BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 2450 |
By: Raymond |
Public Education |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties are concerned about students who are engaging in activity that poses a risk to the students or others that their parents may suspect will happen but school officials may not be aware of. The parties contend that students need help to keep adverse behavior from occurring. C.S.H.B. 2450 seeks to implement a pilot program operated by certain public or private primary or secondary or open-enrollment charter schools in Webb County concerning searches and drug testing of students with parental consent and certain disciplinary measures and other procedures that may arise from such a search or test.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 2450 amends the Education Code to authorize a public school district, private school, or open-enrollment charter school in Webb County to operate an alternative discipline pilot program to determine whether the conduct of parental-consent searches of students and parental-consent drug or alcohol tests of students and the subsequent use of alternative juvenile discipline procedures for those students are effective in reducing drug or alcohol use while minimizing involvement in the criminal justice system for matters related to drug or alcohol use. The bill specifies that the pilot program concludes and the related provisions expire June 15, 2015.
C.S.H.B. 2450 authorizes a school principal in a public school district or private primary or secondary school or open-enrollment charter school operating the pilot program who reasonably suspects a student possesses alcohol, marihuana, or a controlled substance to seek written consent from the parent or guardian of the student to search the student and the possessions of the student for those substances. The bill authorizes the principal or the principal's designee, if the student's parent or guardian provides written consent for the search, to conduct the search in accordance with rules adopted by the board of trustees of a district or governing body of the private school or charter school under the bill's provisions and requires the principal or the principal's designee who conducts a search to confiscate any alcohol, marihuana, or controlled substance discovered in the search and to immediately inform a local law enforcement agency. The bill requires a local law enforcement agency that receives such notice to take possession of the substance as soon as practicable but in no case later than 72 hours after the agency receives notice. The bill prohibits a student from being searched under the pilot program more than one time in a week.
C.S.H.B. 2450 authorizes a school principal in a school district or school operating the pilot program to seek written consent from the parent or guardian of a student younger than 17 years of age to perform a nonintrusive drug or alcohol test on the student if the principal reasonably believes that the student is using alcohol, marihuana, or a controlled substance and authorizes a parent or guardian of a student younger than 17 years of age to request in writing that the school perform a nonintrusive drug or alcohol test on the student if the parent or guardian reasonably believes that the student is using alcohol, marihuana, or a controlled substance. The bill authorizes a school that receives the written consent of a parent or guardian or a written request from a parent or guardian to perform a nonintrusive drug or alcohol test on the student in accordance with the rules and procedures adopted by the board of trustees of the district or governing body of the school. If a student tests positive in a nonintrusive drug or alcohol test, the bill requires administration of a second test as soon as practicable to confirm the positive test results, and the bill requires the principal to send all positive or negative test results to the student's parent or guardian.
C.S.H.B. 2450 authorizes a school that performs a nonintrusive drug or alcohol test on a student under the pilot program to request the student's parent or guardian to reimburse the school for the cost of the test and authorizes a school to seek any available federal, state, or private funds, grants, or donations to defray costs of performing the tests. The bill specifies that its provisions do not prohibit or otherwise affect any other drug or alcohol testing program conducted by or on behalf of a school or school district. The bill prohibits a student from being administered a nonintrusive drug or alcohol test under the pilot program more than one time in a month.
C.S.H.B. 2450 requires a district board or governing body of a school that operates the pilot program to adopt rules concerning the conduct of searches and administration of drug or alcohol tests and requires the board or governing board, in adopting such rules, to: · develop a written consent form to be used by the parent or guardian to consent to a search or drug or alcohol test; · provide that in the case where only one parent or guardian has authority to consent, pursuant to a custody agreement or any applicable court order, the consent of that parent is sufficient for purposes of the bill's provisions; · specify that a principal of a school operating the pilot program may designate an appropriate staff member to conduct searches or drug or alcohol tests; and · ensure that a search or drug or alcohol test conducted under the pilot program does not result in the student's involvement in the criminal justice system, including by receiving a citation or by being confined.
C.S.H.B. 2450 prohibits a student found to be in violation of law or school policy based on a parental-consent search or a parental-consent drug or alcohol test conducted under the pilot program from being expelled for the violation unless the student fails to comply with compulsory attendance at a substance abuse treatment program established by the bill, as applicable, and establishes that such a student may be subject to such attendance with the consent of the student's parent or guardian. If after a search a student is found in possession of alcohol, marihuana, or a controlled substance for the second or subsequent time during a one-year period, or if the student tests positive for drugs or alcohol for the second or subsequent time during a one-year period, the bill subjects the student to all disciplinary measures according to school policy or other applicable law.
C.S.H.B. 2450 authorizes a district board or governing body of a school operating the pilot program to employ a juvenile case manager in the manner provided by the Code of Criminal Procedure to provide services in a special juvenile docket composed of those juvenile cases arising from a parental-consent search or a parental-consent drug or alcohol test conducted under the pilot program. The bill requires a case manager so employed, if the district or school operating the pilot program is within the jurisdiction of a designated juvenile court in the county, to assist the court in administering the special juvenile docket. The bill requires the judge of the designated juvenile court in presiding over the special juvenile docket to coordinate with the school juvenile case manager and the district or school to provide alternative juvenile discipline solutions that do not involve the student's involvement in the criminal justice system. The bill authorizes a designated juvenile court in the county to coordinate with a school juvenile case manager employed by a district or school to establish a special juvenile disciplinary drug-intervention program for students of the district or school whose juvenile cases are in the special juvenile docket.
C.S.H.B. 2450 authorizes a district board or governing body of a school that operates the pilot program to cooperate with the juvenile board of the county, the local juvenile probation department, or any designated juvenile court in the county in establishing a substance abuse treatment program for students who violate a law or school policy by engaging in prohibited conduct related to the use, possession, or delivery of alcohol, marihuana, or a controlled substance.
C.S.H.B. 2450 authorizes a juvenile court to defer adjudication proceedings for not more than 180 days if a child who, based on evidence obtained pursuant to a parental-consent search or a parental-consent drug or alcohol test conducted under the pilot program, is alleged to have engaged in conduct indicating a need for supervision or delinquent conduct presents to the court a written request to attend a substance abuse treatment program. The bill requires a child for whom adjudication proceedings are deferred to complete the substance abuse treatment program not later than the 90th day after the date the hearing to determine punishment is held or the last day of the deferral period, whichever date is earlier. The bill requires the court to dismiss the case with prejudice at the time the child presents satisfactory evidence that the child has successfully completed the substance abuse treatment program and prohibits a case so dismissed from being part of the child's records for any purpose.
C.S.H.B. 2450 requires a district board or governing body of a school that operates the pilot program to submit a report, not later than December 1, 2014, containing the board or governing body's conclusions regarding whether the pilot program reduced drug or alcohol use and related involvement in the criminal justice system among students to certain specified recipients.
C.S.H.B. 2450 amends the Family Code to authorize a juvenile court to order the sealing of records concerning a child who, based on evidence obtained pursuant to a parental-consent search or a parental-consent drug or alcohol test conducted under the pilot program, is adjudicated to have engaged in conduct indicating a need for supervision or delinquent conduct if the child successfully completed a substance abuse treatment program under the bill's provisions, graduated from high school, or received the child's certificate of high school equivalency. The bill authorizes the court to order the sealing of the records immediately and without a hearing or to hold a hearing to determine whether to seal the records. The bill authorizes the court to grant such relief at any time after the child satisfies the applicable requirements and requires the court, if the child is referred to the juvenile court for conduct constituting any offense and at the adjudication hearing the child is found to be not guilty of each offense alleged, to immediately and without any additional hearing order the sealing of all files and records relating to the case. These provisions expire June 15, 2015.
C.S.H.B. 2450 authorizes a court, on or after June 15, 2015, to order the sealing of juvenile court records of a child entitled before that date to the sealing of records under the bill's provisions.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2013.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 2450 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and highlighted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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