BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 946

By: Giddings

Public Education

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties note that the Texas Education Agency currently does not keep data on citations issued to students on school property during regular school hours, which means there is no way to analyze the incidents in the hopes of curbing student misconduct. H.B. 946 seeks to provide for this analysis by requiring school districts to annually report information relating to certain offenses committed by certain students to the commissioner of education.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the commissioner of education in SECTION 1 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 946 amends the Education Code to require each school district, in the manner required by the commissioner of education, to report annually to the commissioner information relating to each offense that does not involve the use of a weapon committed during school hours on school property by a student who is younger than 12 years of age and for which the student receives a citation. The bill limits conduct that must be reported to conduct that is not harassment as defined by the district's student code of conduct, that occurs between two students, that is not violent, that involves open-handed physical contact, and that is not intended to cause harm and is playful. The bill requires the report to include the offense committed by the student, the student's age and sex, the student's race or ethnicity, the student's grade level, and the campus to which the student is assigned. The bill authorizes the commissioner to adopt rules necessary to implement the bill's provisions. The bill's provisions apply beginning with the 2013-2014 school year.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2013.