1-1     By:  Wentworth                                         S.B. No. 598

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 13, 1997; February 19, 1997,

 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Education;

 1-4     April 25, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable Committee

 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0; April 25, 1997,

 1-6     sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 598                By:  Shapleigh

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to the expulsion or placement in alternative education

1-11     programs of public school students who assault school employees,

1-12     officers, or volunteers.

1-13           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-14           SECTION 1.  Section 37.006, Education Code, is amended by

1-15     amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (d) to read

1-16     as follows:

1-17           (a)  Except as provided by Section 37.007(a)(3) or (b)(2), a

1-18     student shall be removed from class and placed in an alternative

1-19     education program as provided by Section 37.008 if the student

1-20     engages in conduct punishable as a felony, or commits the following

1-21     on school property or while attending a school-sponsored or

1-22     school-related activity on or off of school property:

1-23                 (1)  engages in conduct that contains the elements of

1-24     the offense of assault under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code, or

1-25     terroristic threat under Section 22.07, Penal Code;

1-26                 (2)  sells, gives, or delivers to another person or

1-27     possesses or uses or is under the influence of:

1-28                       (A)  marihuana or a controlled substance, as

1-29     defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.

1-30     Section 801 et seq.; or

1-31                       (B)  a dangerous drug, as defined by Chapter 483,

1-32     Health and Safety Code;

1-33                 (3)  sells, gives, or delivers to another person an

1-34     alcoholic beverage, as defined by Section 1.04, Alcoholic Beverage

1-35     Code, commits a serious act or offense while under the influence of

1-36     alcohol, or possesses, uses, or is under the influence of an

1-37     alcoholic beverage;

1-38                 (4)  engages in conduct that contains the elements of

1-39     an offense relating to abusable glue or aerosol paint under

1-40     Sections 485.031 through 485.035, Health and Safety Code, or

1-41     relating to volatile chemicals under Chapter 484, Health and Safety

1-42     Code; or

1-43                 (5)  engages in conduct that contains the elements of

1-44     the offense of public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal Code, or

1-45     indecent exposure under Section 21.08, Penal Code.

1-46           (b)  Except as provided by Section 37.007(b)(2) or (c)

1-47     [37.007(c)], a student shall be removed from class and placed in an

1-48     alternative education program under Section 37.008 if the student

1-49     harms or threatens to harm a school employee, officer, or volunteer

1-50     in retaliation for,  or on account of, that person's service to the

1-51     school, without regard to whether such conduct occurs on or off

1-52     school property or while attending a school-sponsored or

1-53     school-related activity on or off of school property, or otherwise

1-54     engages in conduct that contains the elements of the offense of

1-55     retaliation under Section 36.06, Penal Code, against any school

1-56     employee, officer, or volunteer.

1-57           (d)  In this section, "volunteer" has the meaning assigned by

1-58     Section 22.053.

1-59           SECTION 2.  Section 37.007, Education Code, is amended by

1-60     amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (h) to read as

1-61     follows:

1-62           (b)  A student may be expelled if the student:

1-63                 (1)  [,]  after being placed in an alternative

1-64     education program for disciplinary reasons, continues to engage in

 2-1     serious or persistent misbehavior that violates the district's

 2-2     student code of conduct; or

 2-3                 (2)  engages in conduct that contains the elements of

 2-4     the offense of assault under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code,

 2-5     against a school employee, officer, or volunteer in retaliation

 2-6     for, or on account of, that person's service to the school, without

 2-7     regard to whether such conduct occurs on or off school property or

 2-8     while attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or

 2-9     off school property.

2-10           (h)  In this section, "volunteer" has the meaning assigned by

2-11     Section 22.053.

2-12           SECTION 3.  Subsection (b), Section 37.010, Education Code,

2-13     is amended to read as follows:

2-14           (b)  If a student is expelled under Section 37.007(b)(1)

2-15     [37.007(b)], the board or its designee shall refer the student to

2-16     the authorized officer of the juvenile court for appropriate

2-17     proceedings under Title 3, Family Code.

2-18           SECTION 4.  This Act applies beginning with the 1997-1998

2-19     school year.

2-20           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-21     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-22     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-23     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-24     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

2-25     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

2-26     passage, and it is so enacted.

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