By: Lindsay S.B. No. 596
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to discipline of public school students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.001, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) Except as provided by Section 37.007(e), this
subchapter does not require the student code of conduct to specify
any particular minimum term of an alternative education placement
under Section 37.006 or of an expulsion under Section 37.007.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 37.0011 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.0011. CULPABLE MENTAL STATE REQUIRED. A school
district may not punish a student under this subchapter based on
conduct that contains the elements of an offense under the Penal
Code unless the principal, board of trustees, or other person
authorized under Section 37.009 to review the conduct reasonably
believes that the student had the culpable mental state required
for that offense under the Penal Code.
SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 37.007, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) A student 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) except as provided under Subsection (e),
intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly 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.
SECTION 4. (a) Section 37.0011, Education Code, as added
by this Act, applies to punishment imposed under Subchapter A,
Chapter 37, Education Code, on or after the effective date of this
Act regardless of when the conduct on which the punishment is based
occurred.
(b) Subsection (a), Section 37.007, Education Code, as
amended by this Act, applies to the expulsion of a student under
that subsection on or after the effective date of this Act
regardless of when the conduct on which the expulsion is based
occurred.
SECTION 5. 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.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
Amend S.B. No. 596 between SECTIONS 3 and 4 of the bill
(Engrossed version, page 2, between lines 26 and 27), by inserting
the following new SECTION and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of
the bill accordingly:
SECTION 4. Section 37.102, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The board of trustees of a school district may not adopt
a rule under this section or enforce a rule adopted under this
section under which a violation of the student code of conduct
adopted under Section 37.001 is an offense unless that violation
would otherwise be an offense under local, state or federal law.
Dutton
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 2
Amend S.B. No. 596 (Engrossed version) by inserting the
following new SECTIONS, appropriately numbered, and renumbering
SECTIONS of the bill accordingly.
SECTION ___. Section 37.008(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Each school district shall provide an alternative
education program that:
(1) is provided in a setting other than a student's
regular classroom;
(2) is located on or off of a regular school campus;
(3) provides for the students who are assigned to the
alternative education program to be separated from students who are
not assigned to the program;
(4) focuses on English language arts, mathematics,
science, history, and self-discipline;
(5) provides for students' educational and behavioral
needs, including, in accordance with commissioner rule, a course
necessary for a high school student to fulfill the student's high
school graduation requirements in a timely manner; and
(6) provides supervision and counseling.
SECTION ___. Section 37.008(l), Education Code, is
repealed.
78R16925 CAS-D Dutton
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 3
Amend S.B. 596 by the following:
On Page 1, strike lines 12 to 18 and substitute the following
language:
Sec. 37.0011. CULPABLE MENTAL STATE CONSIDERATION.
When applying discipline under this subchapter for student
misconduct containing the elements of an offense under the Penal
Code, a principal, board of trustees or other authorized person may
consider a student's culpable mental state required for the offense
under the Penal Code.
On Page 2, Line 1, strike "intentionally, knowingly, or
recklessly".
On Page 1, Line 24, strike "except as provided under
Subsection (e)".
Dawson