This website will be unavailable from Friday, April 26, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, April 29, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.
By: Ogden S.B. No. 1488
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the misconduct of a person who is employed by or is
seeking employment by a school district, open-enrollment charter
school, regional education service center, or shared services
arrangement.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 21.006 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.006. REQUIREMENT TO REPORT MISCONDUCT. (a) In
this section, "abuse" has the meaning assigned by Section 261.001,
Family Code, and includes any sexual conduct involving an educator
and a student or minor.
(b) In addition to the reporting requirement under Section
261.101, Family Code, the superintendent or director of a school
district, open-enrollment charter school, regional education
service center, or shared services arrangement shall notify the
State Board for Educator Certification if the superintendent or
director has reasonable cause to believe that:
(1) an educator employed by or seeking employment by
the district, school, service center, or shared services
arrangement has a criminal record;
(2) an educator's employment at the district, school,
service center, or shared services arrangement was terminated based
on a determination that the educator:
(A) abused or otherwise committed an unlawful act
with a student or minor;
(B) possessed, transferred, sold, or distributed
a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481, Health and
Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C. Section 801 et seq., and its subsequent
amendments;
(C) illegally transferred, appropriated, or
expended funds or other property of the district, school, service
center, or shared services arrangement;
(D) attempted by fraudulent or unauthorized
means to obtain or alter a professional certificate or license for
the purpose of promotion or additional compensation; or
(E) committed a criminal offense or any part of a
criminal offense on school property or at a school-sponsored event;
or
(3) the educator resigned and reasonable evidence
supports a recommendation by the superintendent or director to
terminate the educator based on a determination that the educator
engaged in misconduct described by Subdivision (2).
(c) The superintendent or director must notify the State
Board for Educator Certification by filing a report with the board
not later than the seventh day after the date the superintendent or
director first learns about an alleged incident of misconduct
described by Subsection (b). The report must be:
(1) in writing; and
(2) in a form prescribed by the board.
(d) The superintendent or director shall notify the board of
trustees or governing body of the school district, open-enrollment
charter school, regional education service center, or shared
services arrangement and the educator of the filing of the report
required by Subsection (c).
(e) A superintendent or director who in good faith and while
acting in an official capacity files a report with the State Board
for Educator Certification under this section is immune from civil
or criminal liability that might otherwise be incurred or imposed.
(f) The State Board for Educator Certification shall
determine whether to impose sanctions against a superintendent or
director who fails to file a report in violation of Subsection (c).
(g) The State Board for Educator Certification shall
propose rules as necessary to implement this section.
SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 21.451, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) The staff development provided by a school district must
be conducted in accordance with minimum standards developed by the
commissioner for program planning, preparation, and improvement.
The staff development:
(1) must include training in:
(A) technology;
(B) conflict resolution; [and]
(C) discipline strategies, including classroom
management, district discipline policies, and the student code of
conduct adopted under Section 37.001 and Chapter 37; and
(D) the requirement under Section 21.006 that a
superintendent who has reasonable cause to believe that an educator
has engaged in an alleged incident of misconduct as described by
Section 21.006(b) report the alleged misconduct of the educator to
the State Board for Educator Certification;
(2) must include training that:
(A) relates to instruction of students with
disabilities; and
(B) is designed for educators who work primarily
outside of the area of special education; and
(3) may include instruction as to what is permissible
under law, including opinions of the United States Supreme Court,
in regard to prayers in public school.
SECTION 3. Subsection (d), Section 261.105, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) If the department initiates an investigation and
determines that the abuse or neglect does not involve a person
responsible for the child's care, custody, or welfare, the
department shall refer the report to a law enforcement agency for
further investigation. If the department determines that the abuse
or neglect involves an employee of a public primary or secondary
school, and that the child is a student at the school, the
department shall orally notify the superintendent of the school
district or director of the school in which the employee is employed
about the investigation.
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2003-2004
school year.
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.