By Gutierrez H.B. No. 2205
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to attendance at juvenile justice alternative education
1-3 programs and to agency review of alternative education programs.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 37.0081 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 37.0081. AGENCY REVIEW OF ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION
1-8 PROGRAMS. (a) The agency shall review each school district's
1-9 alternative education program prescribed under Section 37.008 for
1-10 compliance by the program with:
1-11 (1) this subchapter;
1-12 (2) reporting requirements under the Public Education
1-13 Information Management System (PEIMS) as prescribed under Section
1-14 42.006; and
1-15 (3) federal law and regulations.
1-16 (b) A review under Subsection (a) must include one or more
1-17 on-site inspections.
1-18 (c) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
1-19 implement this section, including rules relating to:
1-20 (1) the elements to be included in each review under
1-21 Subsection (a);
1-22 (2) the frequency of the review; and
1-23 (3) the frequency of on-site inspections.
1-24 SECTION 2. Section 37.011(b), Education Code, is amended to
2-1 read as follows:
2-2 (b) A student, other than a student under the jurisdiction
2-3 of a juvenile court, who is required to attend school under Section
2-4 25.085 and is expelled from school under Section 37.007(a), (d), or
2-5 (e), shall, until the end of the term of the expulsion or until the
2-6 date the student is no longer required to attend school under
2-7 Section 25.085, whichever is earlier, attend the juvenile justice
2-8 alternative education program that serves the county in which the
2-9 student resides. If a student who is expelled from school under
2-10 Section 37.007(a), (d), or (e) is under the jurisdiction of the
2-11 juvenile court, the juvenile court shall:
2-12 (1) if the student is placed on probation under
2-13 Section 54.04, Family Code, order the student to attend the
2-14 juvenile justice alternative education program that serves the
2-15 county in which the student resides from the date of disposition as
2-16 a condition of probation, unless the child is placed in a
2-17 post-adjudication treatment facility;
2-18 (2) if the student is placed on deferred prosecution
2-19 under Section 53.03, Family Code, by the court, prosecutor, or
2-20 probation department, require the student to immediately attend the
2-21 juvenile justice alternative education program that serves the
2-22 county in which the student resides for a period not to exceed six
2-23 months as a condition of the deferred prosecution; and
2-24 (3) in determining the conditions of the deferred
2-25 prosecution or court-ordered probation, consider the length of the
2-26 school district's expulsion order for the student.
2-27 SECTION 3. Section 39.073(e), Education Code, is amended to
3-1 read as follows:
3-2 (e) In determining a district's accreditation rating, the
3-3 agency shall consider:
3-4 (1) the district's current special education
3-5 compliance status with the agency; and
3-6 (2) the results of the review of the district's
3-7 alternative education program under Section 37.0081.
3-8 SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2001-2002
3-9 school year.
3-10 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
3-11 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
3-12 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
3-13 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
3-14 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.