82R592 EAH-D

By: Berman H.B. No. 562

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the development of juvenile justice alternative education programs in counties with a population greater than 125,000.

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

SECTION 1. Section 25.086(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A child is exempt from the requirements of compulsory school attendance if the child:

(1) attends a private or parochial school that includes in its course a study of good citizenship;

(2) is eligible to participate in a school district's special education program under Section 29.003 and cannot be appropriately served by the resident district;

(3) has a physical or mental condition of a temporary and remediable nature that makes the child's attendance infeasible and holds a certificate from a qualified physician specifying the temporary condition, indicating the treatment prescribed to remedy the temporary condition, and covering the anticipated period of the child's absence from school for the purpose of receiving and recuperating from that remedial treatment;

(4) is expelled in accordance with the requirements of law in a school district that does not participate in a [mandatory] juvenile justice alternative education program under Section 37.011;

(5) is at least 17 years of age and:

(A) is attending a course of instruction to prepare for the high school equivalency examination, and:

(i) has the permission of the child's parent or guardian to attend the course;

(ii) is required by court order to attend the course;

(iii) has established a residence separate and apart from the child's parent, guardian, or other person having lawful control of the child; or

(iv) is homeless as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 11302; or

(B) has received a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate;

(6) is at least 16 years of age and is attending a course of instruction to prepare for the high school equivalency examination, if:

(A) the child is recommended to take the course of instruction by a public agency that has supervision or custody of the child under a court order; or

(B) the child is enrolled in a Job Corps training program under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. Section 2801 et seq.);

(7) is at least 16 years of age and is enrolled in a high school diploma program under Chapter 18;

(8) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science under Subchapter G, Chapter 105;

(9) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Leadership in the Humanities;

(10) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at The University of Texas at Brownsville;

(11) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of International Studies; or

(12) is specifically exempted under another law.

SECTION 2. Section 37.010(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Not later than the second business day after the date a hearing is held under Section 37.009, the board of trustees of a school district or the board's designee shall deliver a copy of the order placing a student in a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.006 or expelling a student under Section 37.007 and any information required under Section 52.04, Family Code, to the authorized officer of the juvenile court in the county in which the student resides. In a county that operates a program under Section 37.011, an expelled student shall to the extent provided by law or by the memorandum of understanding immediately attend the educational program from the date of expulsion[, except that in a county with a population greater than 125,000, every expelled student who is not detained or receiving treatment under an order of the juvenile court must be enrolled in an educational program].

SECTION 3. Sections 37.011(a) and (k), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The juvenile board of a county with a population greater than 125,000 may [shall] develop a juvenile justice alternative education program, subject to the approval of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission. The juvenile board of a county with a population of 125,000 or less may develop a juvenile justice alternative education program. For the purposes of this subchapter, only a disciplinary alternative education program operated under the authority of a juvenile board of a county is considered a juvenile justice alternative education program. A juvenile justice alternative education program in a county with a population of 125,000 or less:

(1) is not required to be approved by the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission; and

(2) is not subject to Subsection (c), (d), (f), or (g).

(k) If the juvenile board of a county with a population greater than 125,000 develops a juvenile justice alternative education program, each [Each] school district in the [a] county [with a population greater than 125,000] and the county juvenile board shall annually enter into a joint memorandum of understanding that:

(1) outlines the responsibilities of the juvenile board concerning the establishment and operation of a juvenile justice alternative education program under this section;

(2) defines the amount and conditions on payments from the school district to the juvenile board for students of the school district served in the juvenile justice alternative education program whose placement was not made on the basis of an expulsion required under Section 37.007(a), (d), or (e);

(3) identifies those categories of conduct that the school district has defined in its student code of conduct as constituting serious or persistent misbehavior for which a student may be placed in the juvenile justice alternative education program;

(4) identifies and requires a timely placement and specifies a term of placement for expelled students for whom the school district has received a notice under Section 52.041(d), Family Code;

(5) establishes services for the transitioning of expelled students to the school district prior to the completion of the student's placement in the juvenile justice alternative education program;

(6) establishes a plan that provides transportation services for students placed in the juvenile justice alternative education program;

(7) establishes the circumstances and conditions under which a juvenile may be allowed to remain in the juvenile justice alternative education program setting once the juvenile is no longer under juvenile court jurisdiction; and

(8) establishes a plan to address special education services required by law.

SECTION 4. (a) Subject to any memorandum of understanding with a school district that is in effect on the effective date of this Act, the juvenile board of a county with a population greater than 125,000 may discontinue an existing juvenile justice alternative education program on or after the effective date of this Act.

(b) If the juvenile board of a county with a population greater than 125,000 has obtained the approval of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission for a juvenile justice alternative education program before the effective date of this Act, the approval is continued in effect for purposes of Section 37.011(a), Education Code, as amended by this Act.

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, 2011.