By: Madden, Strama H.B. No. 1324

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the discipline of public school students, the operation of certain behavioral programs or disciplinary alternative education programs, and the placement of students with certain disabilities in disciplinary alternative education programs and juvenile justice alternative education programs.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 37.001(a), Education Code, is amended 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 that [whether] consideration will be [is] given, as a factor in a decision regarding [to order] suspension, removal to a disciplinary alternative education program, or expulsion, to:

(A) self-defense;

(B) intent or lack of intent at the time the student engaged in the conduct;

(C) a student's disciplinary history; or

(D) a disability that substantially impairs the student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's conduct;

(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;

(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.

SECTION 2. Section 37.004, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, in a county with a juvenile justice alternative education program established under Section 37.011, the expulsion under a provision of Section 37.007 described by this subsection of a student with a disability who receives special education services must occur in accordance with this subsection and Subsection (f). The school district that proposes to expel the student shall, in accordance with applicable federal law, provide the administrator of the juvenile justice alternative education program or the administrator's designee with reasonable notice of the meeting of the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee to discuss the student's proposed expulsion. A representative of the juvenile justice alternative education program may participate in the meeting to the extent that the meeting relates to the student's placement in the program. This subsection applies only to an expulsion under:

(1) Section 37.007(b), (c), (f), or (i); or

(2) Section 37.007(d) as a result of conduct that contains the elements of any offense listed in Section 37.007(b)(2)(C) against any employee or volunteer in retaliation for or as a result of the person's employment or association with a school district.

(f) If, after placement of a student in a juvenile justice alternative education program under Subsection (e), the administrator of the program or the administrator's designee has concerns that the student's educational or behavioral needs cannot be met in the program, the administrator or designee shall immediately provide written notice of those concerns to the school district from which the student was expelled. The student's admission, review, and dismissal committee shall meet to reconsider the placement of the student in the program. The district shall, in accordance with applicable federal law, provide the administrator or designee with reasonable notice of the meeting, and a representative of the program shall participate in the meeting to the extent that the meeting relates to the student's continued placement in the program.

SECTION 3. Section 37.008, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (n) to read as follows:

(a) Each school district shall provide a disciplinary alternative education program that:

(1) is provided in a setting other than a student's regular classroom;

(2) is located on or off of a regular school campus;

(3) provides for the students who are assigned to the disciplinary alternative education program to be separated from students who are not assigned to the program;

(4) focuses on English language arts, mathematics, science, history, and self-discipline;

(5) provides for students' educational and behavioral needs, including, if applicable, implementation of a student's individualized education program developed under Section 29.005;

(6) provides supervision and counseling;

(7) employs only teachers who [requires that to teach in an off-campus disciplinary alternative education program, each teacher] meet all certification requirements established under Subchapter B, Chapter 21; and

(8) provides at least the number of days of instruction required by Section 25.081(a) and the number of hours each school day required by Section 25.082(a), except that the program may follow the same calendar adopted by the district for all district campuses [notwithstanding Subdivision (7), requires that to teach in a disciplinary alternative education program of any kind, each teacher employed by a school district during the 2003-2004 school year or an earlier school year meet, not later than the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year, all certification requirements established under Subchapter B, Chapter 21].

(n) A school district shall ensure that each student who has been determined to be eligible under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, for special education services and who is placed in a disciplinary alternative education program has an individualized education program developed under Section 29.005 and that a copy of that individualized education program has been provided to the disciplinary alternative education program.

SECTION 4. (a) The Department of State Health Services shall establish a cross-system coordinated behavioral health intervention pilot project for children in Bexar County who may have a mental disability or participate in disciplinary alternative education programs.

(b) In implementing the pilot project, the department shall require a local mental health authority serving Bexar County to:

(1) enter into a memorandum of understanding or other agreement with state and local agencies that work directly with children, including the Department of State Health Services, the Department of Family and Protective Services, the Texas Youth Commission, and the Texas Education Agency, to:

(A) permit cross-system collaboration in the provision of uniform early intervention behavioral health assessments to children; and

(B) to the extent allowed by other law, identify children in the educational, juvenile justice, and child protective services systems who have or are at risk of developing mental health or substance abuse problems, divert the children to integrated systems of care services, and reduce cross-system gaps or inefficiencies in the provision of care;

(2) develop, in collaboration with the state and local agencies, a best practices plan regarding:

(A) cross-system informed consent and confidentiality practices;

(B) uniform behavioral health screening for children;

(C) uniform referral processes between systems and agencies related to behavioral health services;

(D) the delivery of early intervention and treatment services; and

(E) an information exchange process between agencies to facilitate faster identification and assessment of behavioral health problems and integrate service delivery;

(3) identify outcome measures that may be used to measure the efficiency of cross-system coordination; and

(4) ensure that an extensive listing of providers is available for children and their families, including information regarding the services offered and the behavioral health issues addressed by the provider.

(c) The department may use funds for crisis prevention programs in collaboration with funds from local authorities, including school districts and criminal justice agencies, to implement the pilot project.

(d) Not later than December 1, 2008, the local mental health authority involved in the pilot project shall submit a report to the department regarding the cross-system coordinated behavioral health intervention pilot project, including:

(1) a comprehensive analysis of the efficacy of the project; and

(2) the local authority's findings and recommendations.

(e) This section expires September 1, 2009.

SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2007-2008 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, 2007.