C.S.H.B. 2707 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 2707
By: Dawson
Public Education
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND
Under current law, administrators and teachers do not have sufficient
flexibility in implementing certain aspects of student discipline.
Extensive hearings for minor offenses can occur, certain serious criminal
acts are not subject to mandatory expulsion, documentation requirements
are excessive in certain circumstances, and jurisdiction of student
misconduct is not aligned among different offenses. Section 37.011
Education Code addresses juvenile justice alternative education programs
(JJAEPs) in counties of 125,000 or more. Current law does not clearly
provide that expelled students ages seventeen (17) or older are to be
served in these educational programs.
PURPOSE
C.S.H.B. 2707 provides administrators greater flexibility in implementing
student discipline, clarifies certain provisions relating to restraint,
time-out and seclusion, and requires that educational services in the
JJAEP are to be provided to students age seventeen and older.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any additional
rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or
institution.
ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 2707 amends the Education Code to provide that the student code
of conduct must be posted and prominently displayed at each school campus
or made available for review at the office of the campus principal.
The bill provides that the state treat with dignity and respect all
students, including students with disabilities who receive special
education services. The bill prohibits a student with a disability who
receives special education services from being confined in a locked box,
locked closet, or other specially designed locked space as either a
discipline management practice or a behavior management technique. The
bill redefines restraint as the use of physical force or a mechanical
device to significantly restrict the free movement of all or a portion of
a student's body. The bill redefines time-out to include a setting in
which the exit is not physically blocked by furniture or another inanimate
object.
The bill prohibits the placement of a student with a disability, who
receives special education services, in seclusion. The bill provides that
this the bill provides that provisions on student seclusion (37.0021(c))
do not apply to the use of seclusion in a court-ordered placement, other
than a placement in an educational program of a school district.
The bill provides that procedures adopted by the commissioner of education
regarding the implementation of the use of restraint and time-out
procedures do not apply to law enforcement personnel, juvenile probation
personnel, detention personnel, corrections personnel, or educational
placements of students by judicial authorities that do not include the
judicial placement of students in an educational program at a local school
district.
The bill provides that placement determination regarding a student with a
disability who receives special education services is subject to the
requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, federal
regulations, state statutes, and agency requirements necessary to carry
out federal or state law relating to special education.
The bill authorizes a principal or appropriate administrator to suspend a
student for any conduct identified in the student code of conduct as
conduct for which a student may be suspended.
The bill requires that a student be expelled from a school if the student
commits certain offenses on or within 300 feet of school property. The
bill requires a school district to provide notification of expellable
conduct to each teacher who has regular contact with a student through
classroom assignment (Section 37.007).
The bill provides that if school district policy allows a student to
appeal to the board of trustees a decision of the principal or other
appropriate administrator, other than an expulsion under Section 37.007,
the decision of the board is final and may not be appealed.
The bill provides that a noncustodial parent may submit a written request
to the school district or school to provide that parent with a copy of any
written notification relating to student misconduct under Sections 37.006
or 37.007. The bill requires the school district or school to provide the
notification for the remaining school year unless the district or school
has a reasonable basis for denying the request. The bill requires that
the school district or school to comply with any known applicable court
order.
The bill amends the juvenile justice alternative education program
provisions. The bill provides that if a student admitted into the public
schools of a school district is expelled from school under Section 37.007,
the juvenile court, the juvenile board, or the juvenile board's designee,
as appropriate, is required to provide timely educational services to the
student in the juvenile justice alternative education program in the
county in which the student resides, regardless of age or whether the
juvenile court has jurisdiction over the student. The bill provides that
education services are not required to be provided to a student who is not
entitled to admission into the public school of a school district.
The bill requires the principal of a public or private primary or
secondary school, or a principal's designee, to notify any school district
police department and municipal police department, or the sheriff of the
local county, if the school is not in a municipality, when the principal
has reason to believe that conduct that may constitute a criminal offense
for which a student may be expelled.
The bill repeals Section 37.001(b) relating to written reports of student
code of conduct violations.
This Act applies beginning with the 2003-2004 school year.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2003.
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
C.S.H.B. 2707 modifies the original version by amending the definitions of
restraint and time-out and removing changes to the heading of Section
37.0021. C.S.H.B. 2707 modifies the original by removing certain
provisions relating to procedures for the use of restraint and time-out,
and documentation and reporting requirements regarding use of restraint
and time-out.
C.S.H.B. 2707 modifies the original version by amending provisions
relating to documentation of restraint and parental notice. C.S.H.B. 2707
modifies the original by providing that the use of restraint is limited to
the use of reasonable physical force necessary to address the situation
and the use of time-out does not involve a setting that is locked or
otherwise physically blocked by furniture or another inanimate object.
C.S.H.B. 2707 modifies the original by removing school security personnel
from the list of those that certain rules and procedures do not apply.
C.S.H.B. 2707 modifies the original by removing a school bus stop from
the list of areas where students can be punished by removing the student
from class and placing the student in an alternative education program.
C.S.H.B. 2707 modifies the original by removing school bus stop from
language indicating where a student expulsion for certain offenses can
occur and adds aggravated robbery to the list of offenses that a student
expulsion can occur if the offense occurs on or within 300 feet of school
property.
C.S.H.B. 2707 modifies the original by permitting a noncustodial parent to
request and receive a copy of written notification relating to student
misconduct under Section 37.006 or 37.007, unless the district or school
has a reasonable basis for denying the request. C.S.H.B. 2707 requires the
school district or school to comply with any known applicable court order.
C.S.H.B. 2707 modifies the original to require educational services to
students in the juvenile justice alternative education program be timely
and that these services be provided regardless of the student's age or
whether the juvenile court has jurisdiction over the student.
C.S.H.B. 2707 modifies the original to require the principal or a
principal's designee to notify the local school district, municipal police
department, or local sheriff when a student commits a criminal offense in
school, on school property or at a school-sponsored or school-related
activity which a student may be expelled under Section 37.007(a), (d), or
(e).