78R541 CAS-D
By: Dutton H.B. No. 1145
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to discipline management in public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.001(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The board of trustees of an independent school district
shall, with the advice of its district-level committee established
under Section 11.251, adopt a student code of conduct for the
district. The student code of conduct must be posted and
prominently displayed at each school campus. In addition to
establishing standards for student conduct, the student code of
conduct must:
(1) specify the circumstances, in accordance with this
subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom,
campus, or alternative education program;
(2) specify conditions that authorize [or require] a
principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student
to an alternative education program; [and]
(3) outline conditions under which a student may be
suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by
Section 37.007; and
(4) require the principal or other appropriate
administrator who is disciplining a student to do so using sound
judgment and common sense.
SECTION 2. Section 37.002(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) A teacher may [shall] remove from class and send to the
principal for placement in an alternative education program or for
expulsion, as appropriate, a student who engages in conduct
described under Section 37.006 or 37.007. The student may not be
returned to that teacher's class without the teacher's consent
unless the committee established under Section 37.003 determines
that such placement is the best or only alternative available.
SECTION 3. Sections 37.006(a), (b), (c), and (f), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A [Except as provided by Section 37.007(a)(3) or (b), a]
student may [shall] be removed from class and placed in an
alternative education program as provided by Section 37.008 if the
student:
(1) engages in conduct involving a public school that
contains the elements of the offense of false alarm or report under
Section 42.06, Penal Code, or terroristic threat under Section
22.07, Penal Code; or
(2) commits the following on or within 300 feet of
school property, as measured from any point on the school's real
property boundary line, or while attending a school-sponsored or
school-related activity on or off of school property:
(A) engages in conduct punishable as a felony;
(B) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of assault under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code;
(C) sells, gives, or delivers to another person
or possesses or uses or is under the influence of:
(i) marihuana or a controlled substance, as
defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.
Section 801 et seq.; or
(ii) a dangerous drug, as defined by
Chapter 483, Health and Safety Code;
(D) sells, gives, or delivers to another person
an alcoholic beverage, as defined by Section 1.04, Alcoholic
Beverage Code, commits a serious act or offense while under the
influence of alcohol, or possesses, uses, or is under the influence
of an alcoholic beverage;
(E) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of an offense relating to an abusable volatile chemical [glue or
aerosol paint] under Sections 485.031 through 485.034 [485.035],
Health and Safety Code[, or relating to volatile chemicals under
Chapter 484, Health and Safety Code]; or
(F) engages in conduct that contains the elements
of the offense of public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal Code,
or indecent exposure under Section 21.08, Penal Code.
(b) A [Except as provided by Section 37.007(d), a] student
may [shall] be removed from class and placed in an alternative
education program under Section 37.008 if the student engages in
conduct that contains the elements of the offense of retaliation
under Section 36.06, Penal Code, against any school employee.
(c) In addition to Subsection (a), a student may [shall] be
removed from class and placed in an alternative education program
under Section 37.008 based on conduct occurring off campus and
while the student is not in attendance at a school-sponsored or
school-related activity if:
(1) the student receives deferred prosecution under
Section 53.03, Family Code, for conduct defined as a felony offense
in Title 5, Penal Code;
(2) a court or jury finds that the student has engaged
in delinquent conduct under Section 54.03, Family Code, for conduct
defined as a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code; or
(3) the superintendent or the superintendent's
designee has a reasonable belief that the student has engaged in a
conduct defined as a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code.
(f) Subject to Section 37.007(e), a student who is younger
than 10 years of age may [shall] be removed from class and placed in
an alternative education program under Section 37.008 if the
student engages in conduct described by Section 37.007. An
elementary school student may not be placed in an alternative
education program with any other student who is not an elementary
school student.
SECTION 4. Sections 37.007(a), (d), and (e), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A student may [shall] be expelled from a school if the
student, on school property or while attending a school-sponsored
or school-related activity on or off of school property:
(1) uses, exhibits, or possesses:
(A) a firearm as defined by Section 46.01(3),
Penal Code;
(B) an illegal knife as defined by Section
46.01(6), Penal Code, or by local policy;
(C) a club as defined by Section 46.01(1), Penal
Code; or
(D) a weapon listed as a prohibited weapon under
Section 46.05, Penal Code;
(2) engages in conduct that contains the elements of
the offense of:
(A) aggravated assault under Section 22.02,
Penal Code, sexual assault under Section 22.011, Penal Code, or
aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.021, Penal Code;
(B) arson under Section 28.02, Penal Code;
(C) murder under Section 19.02, Penal Code,
capital murder under Section 19.03, Penal Code, or criminal
attempt, under Section 15.01, Penal Code, to commit murder or
capital murder;
(D) indecency with a child under Section 21.11,
Penal Code; or
(E) aggravated kidnapping under Section 20.04,
Penal Code; or
(3) engages in conduct specified by Section
37.006(a)(2)(C) or (D), if the conduct is punishable as a felony.
(d) A student may [shall] be expelled if the student engages
in conduct that contains the elements of any offense listed in
Subsection (a) or[, and may be expelled if the student engages in
conduct that contains the elements of any offense listed in
Subsection] (b)(2)(C)[,] against any employee or volunteer in
retaliation for or as a result of the person's employment or
association with a school district, without regard to whether the
conduct occurs on or off of school property or while attending a
school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off of school
property.
(e) In accordance with federal law, a local educational
agency, including a school district, home-rule school district, or
open-enrollment charter school, shall expel a student who brings a
firearm, as defined by 18 U.S.C. Section 921, to school, except that
this subsection does not apply to a firearm that is lawfully stored
inside a locked vehicle on school property or to a firearm that is
for an activity approved and authorized by the local educational
agency and is kept and used in accordance with appropriate
safeguards adopted by the local educational agency to ensure
student safety. The student must be expelled from the student's
regular campus for a period of at least one year, except that:
(1) the superintendent or other chief administrative
officer of the school district or of the other local educational
agency, as defined by 20 U.S.C. Section 7801 [2891], may modify [the
length of] the expulsion in the case of an individual student;
(2) the district or other local educational agency
shall provide educational services to an expelled student in an
alternative education program as provided by Section 37.008 if the
student is younger than 10 years of age on the date of expulsion;
and
(3) the district or other local educational agency may
provide educational services to an expelled student who is older
than 10 years of age in an alternative education program as provided
in Section 37.008.
SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2003-2004
school year.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.