HBA-MPM H.B. 2742 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2742 By: Goodman Public Education 3/19/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In 1995, the 75th Texas Legislature passed a law requiring all school districts to operate alternative education programs (programs) and requiring the juvenile boards in counties with populations of 125,000 or more to operate these programs. The governing bodies of these boards were given flexibility in the development of these programs, which require students to be taught the core curriculum, including self-discipline, seven hours a day for 180 days per year. There are still several issues concerning these programs that need to be addressed. H.B. 2742 addresses transportation of students to and from the programs, provides for special education services, adds aggravated robbery as a mandatory expulsion offense, and sets forth a minimum length of stay in a program. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 25.086(a), Education Code, to exempt a child from the requirements of compulsory school attendance if the child is expelled according to the requirements of law in a school district that does not participate in a juvenile justice alternative education program (program), rather than a mandatory program, under Section 37.011 (Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program), Education Code. SECTION 2. Amends Sections 37.007(a) and (c), Education Code, to add aggravated robbery under Section 29.03 (Aggravated Robbery), Penal Code, to other offenses which, if committed by a student while on school property or while attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off school property, requires that student to be expelled. Provides that a student may be expelled for conduct that does not occur on school property or while attending a school-sponsored or schoolrelated activity only if: _the student receives deferred prosecution under Section 53.03 (Deferred Prosecution), Family Code, for conduct defined as a felony offense under Title 5 (Offenses Against the Person), Penal Code; _a court or jury finds under Section 54.03 (Adjudication Hearing), Family Code, that the student has engaged in delinquent conduct defined as a felony offense under Title 5, Penal Code; _a court or jury convicts the student of a felony offense under Title 5, Family Code; or _the superintendent or superintendent's designee has a reasonable belief that the student has engaged in conduct defined as a felony offense under Title 5, Penal Code. SECTION 3. Amends Section 37.011, Education Code, by amending Subsections (a), (f), (i), (k), and (l), and adding Subsections (r) and (s), as follows: (a) Provides that certain exemptions apply to a program located in a county with a population of 125,000 or less that does not receive state-appropriated funds for such a program, rather than a county with a population of 125,000 or less. (f) Authorizes the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (commission) to approve the instruction of students for fewer than the number of days required under this subsection if disaster, flood, extreme weather conditions, fuel curtailment, or another calamity causes the closing of schools, or if the program has adopted the school calendar of a school district in the county and the days of instruction in that district are fewer than 180 because of a waiver granted by the commissioner of education. (i) Prohibits a student's placement into the program for a period of fewer than 90 school days. (k) Makes the provision that an annual joint memorandum of understanding (memorandum) requiring a district in a county with a population of more than 125,000 and the county juvenile board to establish a plan providing transportation services for students placed in the program subject to proposed Subsection (r). Makes the provision that requires the memorandum to establish a plan to address special education services required by law subject to proposed Subsection (s). (l) Makes a nonsubstantive change. (r) Provides that unless otherwise agreed in the memorandum required by Subsection (k), the district with the greatest student enrollment in the county in which the program operates is responsible for providing transportation to all students to and from the program. Requires a district, in the event a student in the program was expelled from a district other than that providing the transportation, to pay to the district providing transportation an amount equal to the per day/per student transportation allotment the district receives multiplied by the number of days the student attends the program. (s) Provides that unless otherwise agreed in the memorandum required by Subsection (k), the district from which a student in the program who is eligible for special education services is expelled is responsible for all costs associated with the provision of the special education curriculum or related services as defined by Section 29.002 (Definition), Education Code, as required by the student's individualized education program. Provides that a program is not a local education agency for purposes of federal law. SECTION 4. Amends Section 37.012, Education Code, to require the commission to provide funding for a student expelled on the basis of Section 37.007(a), (d), or (e) (Expulsion for Serious Offenses), Education Code, in an amount determined by the General Appropriations Act. Provides that for the juvenile board responsible for operating the program to receive funding for an expelled student under this section, the district from which the student was expelled must document and provide to the board certain information. Requires the district from which a student was expelled on the basis of the above referenced subsections to provide funding to the board for the portion of the school year for which the program provides educational services in an amount determined by the memorandum under Section 37.011(k) if the local law enforcement agency to which the alleged conduct that was the basis for expulsion is reported does not: _find probable cause to believe the student engaged in an offending conduct which constitutes mandatory expulsion; and _make a formal referral of the case to the juvenile court or forward the case to the prosecutor. Redesignates Subsections (b)-(c) to Subsections (d)-(e), respectively. SECTION 5. Makes this Act applicable beginning with the 1999-2000 school year. SECTION 6.Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.