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.
2-27 * * * * *