By: West S.B. No. 340
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to programs for public school students with disciplinary
1-2 problems; creating an offense and providing a penalty.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
1-5 amended by adding Section 21.3012 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 21.3012. ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM FOR SERIOUS OFFENDERS.
1-7 (a) A student may be placed in the serious offender program as an
1-8 alternative to expulsion if the student is determined to be a
1-9 danger to himself or herself or others. A student may be placed in
1-10 the serious offender program if the student, on school property or
1-11 while attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or
1-12 off of school property:
1-13 (1) assaults a teacher or other individual as defined
1-14 in Sections 22.01 and 22.011, Penal Code;
1-15 (2) sells, gives, or delivers to another person or
1-16 possesses:
1-17 (A) marihuana or a controlled substance as
1-18 defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.
1-19 Section 801 et seq.; or
1-20 (B) a dangerous drug as defined by Chapter 483,
1-21 Health and Safety Code;
1-22 (3) possesses a firearm as defined by Section
1-23 46.01(3), Penal Code, an illegal knife as defined by either Section
2-1 46.01(6), Penal Code, or by local school district policy, a club as
2-2 defined by Section 46.01(1), Penal Code, or a weapon listed as a
2-3 prohibited weapon under Section 46.05, Penal Code;
2-4 (4) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
2-5 the offense of arson under Section 28.02, Penal Code;
2-6 (5) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
2-7 the offense of criminal mischief under Section 28.03, Penal Code,
2-8 if the offense is punishable as a felony under that section; or
2-9 (6) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
2-10 the offense of public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal Code.
2-11 (b) Before placement in the serious offender program, the
2-12 district superintendent or the superintendent's designee shall
2-13 provide the student a hearing before the superintendent or the
2-14 superintendent's designee at which the student is afforded
2-15 appropriate due process as required by the federal constitution.
2-16 The student may be placed in the serious offender program pending
2-17 all appeals.
2-18 (c) The student is placed in the serious offender program
2-19 for an indefinite period of time. Return to a regular education
2-20 program shall be determined by an independent committee based on
2-21 minimum criteria established by the State Board of Education
2-22 related to behavior, academic performance, and attendance or on the
2-23 local district's expansion of those minimum criteria. Committee
2-24 membership shall include but not be limited to teachers,
2-25 counselors, the home school principal, the principal of the
3-1 alternative school, and the student's parent or guardian.
3-2 (d) A student may be placed in the serious offender program
3-3 pending the hearing required by Subsection (b) of this section
3-4 through the removal provisions of Section 21.301 of this code.
3-5 (e) The superintendent or the superintendent's designee
3-6 shall deliver a copy of the order placing the student in the
3-7 serious offender program to the student and the student's parent or
3-8 guardian. The superintendent or designee shall also deliver a copy
3-9 of the order to one of the following:
3-10 (1) the authorized officer of the juvenile court in
3-11 the county in which the student resides, if the age of the student
3-12 places the student under the jurisdiction of the county juvenile
3-13 justice system;
3-14 (2) the authorized officer of the Texas Department of
3-15 Human Services in the county in which the student resides, if the
3-16 age of the student is less than that which would place the student
3-17 under the jurisdiction of the county juvenile justice system; or
3-18 (3) the authorized officer of the local law
3-19 enforcement agency in the municipality in which the student
3-20 resides, if the age of the student exceeds that which would place
3-21 the student under the jurisdiction of the county juvenile justice
3-22 system.
3-23 (f) The authorized officer shall:
3-24 (1) determine whether a petition should be filed
3-25 alleging that the student is in need of supervision beyond what is
4-1 provided through the serious offender program;
4-2 (2) determine whether the student should be referred
4-3 to an appropriate state agency; or
4-4 (3) communicate with the superintendent or the
4-5 superintendent's designee if a petition is filed or a referral is
4-6 made.
4-7 (g) A student who is on probation or parole for an offense
4-8 cited in Subsection (a) of this section or who has been charged
4-9 with or indicted for any offense listed in Subsection (a) (1)
4-10 through (3) of this section may be enrolled in the serious offender
4-11 program once a due process hearing is held at the local district,
4-12 regardless of where or when the offense or offenses took place.
4-13 (h) If a student enrolls in another school district, copies
4-14 of all student records and a copy of the order for placement in the
4-15 serious offender program shall be provided to the receiving
4-16 district. The receiving district may continue placement in its
4-17 serious offender program or may determine appropriate placement for
4-18 the student.
4-19 (i) The district shall inform a teacher of a student who has
4-20 engaged in any of the acts listed in Subsection (a) (1) through (6)
4-21 of this section on a need-to-know basis. Any information received
4-22 by a teacher pursuant to this section shall be received in
4-23 confidence for the purpose for which it was provided and shall not
4-24 be further disseminated by the teacher. A teacher who
4-25 intentionally violates this section commits an offense. An offense
5-1 under this subsection is a Class C misdemeanor.
5-2 (j) For each student in average daily attendance in a
5-3 serious offender program a school district is entitled to an
5-4 allotment under Section 16.154 of this code.
5-5 SECTION 2. Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
5-6 amended by adding Section 21.3013 to read as follows:
5-7 Sec. 21.3013. LOW-RISK AND PREVENTION PROGRAMS. (a) A
5-8 school district may apply to the commissioner of education for
5-9 approval and funding of a low-risk or prevention program.
5-10 (b) A low-risk program is an alternative education program
5-11 for students with no history of violent behavior, which is designed
5-12 to return the students to the regular education program. A
5-13 low-risk program must include counseling services and
5-14 individualized education programs.
5-15 (c) A prevention program is a program for all students,
5-16 especially those who repeatedly disrupt the classroom. The program
5-17 must provide peer mediation, counseling, and instruction in
5-18 conflict resolution skills.
5-19 (d) The commissioner of education shall award funds
5-20 appropriated for the purposes of this section on a competitive
5-21 basis.
5-22 SECTION 3. Subsection (c), Section 16.152, Education Code,
5-23 is amended to read as follows:
5-24 (c) Funds allocated under this section, other than an
5-25 indirect cost allotment established under State Board of Education
6-1 rule, which shall not exceed 15 percent, must be used in providing
6-2 remedial and compensatory education programs under Section 21.557
6-3 of this code or low-risk or prevention programs that contain the
6-4 elements required for a low-risk or prevention program funded under
6-5 Section 21.3013 of this code, and the district must account for the
6-6 expenditure of state funds by program and by campus. Funds
6-7 allocated under this section, other than the indirect cost
6-8 allotment, shall only be expended to improve and enhance programs
6-9 and services funded under the regular education program.
6-10 SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 16, Education Code, is
6-11 amended by adding Section 16.154 to read as follows:
6-12 Sec. 16.154. SERIOUS OFFENDER ALLOTMENT. (a) For each
6-13 student in average daily attendance in a serious offender program
6-14 under Section 21.3012 of this code, a school district is entitled
6-15 to an annual allotment equal to the adjusted basic allotment
6-16 multiplied by 1.75.
6-17 (b) Funds allocated under this section, other than an
6-18 indirect cost allotment established under State Board of Education
6-19 rule, must be used in providing a serious offender program under
6-20 Section 21.3012 of this code.
6-21 SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 1995-1996
6-22 school year.
6-23 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
6-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-3 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-4 passage, and it is so enacted.