By Hernandez, Jones of Dallas H.B. No. 1054
74R5023 KKA-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the removal of violent and disruptive students from
1-3 regular public school classrooms and placement of those students in
1-4 alternative education programs.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Section 21.3012 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 21.3012. MANDATORY REMOVAL OF CERTAIN STUDENTS;
1-9 PLACEMENT IN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMS. (a) A school
1-10 district shall remove a student from the regular classroom and
1-11 place the student in an alternative education program or, as
1-12 provided by Subsection (b), expel the student under Section 21.3011
1-13 if the student, on school property or while attending a
1-14 school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off school
1-15 property:
1-16 (1) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
1-17 the offense of assault, sexual assault, aggravated assault, or
1-18 aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.01, 22.011, 22.02, or
1-19 22.021, Penal Code;
1-20 (2) sells, gives, or delivers to another person or
1-21 possesses or uses or is under the influence of:
1-22 (A) marihuana or a controlled substance, as
1-23 defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.
1-24 Section 801 et seq.; or
2-1 (B) a dangerous drug, as defined by Chapter 483,
2-2 Health and Safety Code; or
2-3 (3) possesses a firearm as defined by Section
2-4 46.01(3), Penal Code, an illegal knife as defined by school
2-5 district policy or Section 46.01(6), Penal Code, a club as defined
2-6 by Section 46.01(1), Penal Code, or a weapon listed as a prohibited
2-7 weapon under Section 46.05, Penal Code.
2-8 (b) The board of trustees or its designee shall remove a
2-9 student from the regular classroom immediately without a hearing if
2-10 the board or its designee receives information sufficient to
2-11 establish a reasonable belief that a student has engaged in conduct
2-12 specified by Subsection (a). Promptly after removing the student
2-13 from the regular classroom, the board or its designee must provide
2-14 the student with a hearing at which the student is afforded
2-15 appropriate due process as required by the federal constitution.
2-16 At the conclusion of the hearing, the board or its designee must
2-17 return the student to the regular classroom, place the student in
2-18 an alternative education program, or expel the student under
2-19 Section 21.3011. The board or its designee may expel the student
2-20 under Section 21.3011 only if the specific circumstances relating
2-21 to the student indicate that an alternative education program is
2-22 not appropriate. The board or its designee may not expel the
2-23 student on the grounds that an alternative education program is not
2-24 available to the district.
2-25 (c) If a decision to place a student in an alternative
2-26 education program under this section is made by the board's
2-27 designee, the decision may be appealed to the board. The decision
3-1 of the board may be appealed by trial de novo to a state district
3-2 court of the county in which the school district's central
3-3 administrative office is located. The student shall remain in an
3-4 alternative education program pending all appeals.
3-5 (d) A school district may not return a student placed in an
3-6 alternative education program under this section to a regular
3-7 classroom:
3-8 (1) during the semester in which the conduct resulting
3-9 in the placement occurred; and
3-10 (2) unless the school committee established under
3-11 Section 21.931 approves the placement after reviewing the relevant
3-12 circumstances.
3-13 (e) A district may consider returning a student to a regular
3-14 classroom in the school from which the student was removed only if
3-15 no other school is suitable. A district may not return a student
3-16 to the supervision of a teacher or other school employee from whose
3-17 supervision the student was originally removed.
3-18 (f) A school district must provide advance notice of a
3-19 school committee's review under Subsection (d) and must provide an
3-20 opportunity for comment by employees of the school from which the
3-21 student was removed and the school in which the district proposes
3-22 to place the student.
3-23 (g) A school district that returns a student placed in an
3-24 alternative education program under this section to the regular
3-25 classroom must give advance notice of the student's record to any
3-26 teacher or other school employee who will be responsible for
3-27 supervising the student. A teacher or other school employee must
4-1 keep information received under this subsection confidential.
4-2 (h) A school district shall establish or otherwise provide
4-3 access to an alternative education program for a student removed
4-4 from the regular classroom under this section. The program must be
4-5 appropriate for the age of the student and the gravity of the
4-6 student's conduct that warranted the student's removal. The
4-7 program may consist of programs at separate locations, programs
4-8 operated under contractual arrangements with other school
4-9 districts, or other arrangements that provide for an education
4-10 separate from the regular classroom. The program may not allow the
4-11 student to remain at the school at which the prohibited conduct
4-12 occurred in separate classrooms or other similar arrangement.
4-13 SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 16, Education Code, is
4-14 amended by adding Section 16.154 to read as follows:
4-15 Sec. 16.154. ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM ALLOTMENT. (a)
4-16 For each student in average daily attendance in an alternative
4-17 education program under Section 21.3012, a school district is
4-18 entitled to an annual allotment equal to the adjusted basic
4-19 allotment multiplied by 1.75.
4-20 (b) Funds allocated under this section must be used in
4-21 providing an alternative program for students who have engaged in
4-22 conduct specified by Section 21.3012.
4-23 SECTION 3. Sections 21.301(b)-(d), (g), and (l), Education
4-24 Code, are amended to read as follows:
4-25 (b) Before it may suspend a student or remove a student to
4-26 an alternative education program under this section, the board or
4-27 the board's designee must determine:
5-1 (1) that the student's presence in the regular
5-2 classroom program or at the home campus presents a danger of
5-3 physical harm to the student or to other individuals; or
5-4 (2) that the student has engaged in serious or
5-5 persistent misbehavior that violates the district's previously
5-6 communicated standards of student conduct.
5-7 (c) Before suspending a student under this section, the
5-8 board or its designee shall consider reasonable alternatives,
5-9 including appropriate discipline management techniques which may
5-10 include removal to an alternative education program. If the board
5-11 or its designee determines that suspension is the most appropriate
5-12 available alternative, the board or the board's designee is not
5-13 required to precede the suspension with another disciplinary
5-14 action.
5-15 (d) Except as provided by this subsection, removal to a
5-16 supervised alternative education setting under this section may not
5-17 extend beyond the end of the semester during which the conduct that
5-18 directly led to the removal occurred. If the conduct occurred
5-19 during the final six-week reporting period of a semester, the
5-20 removal may extend beyond the end of that semester but may not
5-21 extend beyond the end of the next semester. The board may permit
5-22 the student to remain in the alternative program for an additional
5-23 period agreed on by the student, the student's parent or guardian,
5-24 the supervisor of the alternative program, and the principal of the
5-25 student's home school if they agree that the additional period
5-26 would best serve the student's educational interest. This
5-27 subsection does not apply to the placement of a student with
6-1 disabilities in an alternative program in accordance with the
6-2 decision of an admission, review, and dismissal committee.
6-3 (g) The board or the board's designee shall provide for the
6-4 continuing education of a student who has been removed to an
6-5 alternative education program under this section. A district shall
6-6 provide for one or more alternative education programs under this
6-7 section such as:
6-8 (1) in-school suspension;
6-9 (2) transfer to a different campus;
6-10 (3) transfer to a school-community guidance center; or
6-11 (4) transfer to a community-based alternative school.
6-12 (l) A teacher may remove from class a student who has been
6-13 documented by the teacher to repeatedly interfere with the
6-14 teacher's ability to communicate effectively with the students in
6-15 the class. Not later than the third class day after the day on
6-16 which the student is removed from the class, the principal shall
6-17 schedule a hearing among the principal or the principal's designee,
6-18 a parent or guardian of the student, the teacher, and the student.
6-19 Following the hearing, and whether or not all requested parties are
6-20 in attendance after valid attempts to require their attendance, the
6-21 principal shall suspend the pupil for a period consistent with
6-22 local policy, not to exceed six school days, place the student in
6-23 an alternative education program under this section, or place the
6-24 student back in the class. If the student is removed a second time
6-25 under this subsection within the same semester, the student may be
6-26 returned to that class only by action of the superintendent at the
6-27 principal's request. If the student is removed a third or
7-1 subsequent time under this subsection within the same semester, the
7-2 student may be returned to that class only by action of the
7-3 district's board of trustees at the request of the superintendent.
7-4 SECTION 4. Sections 21.3011(b), (c), and (i), Education
7-5 Code, are amended to read as follows:
7-6 (b) A student may be removed from class and expelled without
7-7 resort to an alternative education program under Section 21.301 or
7-8 21.3012 of this code if the student, on school property or while
7-9 attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off
7-10 of school property:
7-11 (1) engages in conduct described by Section 21.3012(a)
7-12 and the district determines under Section 21.3012(b) that an
7-13 alternative education program is not appropriate <assaults a
7-14 teacher or other individual>;
7-15 (2) <sells, gives, or delivers to another person or
7-16 possesses or uses or is under the influence of:>
7-17 <(A) marihuana or a controlled substance, as
7-18 defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.
7-19 Section 801 et seq.; or>
7-20 <(B) a dangerous drug, as defined by Chapter
7-21 483, Health and Safety Code;>
7-22 <(3)> sells, gives, or delivers to another person an
7-23 alcoholic beverage, as defined by Section 1.04, Alcoholic Beverage
7-24 Code, <or> commits a serious act or offense while under the
7-25 influence of alcohol,<;> or on more than one occasion possesses,
7-26 uses, or is under the influence of an alcoholic beverage;
7-27 <(4) possesses a firearm as defined by Section
8-1 46.01(3), Penal Code, an illegal knife as defined by Section
8-2 46.01(6), Penal Code, a club as defined by Section 46.01(1), Penal
8-3 Code, or a weapon listed as a prohibited weapon under Section
8-4 46.06, Penal Code;>
8-5 (3) <(5)> engages in conduct that contains the
8-6 elements of an offense relating to abusable glue or aerosol paint
8-7 under Sections 485.031 through 485.035, Health and Safety Code, or
8-8 relating to volatile chemicals under Chapter 484, Health and Safety
8-9 Code;
8-10 (4) <(6)> engages in conduct that contains the
8-11 elements of the offense of arson under Section 28.02, Penal Code;
8-12 (5) <(7)> engages in conduct that contains the
8-13 elements of the offense of criminal mischief under Section 28.03,
8-14 Penal Code, if the offense is punishable as a felony under that
8-15 section; or
8-16 (6) <(8)> engages in conduct that contains the
8-17 elements of the offense of public lewdness under Section 21.07,
8-18 Penal Code.
8-19 (c) A student who, after having been placed in an
8-20 alternative education program under Section 21.301 or 21.3012 of
8-21 this code, continues to engage in serious or persistent misbehavior
8-22 that violates the district's previously communicated written
8-23 standards of student conduct may be removed from class and
8-24 expelled.
8-25 (i) Each school district shall provide each teacher and
8-26 administrator with a copy of Sections <Section> 21.301 and 21.3012
8-27 and this section of this code and with a copy of the local policies
9-1 relating to the sections.
9-2 SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 1995-1996
9-3 school year.
9-4 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
9-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
9-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
9-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
9-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
9-9 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
9-10 passage, and it is so enacted.