89R9610 BCH-D
By: Middleton S.B. No. 1523
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the discipline of certain public school students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 37.005(a), (b), (c), and (d), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The principal or other appropriate administrator may
suspend a student who engages in conduct identified in the student
code of conduct adopted under Section 37.001 as conduct for which a
student may be subject to an in-school or out-of-school suspension
[suspended].
(b) An out-of-school [A] suspension under this section may
not exceed three school days. An in-school suspension under this
section is not subject to any time limit.
(c) A student who is enrolled in a grade level below grade
three may not be placed in out-of-school suspension unless while on
school property or while attending a school-sponsored or
school-related activity on or off of school property, the student
engages in:
(1) conduct that contains the elements of an offense
related to weapons under Section 46.02 or 46.05, Penal Code;
(2) conduct that threatens the immediate health and
safety of other students in the classroom;
(3) conduct that results in repeated or significant
disruption to the classroom [contains the elements of a violent
offense under Section 22.01, 22.011, 22.02, or 22.021, Penal Code];
or
(4) [(3)] selling, giving, or delivering to another
person or possessing, using, or being under the influence of any
amount of:
(A) marihuana or a controlled substance, as
defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.
Section 801 et seq.;
(B) a dangerous drug, as defined by Chapter 483,
Health and Safety Code; or
(C) an alcoholic beverage, as defined by Section
1.04, Alcoholic Beverage Code.
(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
not place a student who is homeless in out-of-school suspension
unless the student engages in conduct described by Subsections
(c)(1)-(4) [(c)(1)-(3)] while on school property or while attending
a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off of school
property. The campus behavior coordinator may coordinate with the
school district's homeless education liaison to identify
appropriate alternatives to out-of-school suspension for a student
who is homeless. In this subsection, "student who is homeless" has
the meaning assigned to the term "homeless children and youths"
under 42 U.S.C. Section 11434a.
SECTION 2. Section 37.001(b-1), Education Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 3. Section 37.005, Education Code, as amended by
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.