89R15145 RDR-F
By: Allen H.B. No. 4651
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the period for which a public school student may be
placed in a disciplinary alternative education program or expelled.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.001(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The board of trustees of an independent school district
shall, with the advice of its district-level committee established
under Subchapter F, Chapter 11, adopt a student code of conduct for
the district. The student code of conduct must be posted and
prominently displayed at each school campus or made available for
review at the office of the campus principal. In addition to
establishing standards for student conduct, the student code of
conduct must:
(1) specify the circumstances, in accordance with this
subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom,
campus, disciplinary alternative education program, or vehicle
owned or operated by the district;
(2) specify conditions that authorize or require a
principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student
to a disciplinary alternative education program;
(3) outline conditions under which a student may be
suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by
Section 37.007;
(4) specify that consideration will be given, as a
factor in each decision concerning suspension, removal to a
disciplinary alternative education program, expulsion, or
placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program,
regardless of whether the decision concerns a mandatory or
discretionary action, to:
(A) self-defense;
(B) intent or lack of intent at the time the
student engaged in the conduct;
(C) a student's disciplinary history;
(D) a disability that substantially impairs the
student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's
conduct;
(E) a student's status in the conservatorship of
the Department of Family and Protective Services; or
(F) a student's status as a student who is
homeless;
(5) provide guidelines for setting the length of a
term of:
(A) a removal under Section 37.006, which may not
exceed 30 days; and
(B) an expulsion under Section 37.007, which may
not exceed 60 days;
(6) address the notification of a student's parent or
guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by
the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary
alternative education program, or expulsion;
(7) prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit
lists and ensure that district employees enforce those
prohibitions;
(8) provide, as appropriate for students at each grade
level, methods, including options, for:
(A) managing students in the classroom, on school
grounds, and on a vehicle owned or operated by the district;
(B) disciplining students; and
(C) preventing and intervening in student
discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making
hit lists; and
(9) include an explanation of the provisions regarding
refusal of entry to or ejection from district property under
Section 37.105, including the appeal process established under
Section 37.105(h).
SECTION 2. Sections 37.009(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (h),
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, 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. The [If the] period of the placement must
be consistent [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.]
(b) If a student's placement in a disciplinary alternative
education program is to extend beyond 10 [60] days or the end of the
next grading period, whichever is earlier, a student's parent or
guardian is entitled to notice of and an opportunity to participate
in a proceeding before the board of trustees of the school district
or the board's designee, as provided by policy of the board of
trustees of the district. Any decision of the board or the board's
designee under this subsection is final and may not be appealed.
(c) Before it may place [a student] in a disciplinary
alternative education program or expel a student for a reason for
which placement in a disciplinary alternative education program or
expulsion is permissive [a period that extends beyond the end of the
school year], the board or the board's designee must determine
that[:
[(1)] the student's presence in the regular classroom
program or at the student's regular campus presents a danger of
physical harm to the student or to another individual[; or
[(2) the student has engaged in serious or persistent
misbehavior that violates the district's student code of conduct].
(d) The board or the board's designee shall set a term for a
student's placement in a disciplinary alternative education
program that is consistent[. 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:
[(1) the student is a threat to the safety of other
students or to district employees; or
[(2) extended placement is in the best interest of the
student.]
(e) A student placed in a disciplinary alternative
education program or expelled shall be provided a review of the
student's status, including a review of the student's academic
status, by the board's designee at intervals not to exceed 10 [120]
days. In the case of a high school student, the board's designee,
with the student's parent or guardian, shall review the student's
progress towards meeting high school graduation requirements and
shall establish a specific graduation plan for the student. The
district is not required under this subsection to provide a course
in the district's disciplinary alternative education program
except as required by Section 37.008(l). At the review, the student
or the student's parent or guardian must be given the opportunity to
present arguments for the student's return to the regular classroom
or campus. The student may not be returned to the classroom of the
teacher who removed the student without that teacher's consent.
The teacher may not be coerced to consent.
(h) The board or the board's designee shall set a term for a
student's expulsion that is consistent [If the period of an
expulsion 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 an expulsion may
not exceed one year unless, after a review, the district determines
that:
[(1) the student is a threat to the safety of other
students or to district employees; or
[(2) extended placement is in the best interest of the
student.] After a school district notifies the parents or
guardians of a student that the student has been expelled, the
parent or guardian shall provide adequate supervision of the
student during the period of expulsion.
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
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, 2025.