79(R) HB 308 - Senate Committee Report version


                                                                                


By:  Hope (Senate Sponsor - Staples)                              H.B. No. 308
	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 22, 2005; 
April 25, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on 
Education; May 16, 2005, reported favorably, as amended, by the 
following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 16, 2005, sent to printer.)


COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                                                By:  Van de Putte


Amend H.B. No. 308 (Engrossed Version) by striking SECTION 1 and 
SECTION 4 of the bill and renumbering remaining sections 
appropriately.


COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 2                                                By:  Van de Putte


Amend H.B. No. 308 in SECTION 2 of the bill, in added Section 
25.0341(d), Education Code (engrossed version, page 2, line 29), by 
striking "A" and substituting "To the extent permitted under 
federal law, a".


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT


relating to discipline in public schools and the assignment of 
certain public school students involved in a sexual assault.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 7.027(a), Education Code, as added by 
Section 4, Chapter 201, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular 
Session, 2003, is amended to read as follows:
	(a)  Except as provided by Section 29.001(5), 29.010(a), 
37.008, 39.074, or 39.075, the agency may monitor compliance with 
requirements applicable to a process or program provided by a 
school district, campus, program, or school granted charters under 
Chapter 12, including the process described by Subchapter F, 
Chapter 11, or a program described by Subchapter B, C, D, E, F, H, or 
I, Chapter 29, Subchapter A, Chapter 37, or Section 38.003, and the 
use of funds provided for such a program under Subchapter C, Chapter 
42, only as necessary to ensure:
		(1)  compliance with federal law and regulations;                             
		(2)  financial accountability, including compliance 
with grant requirements; and
		(3)  data integrity for purposes of:                                          
			(A)  the Public Education Information Management 
System (PEIMS); and       
			(B)  accountability under Chapter 39.                                        
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter B, Chapter 25, Education Code, is 
amended by adding Section 25.0341 to read as follows:
	Sec. 25.0341.  TRANSFER OF STUDENTS INVOLVED IN SEXUAL 
ASSAULT.  (a)  This section applies only to:
		(1)  a student:                                                        
			(A)  who has been convicted of or placed on 
deferred adjudication for the offense of sexual assault under 
Section 22.011, Penal Code, or aggravated sexual assault under 
Section 22.021, Penal Code, committed against another student who, 
at the time the offense occurred, was assigned to the same campus as 
the student convicted or placed on deferred adjudication;
			(B)  who has been adjudicated under Section 54.03, 
Family Code, as having engaged in conduct described by Paragraph 
(A);
			(C)  whose prosecution under Section 53.03, 
Family Code, for engaging in conduct described by Paragraph (A) has 
been deferred; or
			(D)  who has been placed on probation under 
Section 54.04(d)(1), Family Code, for engaging in conduct described 
by Paragraph (A); and
		(2)  a student who is the victim of conduct described by 
Subdivision (1)(A).
	(b)  On the request of a parent or other person with 
authority to act on behalf of a student who is a victim to whom 
Subsection (a)(2) applies:
		(1)  the board of trustees of the school district shall 
transfer the student to:
			(A)  a district campus other than:                                    
				(i)  the campus to which the student was 
assigned at the time the conduct occurred; or
				(ii)  the campus to which the student who 
engaged in the conduct is assigned, if the student who engaged in 
the conduct has been assigned to a different campus since the 
conduct occurred; or
			(B)  a neighboring school district, if there is 
only one campus in the district serving the grade level in which the 
student is enrolled; or
		(2)  if the student does not wish to transfer to another 
campus or district, the board of trustees shall transfer the 
student who engaged in the conduct to:
			(A)  a district campus other than the campus to 
which the student who is the victim of the conduct is assigned; or
			(B)  the district's disciplinary alternative 
education program or juvenile justice alternative education 
program, if there is only one campus in the district serving the 
grade level in which the student who engaged in the conduct is 
enrolled.
	(c)  A transfer under Subsection (b)(1) must be to a campus 
or school district, as applicable, agreeable to the parent or other 
person with authority to act on the student's behalf.
	(d)  A school district shall notify the parent or other 
person with authority to act on behalf of a student who is a victim 
to whom Subsection (a)(2) applies of the campus or program to which 
the student who engaged in conduct described by Subsection 
(a)(1)(A) is assigned.
	(e)  This section applies regardless of whether the conduct 
occurred on or off of school property.
	(f)  Section 25.034 does not apply to a transfer under this 
section.  
	(g)  A school district is not required to provide 
transportation to a student who transfers to another campus or 
school district under this section.
	SECTION 3.  Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code, is 
amended by adding Section 37.0051 to read as follows:
	Sec. 37.0051.  PLACEMENT OF STUDENTS COMMITTING SEXUAL 
ASSAULT AGAINST ANOTHER STUDENT.  (a)  As provided by Section 
25.0341(b)(2), a student shall be removed from class and placed in a 
disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.008 or 
a juvenile justice alternative education program under Section 
37.011.
	(b)  A limitation imposed by this subchapter on the length of 
a placement in a disciplinary alternative education program or a 
juvenile justice alternative education program does not apply to a 
placement under this section.
	SECTION 4.  Section 37.008, Education Code, is amended by 
amending Subsection (m) and adding Subsection (n) to read as 
follows:
	(m)  The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to 
evaluate annually the performance of each district's disciplinary 
alternative education program established under this subchapter.  
The evaluation required by this section must [shall] be based on 
indicators defined by the commissioner, including [but must 
include] student performance on assessment instruments required 
under Sections 39.023(a) and (c).  The evaluation must include 
on-site analysis and interpretation of program data by the agency 
if determined necessary by the commissioner or if an electronic 
evaluation under Subsection (m-1) indicates the need for on-site 
evaluation.  The academic [Academically, the] mission of 
disciplinary alternative education programs must [shall] be to 
enable students to perform at grade level.
	(n)  Section 7.027, Education Code, as added by Section 4, 
Chapter 201, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, 
does not apply to an evaluation under Subsection (m) or (m-1).
	SECTION 5.  Sections 25.0341 and 37.0051, Education Code, as 
added by this Act, apply beginning with the 2004-2005 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, 2005.



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