By Price H.B. No. 1813
75R7438 T
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to placement of a student who is expelled from public
1-3 school in a juvenile justice alternative education program.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 37.001, Education Code is amended to read
1-6 as follows:
1-7 (a) Each school district shall, with the advice of its
1-8 district-level committee established under Section 11.251, [and
1-9 jointly, as appropriate, with the juvenile board of each county in
1-10 which the district is located,] adopt a student code of conduct for
1-11 the district. In addition to establishing standards for student
1-12 conduct, the student code of conduct must:
1-13 (1) specify the circumstances, in accordance with this
1-14 subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom,
1-15 campus, or alternative education program;
1-16 [(2) outline the responsibilities of each juvenile
1-17 board concerning the establishment and operations of a juvenile
1-18 justice alternative education program under Section 37.011;]
1-19 [(3) define the conditions on payments from the
1-20 district to each juvenile board;]
1-21 (2) [(4)] specify conditions that authorize or require
1-22 a principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a
1-23 student to an alternative education program; and
1-24 (3) [(5)] outline conditions under which a student may
2-1 be suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided
2-2 by Section 37.007.
2-3 SECTION 2. Section 37.006(a)(2)(B), Education Code, is
2-4 amended to read as follows:
2-5 (B) a dangerous drug, as defined by Chapter 483,
2-6 Health and Safety Code. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this
2-7 provision does not apply to a student who is taking medication
2-8 under the authorization of a physician's prescription and in such
2-9 instance the school's nurse shall be notified of the prescription
2-10 and shall administer the medication to the student unless the
2-11 student's medical condition requires the student to keep the
2-12 medication on his or her person.
2-13 SECTION 3. Section 37.007(b), Education Code, is amended to
2-14 read as follows:
2-15 (b) A student may be expelled if the student, while
2-16 attending [after being placed in] an alternative education program
2-17 for disciplinary reasons, continues to engage in serious or
2-18 persistent misbehavior that violates the district's student code of
2-19 conduct.
2-20 SECTION 4. Section 37.007(c), Education Code, is amended to
2-21 read as follows:
2-22 (c) A student shall be expelled if the student engages in
2-23 conduct, either on or off school property whether or not the
2-24 student is attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity,
2-25 that contains the elements of any offense listed in Subsection (a)
2-26 against any employee in retaliation for or as a result of the
2-27 employee's employment with a school district.
3-1 SECTION 5. Section 37.010(c), Education Code, is repealed in
3-2 its entirety.
3-3 SECTION 6. Section 37.010(f), Education Code, is amended to
3-4 read as follows:
3-5 (f) If a student is expelled under Section 37.007, on the
3-6 recommendation of the committee established under Section 37.003 or
3-7 on its own initiative, a district may readmit the student while the
3-8 student is completing any court disposition requirements the court
3-9 imposes. After the student has successfully completed any court
3-10 disposition requirements the court imposes, including conditions of
3-11 a deferred prosecution ordered by the court, or such conditions
3-12 required by the prosecutor or probation department, or if no
3-13 disposition requirements are imposed and the school district
3-14 received such notice under Section 52.041(d) of the Texas Family
3-15 Code, if the student meets the requirements for admission into the
3-16 public schools established by this title, a district may not refuse
3-17 to admit the student, but the district may: 1. Notwithstanding
3-18 Section 37.002(d), return the student to the classroom of the
3-19 teacher under whose supervision the offense occurred with that
3-20 teacher's consent, and such consent shall be in the sole discretion
3-21 of that teacher. The teacher may not be coerced to consent.; (2)
3-22 place the student in another appropriate classroom with the consent
3-23 of the teacher, and such consent shall be in the sole discretion of
3-24 that teacher. The teacher may not be coerced to consent; or (3)
3-25 place the student in the alternative education program. [place the
3-26 student in the alternative education program. Notwithstanding
3-27 Section 37.002(d), the student may not be returned to the classroom
4-1 of the teacher under whose supervision the offense occurred without
4-2 that teacher's consent. The teacher may not be coerced to
4-3 consent.]
4-4 SECTION 7. Section 37.011(b), Education Code, is amended to
4-5 read as follows:
4-6 (b) If a student is expelled from school under [found to
4-7 have engaged in conduct described by] Section 37.007 [and the
4-8 student is found by a juvenile court to have engaged in delinquent
4-9 conduct under Title 3, Family Code], the juvenile court shall:
4-10 (1) if the student is placed on probation under
4-11 Section 54.04, Family Code, order the student to attend [require]
4-12 the juvenile justice alternative education program in the county in
4-13 which the student resides from the date of disposition as a
4-14 condition of probation, unless the child is placed in a
4-15 post-adjudication treatment facility [conduct occurred to provide
4-16 educational services to the student]; [and]
4-17 (2) if the student is placed on deferred prosecution
4-18 under Section 53.03, Family Code, by the court, prosecutor or
4-19 probation department, require [order] the student to attend the
4-20 juvenile justice alternative education program for a period of time
4-21 not to exceed six months as a condition of the deferred prosecution
4-22 in the county in which the student resides [from the date of
4-23 adjudication]; and
4-24 (3) in determining the conditions of the deferred
4-25 prosecution or court ordered probation, consider the length of the
4-26 school district's expulsion order for the student.
4-27 SECTION 8. Section 37.011(d), Education Code, is amended to
5-1 read as follows:
5-2 (d) A juvenile justice alternative education program must
5-3 focus on English language arts, mathematics, science, history, and
5-4 self-discipline. Each program shall administer assessment
5-5 instruments under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, and shall offer a high
5-6 school equivalency program in a manner that will allow a student to
5-7 graduate in the same academic year that the student would otherwise
5-8 have an opportunity to graduate if the student were in attendance
5-9 at the student's assigned school campus, including terms of summer
5-10 school.
5-11 SECTION 9. Section 37.011, Education Code is amended to add
5-12 Subsection (k) and (l) to read as follows:
5-13 (k) Each school district in a county with a population
5-14 greater than 125,000 and the county juvenile board shall annually
5-15 enter into one joint memorandum of understanding that:
5-16 (1) outlines the responsibilities of each juvenile
5-17 board concerning the establishment and operation of a juvenile
5-18 justice alternative education program under this section;
5-19 (2) defines the amount and conditions on payments from
5-20 the school districts to the juvenile board;
5-21 (3) states a single definition of serious or
5-22 persistent misbehavior in a disciplinary alternative education
5-23 program for which a student may be expelled under Section
5-24 37.007(b), as defined by the local school district with input from
5-25 the county juvenile board;
5-26 (4) establishes services for the transitioning of
5-27 expelled students to the school district prior to the completion of
6-1 the student's placement in the juvenile justice alternative
6-2 education program; and
6-3 (5) establishes a plan that provides transportation
6-4 services for students placed in the juvenile justice alternative
6-5 education program.
6-6 (l) Each school district in a county with a population
6-7 greater than 125,000 and the county juvenile board shall adopt a
6-8 joint memorandum of understanding as required by this section not
6-9 later than September 1, 1997. This subsection expires SEPTEMBER 1,
6-10 1998.
6-11 SECTION 10. Section 51.03(b)(6), Family Code, is amended to
6-12 read as follows:
6-13 (b)(6) an act that violates a school district's previously
6-14 communicated written standards of student conduct for which the
6-15 child has been expelled under Section 37.007(b) [21.3011], Education
6-16 Code; or
6-17 SECTION 11. Section 52.041, Family Code, is amended by
6-18 adding Subsection (c) and (d) to read as follows:
6-19 (c) Within five working days of a receipt of an expulsion
6-20 notice under this section by the office or official designated by
6-21 the juvenile court, a preliminary investigation and determination
6-22 shall be conducted as required by Section 53.01.
6-23 (d) The office or official designated by the juvenile court
6-24 shall notify the school district that expelled the child within two
6-25 working days if:
6-26 (1) a determination was made under Section 53.01 that
6-27 the person referred to juvenile court was not a child within the
7-1 meaning of this title;
7-2 (2) a determination was made that no probable cause
7-3 existed to believe the child engaged in delinquent conduct or
7-4 conduct indicating a need for supervision;
7-5 (3) no deferred prosecution or formal court
7-6 proceedings have been or will be initiated involving the child; or
7-7 (4) the court or jury finds that the child did not
7-8 engage in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for
7-9 supervision, and the case has been dismissed with prejudice.
7-10 SECTION 12. Section 53.02, Family Code, is amended by adding
7-11 Subsection (e) to read as follows:
7-12 (e) If a child being released under this section has been
7-13 expelled under Section 37.007, Education Code, the release may be
7-14 conditioned on the child attending a juvenile justice alternative
7-15 education program pending a deferred prosecution or formal court
7-16 proceedings.
7-17 SECTION 13. Section 54.01(f), Family Code, is amended to
7-18 read as follows:
7-19 (f) A release may be conditioned on requirements reasonably
7-20 necessary to insure the child's appearance at later proceedings,
7-21 but the conditions of the release must be in writing and a copy
7-22 furnished to the child. If a child being released under this
7-23 section has been expelled under Section 37.007, Education Code, the
7-24 release may be conditioned on the child attending a juvenile
7-25 justice alternative education program pending deferred prosecution
7-26 or formal court proceeding.
7-27 SECTION 14. Section 59.003(a), Family Code, is amended to
8-1 read as follows:
8-2 (a) Subject to Subsection (e), after a child's first
8-3 commission of delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for
8-4 supervision, the probation department may or the juvenile court
8-5 may, in a disposition hearing under Section 54.04, assign a child
8-6 one of the following sanction levels according to the child's
8-7 conduct:
8-8 (1) for conduct indicating a need for supervision,
8-9 other than conduct described in Section 51.03(b) (6) or a Class A
8-10 or B misdemeanor, the sanction level is one;
8-11 (2) for conduct indicating a need for supervision
8-12 under Section 51.03(b) (6) and a Class A or B misdemeanor, other
8-13 than a misdemeanor involving the use or possession of a firearm, or
8-14 for delinquent conduct under Section 51.03(a)(2) or (3), the
8-15 sanction level is two;
8-16 SECTION 15. Section 101.051, Texas Civil Practice and
8-17 Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
8-18 Sec. 101.051 Except as to motor vehicles, this chapter does
8-19 not apply to a school district, a juvenile justice alternative
8-20 education program or to a junior college.
8-21 SECTION 16. This act applies beginning with the 1997-1998
8-22 school year.
8-23 SECTION 17. The importance of this legislation and the
8-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
9-1 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
9-2 passage, and it is so enacted.