120	or the board's designee, as provided by policy of the board of
121	121	trustees of the district. Any decision of the board or the board's
122	122	designee under this subsection is final and may not be appealed.
123	123	(c) Before it may place [a student] in a disciplinary
124	124	alternative education program or expel a student for a reason for
125	125	which placement in a disciplinary alternative education program or
126	126	expulsion is permissive [a period that extends beyond the end of the
127	127	school year], the board or the board's designee must determine
128	128	that[:
129	129	[(1)] the student's presence in the regular classroom
130	130	program or at the student's regular campus presents a danger of
131	131	physical harm to the student or to another individual[; or
132	132	[(2) the student has engaged in serious or persistent
133	133	misbehavior that violates the district's student code of conduct].
134	134	(d) The board or the board's designee shall set a term for a
135	135	student's placement in a disciplinary alternative education
136	136	program that is consistent[. If the period of the placement is
137	137	inconsistent] with the guidelines included in the student code of
138	138	conduct under Section 37.001(a)(5)[, the order must give notice of
139	139	the inconsistency]. [The period of the placement may not exceed one
140	140	year unless, after a review, the district determines that:
141	141	[(1) the student is a threat to the safety of other
142	142	students or to district employees; or
143	143	[(2) extended placement is in the best interest of the
144	144	student.]
145	145	(e) A student placed in a disciplinary alternative
146	146	education program or expelled shall be provided a review of the
147	147	student's status, including a review of the student's academic
148	148	status, by the board's designee at intervals not to exceed 10 [120]
149	149	days. In the case of a high school student, the board's designee,
150	150	with the student's parent or guardian, shall review the student's
151	151	progress towards meeting high school graduation requirements and
152	152	shall establish a specific graduation plan for the student. The
153	153	district is not required under this subsection to provide a course
154	154	in the district's disciplinary alternative education program
155	155	except as required by Section 37.008(l). At the review, the student
156	156	or the student's parent or guardian must be given the opportunity to
157	157	present arguments for the student's return to the regular classroom
158	158	or campus. The student may not be returned to the classroom of the
159	159	teacher who removed the student without that teacher's consent.
160	160	The teacher may not be coerced to consent.
161	161	(h) The board or the board's designee shall set a term for a
162	162	student's expulsion that is consistent [If the period of an
163	163	expulsion is inconsistent] with the guidelines included in the
164	164	student code of conduct under Section 37.001(a)(5)[, the order must
165	165	give notice of the inconsistency]. [The period of an expulsion may
166	166	not exceed one year unless, after a review, the district determines
167	167	that:
168	168	[(1) the student is a threat to the safety of other
169	169	students or to district employees; or
170	170	[(2) extended placement is in the best interest of the
171	171	student.] After a school district notifies the parents or
172	172	guardians of a student that the student has been expelled, the
173	173	parent or guardian shall provide adequate supervision of the
174	174	student during the period of expulsion.
175	175	SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
176	176	school year.
177	177	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
178	178	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
179	179	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
180	180	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
181	181	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.