79R2466 SLO-D


By:  Eissler                                                      H.B. No. 783


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to notice to educators of a public school student's misconduct and to placement of a student who has assaulted a teacher. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 37.006, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (o) to read as follows: (o) In addition to any notice required under Article 15.27, Code of Criminal Procedure, a principal or a principal's designee shall inform each educator who has responsibility for the instruction of a student who has engaged in any violation listed in this section of the student's misconduct. Each educator shall keep the information received under this subsection confidential from any person not entitled to the information under this subsection, except that the educator may share the information with the student's parent or guardian as provided for by state or federal law. The State Board for Educator Certification may revoke or suspend the certification of an educator who intentionally violates this subsection. SECTION 2. Section 37.007, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsection (j) to read as follows: (g) In addition to any notice required under Article 15.27, Code of Criminal Procedure, a [A] school district shall inform each educator who has responsibility for the instruction [teacher who has regular contact with a student through a classroom assignment of the conduct] of a student who has engaged in any violation listed in this section of the student's misconduct. Each educator [A teacher] shall keep the information received under [in] this subsection confidential from any person not entitled to the information under this subsection, except that the educator may share the information with the student's parent or guardian as provided for by state or federal law. The State Board for Educator Certification may revoke or suspend the certification of an educator [a teacher] who intentionally violates this subsection. (j) On the return to school following an expulsion, a student who has engaged in the elements of any offense listed in Subsection (a)(2)(A) or (b)(2)(C) against a teacher may not be placed in the teacher's classroom without that teacher's consent. The teacher may not be coerced to consent. SECTION 3. Section 37.008(j), Education Code, is amended to read as follows: (j) If a student placed in a disciplinary alternative education program enrolls in another school district before the expiration of the period of placement, the board of trustees of the district requiring the placement shall provide to the district in which the student enrolls, at the same time other records of the student are provided, a copy of the placement order. The district in which the student enrolls shall inform each educator who will have responsibility for the instruction of the student of the contents of the placement order. Each educator shall keep the information received under this subsection confidential from any person not entitled to the information under this subsection, except that the educator may share the information with the student's parent or guardian as provided for by state or federal law. The district in which the student enrolls may continue the disciplinary alternative education program placement under the terms of the order or may allow the student to attend regular classes without completing the period of placement. A district may take any action permitted by this subsection if: (1) the student was placed in a disciplinary alternative education program by an open-enrollment charter school under Section 12.131 and the charter school provides to the district a copy of the placement order; or (2) the student was placed in a disciplinary alternative education program by a school district in another state and: (A) the out-of-state district provides to the district a copy of the placement order; and (B) the grounds for the placement by the out-of-state district are grounds for placement in the district in which the student is enrolling. SECTION 4. Section 37.009(e), Education Code, is amended to read as follows: (e) A student placed in a disciplinary alternative education program shall be provided a review of the student's status, including a review of the student's academic status, by the board's designee at intervals not to exceed 120 days. In the case of a high school student, the board's designee, with the student's parent or guardian, shall review the student's progress towards meeting high school graduation requirements and shall establish a specific graduation plan for the student. The district is not required under this subsection to provide a course in the district's disciplinary alternative education program except as required by Section 37.008(l). At the review, the student or the student's parent or guardian must be given the opportunity to present arguments for the student's return to the regular classroom or campus. The student may not be returned to the classroom of the teacher who removed the student or who was the victim of the student's conduct without that teacher's consent. The teacher may not be coerced to consent. SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2005-2006 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.