H.B. No. 283
AN ACT
relating to admission, assignment, and conduct of certain public
school students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 25.001(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The board of trustees of a school district or its
designee shall admit into the public schools of the district free of
tuition a person who is over five and younger than 21 years of age on
the first day of September of the school year in which admission is
sought if:
(1) the person and either parent of the person reside
in the school district;
(2) the person does not reside in the school district
but a parent of the person resides in the school district and that
parent is a joint managing conservator or the sole managing
conservator or possessory conservator of the person;
(3) the person and the person's guardian or other
person having lawful control of the person under a court order
reside within the school district;
(4) the person has established a separate residence
under Subsection (d);
(5) the person is homeless, as defined by 42 U.S.C.
Section 11302, regardless of the residence of the person, of either
parent of the person, or of the person's guardian or other person
having lawful control of the person;
(6) the person is a foreign exchange student placed
with a host family that resides in the school district by a
nationally recognized foreign exchange program, unless the school
district has applied for and been granted a waiver by the
commissioner under Subsection (e);
(7) the person resides at a residential facility
located in the district; [or]
(8) the person resides in the school district and is 18
years of age or older or the person's disabilities of minority have
been removed; or
(9) the person does not reside in the school district
but the grandparent of the person:
(A) resides in the school district; and
(B) provides a substantial amount of
after-school care for the person as determined by the board.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 25.0341 to read as follows:
Sec. 25.0341. TRANSFER OF VICTIMS OF BULLYING. (a) In this
section, "bullying" means engaging in written or verbal expression
or physical conduct that a school district board of trustees or the
board's designee determines:
(1) will have the effect of physically harming a
student, damaging a student's property, or placing a student in
reasonable fear of harm to the student's person or of damage to the
student's property; or
(2) is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive
enough that the action or threat creates an intimidating,
threatening, or abusive educational environment for a student.
(b) On the request of a parent or other person with
authority to act on behalf of a student who is a victim of bullying,
the board of trustees of a school district or the board's designee
shall transfer the victim to:
(1) another classroom at the campus to which the
victim was assigned at the time the bullying occurred; or
(2) a campus in the school district other than the
campus to which the victim was assigned at the time the bullying
occurred.
(c) The board of trustees or the board's designee shall
verify that a student has been a victim of bullying before
transferring the student under this section.
(d) The board of trustees or the board's designee may
consider past student behavior when identifying a bully.
(e) The determination by the board of trustees or the
board's designee is final and may not be appealed.
(f) A school district is not required to provide
transportation to a student who transfers to another campus under
Subsection (b)(2).
(g) Section 25.034 does not apply to a transfer under this
section.
SECTION 3. Section 37.001, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (b) and (b-1) 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 Subchapter F, Chapter 11, adopt a student code of conduct for
the district. 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. 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 disciplinary alternative education program;
(2) specify conditions that authorize or require a
principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student
to a disciplinary alternative education program;
(3) outline conditions under which a student may be
suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by
Section 37.007;
(4) specify whether consideration is given to
self-defense as a factor in a decision to order suspension, removal
to a disciplinary alternative education program, or expulsion;
(5) provide guidelines for setting the length of a
term of:
(A) a removal under Section 37.006; and
(B) an expulsion under Section 37.007; [and]
(6) address the notification of a student's parent or
guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by
the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary
alternative education program, or expulsion;
(7) prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit
lists and ensure that district employees enforce those
prohibitions; and
(8) provide, as appropriate for students at each grade
level, methods, including options, for:
(A) managing students in the classroom and on
school grounds;
(B) disciplining students; and
(C) preventing and intervening in student
discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making
hit lists.
(b) In this section:
(1) "Harassment" means threatening to cause harm or
bodily injury to another student, engaging in sexually intimidating
conduct, causing physical damage to the property of another
student, subjecting another student to physical confinement or
restraint, or maliciously taking any action that substantially
harms another student's physical or emotional health or safety.
(2) "Hit list" means a list of people targeted to be
harmed, using:
(A) a firearm, as defined by Section 46.01(3),
Penal Code;
(B) a knife, as defined by Section 46.01(7),
Penal Code; or
(C) any other object to be used with intent to
cause bodily harm.
(b-1) The methods adopted under Subsection (a)(8) must
provide that a student who is enrolled in a special education
program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, may not be disciplined for
conduct prohibited in accordance with Subsection (a)(7) until an
admission, review, and dismissal committee meeting has been held to
review the conduct.
SECTION 4. Section 37.083(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Each school district shall adopt and implement a
discipline management program to be included in the district
improvement plan under Section 11.252. The program must provide
for prevention of and education concerning unwanted physical or
verbal aggression, sexual harassment, and other forms of bullying
in school, on school grounds, and in school vehicles.
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, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 283 was passed by the House on May 3,
2005, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 1, 2 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 283 on May 24, 2005, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 283 on May 28, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 144,
Nays 0, 2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 283 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 23, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
1; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
283 on May 28, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor