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Amend SB 6 on third reading by adding the following
appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering
subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ____. Chapter 37, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter I to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. PLACEMENT OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS
Sec. 37.301. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "board of
trustees" includes the board's designee.
Sec. 37.302. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter:
(1) applies to a student who is required to register as
a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure; and
(2) does not apply to a student who is no longer
required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of
Criminal Procedure, including a student who receives an exemption
from registration under Subchapter H, Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure, or a student who receives an early termination of the
obligation to register under Subchapter I, Chapter 62, Code of
Criminal Procedure.
Sec. 37.303. REMOVAL OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER FROM
REGULAR CLASSROOM. Notwithstanding any provision of Subchapter A,
on receiving notice under Article 15.27, Code of Criminal
Procedure, or Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, that a
student is required to register as a sex offender under that
chapter, a school district shall remove the student from the
regular classroom and determine the appropriate placement of the
student in the manner provided by this subchapter.
Sec. 37.304. PLACEMENT OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER WHO IS
UNDER COURT SUPERVISION. (a) A school district shall place a
student to whom this subchapter applies and who is under any form of
court supervision, including probation, community supervision, or
parole, in the appropriate alternative education program as
provided by Section 37.309 for at least one semester.
(b) If a student transfers to another school district during
the student's mandatory placement in an alternative education
program under Subsection (a), the district to which the student
transfers may:
(1) require the student to complete an additional
semester in the appropriate alternative education program without
conducting a review of the student's placement for that semester
under Section 37.306; or
(2) count any time spent by the student in an
alternative education program in the district from which the
student transfers toward the mandatory placement requirement under
Subsection (a).
Sec. 37.305. PLACEMENT OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER WHO IS
NOT UNDER COURT SUPERVISION. A school district may place a student
to whom this subchapter applies and who is not under any form of
court supervision in the appropriate alternative education program
as provided by Section 37.309 for one semester or in the regular
classroom. The district may not place the student in the regular
classroom if the district board of trustees determines that the
student's presence in the regular classroom:
(1) threatens the safety of other students or
teachers;
(2) will be detrimental to the educational process; or
(3) is not in the best interests of the district's
students.
Sec. 37.306. REVIEW OF PLACEMENT IN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION
PROGRAM. (a) At the end of the first semester of a student's
placement in an alternative education program under Section 37.304
or 37.305, the school district board of trustees shall convene a
committee to review the student's placement in the alternative
education program. The committee must be composed of:
(1) a classroom teacher from the campus to which the
student would be assigned were the student not placed in an
alternative education program;
(2) the student's parole or probation officer or, in
the case of a student who does not have a parole or probation
officer, a representative of the local juvenile probation
department;
(3) an instructor from the alternative education
program to which the student is assigned;
(4) a school district designee selected by the board
of trustees; and
(5) a counselor employed by the school district.
(b) The committee by majority vote shall determine and
recommend to the school district board of trustees whether the
student should be returned to the regular classroom or remain in the
alternative education program.
(c) If the committee recommends that the student be returned
to the regular classroom, the board of trustees shall return the
student to the regular classroom unless the board determines that
the student's presence in the regular classroom:
(1) threatens the safety of other students or
teachers;
(2) will be detrimental to the educational process; or
(3) is not in the best interests of the district's
students.
(d) If the committee recommends that the student remain in
the alternative education program, the board of trustees shall
continue the student's placement in the alternative education
program unless the board determines that the student's presence in
the regular classroom:
(1) does not threaten the safety of other students or
teachers;
(2) will not be detrimental to the educational
process; and
(3) is not contrary to the best interests of the
district's students.
(e) If, after receiving a recommendation under Subsection
(b), the school district board of trustees determines that the
student should remain in an alternative education program, the
board shall before the beginning of each school year convene the
committee described by Subsection (a) to review, in the manner
provided by Subsections (b), (c), and (d), the student's placement
in an alternative education program.
Sec. 37.307. PLACEMENT AND REVIEW OF STUDENT WITH
DISABILITY. (a) The placement under this subchapter of a student
with a disability who receives special education services must be
made in compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400 et seq.).
(b) The review under Section 37.306 of the placement of a
student with a disability who receives special education services
may be made only by a duly constituted admission, review, and
dismissal committee. The admission, review, and dismissal
committee may request that the board of trustees convene a
committee described by Section 37.306(a) to assist the admission,
review, and dismissal committee in conducting the review.
Sec. 37.308. TRANSFER OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER. Except
as provided by Section 37.304(b), a school district shall determine
whether to place a student to whom this subchapter applies and who
transfers to the district in the appropriate alternative education
program as provided by Section 37.309 or in a regular classroom.
The school district shall follow the procedures specified under
Section 37.306 in making the determination.
Sec. 37.309. PLACEMENT IN DISCIPLINARY ALTERNATIVE
EDUCATION PROGRAM OR JUVENILE JUSTICE ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION
PROGRAM. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a school
district shall place a student who is required by the board of
trustees to attend an alternative education program under this
subchapter in a disciplinary alternative education program.
(b) A school district shall place a student who is required
by the board of trustees to attend an alternative education program
under this subchapter in a juvenile justice alternative education
program if:
(1) the memorandum of understanding entered into
between the school district and juvenile board under Section
37.011(k) provides for the placement of students to whom this
subchapter applies in the juvenile justice alternative education
program; or
(2) a court orders the placement of the student in a
juvenile justice alternative education program.
Sec. 37.310. FUNDING FOR REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER PLACED IN
JUVENILE JUSTICE ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM. A juvenile justice
alternative education program is entitled to funding for a student
who is placed in the program under this subchapter in the same
manner as a juvenile justice alternative education program is
entitled to funding under Section 37.012 for a student who is
expelled and placed in a juvenile justice alternative education
program for conduct for which expulsion is permitted but not
required under Section 37.007.
Sec. 37.311. CONFERENCE. (a) A student or the student's
parent or guardian may appeal a decision by a school district board
of trustees to place the student in an alternative education
program under this subchapter by requesting a conference among the
board of trustees, the student's parent or guardian, and the
student. The conference is limited to the factual question of
whether the student is required to register as a sex offender under
Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure.
(b) If the school district board of trustees determines at
the conclusion of the conference that the student is required to
register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure, the student is subject to placement in an alternative
education program in the manner provided by this subchapter.
(c) A decision by the board of trustees under this section
is final and may not be appealed.
Sec. 37.312. LIABILITY. This subchapter does not:
(1) waive any liability or immunity of a governmental
entity or its officers or employees; or
(2) create any liability for or a cause of action
against a governmental entity or its officers or employees.
Sec. 37.313. CONFLICTS OF LAW. To the extent of any
conflict between a provision of this subchapter and a provision of
Subchapter A, this subchapter prevails.
SECTION ___. Article 15.27, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsections
(a-1) and (j) to read as follows:
(a-1) The superintendent or a person designated by the
superintendent in the school district may send to a school district
employee having direct supervisory responsibility over the student
the information contained in the confidential notice under
Subsection (a) if the superintendent or the person designated by
the superintendent determines that the employee needs the
information for educational purposes or for the protection of the
person informed or others.
(b) On conviction, deferred prosecution, or deferred
adjudication or an adjudication of delinquent conduct of an
individual enrolled as a student in a public primary or secondary
school, for an offense or for any conduct listed in Subsection (h)
of this article, the office of the prosecuting attorney acting in
the case shall orally notify the superintendent or a person
designated by the superintendent in the school district in which
the student is enrolled of the conviction or adjudication and
whether the student is required to register as a sex offender under
Chapter 62. Oral notification must be given within 24 hours of the
time of the order or on the next school day. The superintendent
shall, within 24 hours of receiving notification from the office of
the prosecuting attorney, [promptly] notify all instructional and
support personnel who have regular contact with the student.
Within seven days after the date the oral notice is given, the
office of the prosecuting attorney shall mail written notice, which
must contain a statement of the offense of which the individual is
convicted or on which the adjudication, deferred adjudication, or
deferred prosecution is grounded and a statement of whether the
student is required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62.
(c) A parole, [or] probation, or community supervision
office, including a community supervision and corrections
department, a juvenile probation department, the paroles division
of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and the Texas Youth
Commission, having jurisdiction over a student described by
Subsection (a), (b), or (e) who transfers from a school or is
subsequently removed from a school and later returned to a school or
school district other than the one the student was enrolled in when
the arrest, referral to a juvenile court, conviction, or
adjudication occurred shall within 24 hours of learning of the
student's transfer or reenrollment notify the new school officials
of the arrest or referral in a manner similar to that provided for
by Subsection (a) or (e)(1), or of the conviction or delinquent
adjudication in a manner similar to that provided for by Subsection
(b) or (e)(2). The new school officials shall, within 24 hours of
receiving notification under this subsection, [promptly] notify
all instructional and support personnel who have regular contact
with the student.
(j) The notification provisions of this section concerning
a person who is required to register as a sex offender under Chapter
62 do not lessen the requirement of a person to provide any
additional notification prescribed by that chapter.
SECTION ____. Subsection (d), Article 15.27, Code of
Criminal Procedure, is repealed.
SECTION ____. Subchapter I, Chapter 37, Education Code, as
added by this Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after
the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was
committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of
the offense occurred before that date.