By: Whitmire, Ellis  S.B. No. 107
         (In the Senate - Filed November 10, 2014; January 27, 2015,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 7,
  2015, rereferred to Committee on Criminal Justice; April 20, 2015,
  reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
  following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 20, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 107 By:  Whitmire
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the designation of campus behavior coordinators to
  serve at public school campuses and issues to be considered when
  removing a student from class.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 37.0012 to read as follows:
         Sec. 37.0012.  DESIGNATION OF CAMPUS BEHAVIOR COORDINATOR.  
  (a)  A person at each campus must be designated to serve as the
  campus behavior coordinator.  The person designated may be the
  principal of the campus or any other campus administrator selected
  by the principal.
         (b)  The campus behavior coordinator is primarily
  responsible for maintaining student discipline and the
  implementation of this subchapter.
         (c)  Except as provided by this chapter, the specific duties
  of the campus behavior coordinator may be established by campus or
  district policy. Unless otherwise provided by campus or district
  policy:
               (1)  a duty imposed on a campus principal or other
  campus administrator under this subchapter shall be performed by
  the campus behavior coordinator; and
               (2)  a power granted to a campus principal or other
  campus administrator under this subchapter may be exercised by the
  campus behavior coordinator.
         (d)  The campus behavior coordinator shall promptly notify a
  student's parent or guardian as provided by this subsection if
  under this subchapter the student is placed into in-school or
  out-of-school suspension, placed in a disciplinary alternative
  education program, expelled, or placed in a juvenile justice
  alternative education program or is taken into custody by a law
  enforcement officer.  A campus behavior coordinator must comply
  with this subsection by:
               (1)  promptly contacting the parent or guardian by
  telephone or in person; and
               (2)  making a good faith effort to provide written
  notice of the disciplinary action to the student, on the day the
  action is taken, for delivery to the student's parent or guardian.
         (e)  If a parent or guardian entitled to notice under
  Subsection (d) has not been reached by telephone or in person by 5
  p.m. of the first business day after the day the disciplinary action
  is taken, a campus behavior coordinator shall mail written notice
  of the action to the parent or guardian at the parent's or
  guardian's last known address.
         (f)  If a campus behavior coordinator is unable or not
  available to promptly provide notice under Subsection (d), the
  principal or other designee shall provide the notice.
         SECTION 2.  Section 37.002(a), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  A teacher may send a student to the campus behavior
  coordinator's [principal's] office to maintain effective
  discipline in the classroom. The campus behavior coordinator 
  [principal] shall respond by employing appropriate discipline
  management techniques consistent with the student code of conduct
  adopted under Section 37.001 that can reasonably be expected to
  improve the student's behavior before returning the student to the
  classroom.  If the student's behavior does not improve, the campus
  behavior coordinator shall employ alternative discipline
  management techniques, including any progressive interventions
  designated as the responsibility of the campus behavior coordinator
  in the student code of conduct.
         SECTION 3.  Section 37.007(a), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (k), a student shall be
  expelled from a school if the student, on school property or while
  attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off
  of school property:
               (1)  engages in conduct that contains the elements of
  the offense of unlawfully carrying weapons under Section 46.02,
  Penal Code, or elements of an offense relating to prohibited
  weapons under Section 46.05, Penal Code [uses, exhibits, or
  possesses:
                     [(A)     a firearm as defined by Section 46.01(3),
  Penal Code;
                     [(B)     an illegal knife as defined by Section
  46.01(6), Penal Code, or by local policy;
                     [(C)     a club as defined by Section 46.01(1), Penal
  Code; or
                     [(D)     a weapon listed as a prohibited weapon under
  Section 46.05, Penal Code];
               (2)  engages in conduct that contains the elements of
  the offense of:
                     (A)  aggravated assault under Section 22.02,
  Penal Code, sexual assault under Section 22.011, Penal Code, or
  aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.021, Penal Code;
                     (B)  arson under Section 28.02, Penal Code;
                     (C)  murder under Section 19.02, Penal Code,
  capital murder under Section 19.03, Penal Code, or criminal
  attempt, under Section 15.01, Penal Code, to commit murder or
  capital murder;
                     (D)  indecency with a child under Section 21.11,
  Penal Code;
                     (E)  aggravated kidnapping under Section 20.04,
  Penal Code;
                     (F)  aggravated robbery under Section 29.03,
  Penal Code;
                     (G)  manslaughter under Section 19.04, Penal
  Code;
                     (H)  criminally negligent homicide under Section
  19.05, Penal Code; or
                     (I)  continuous sexual abuse of young child or
  children under Section 21.02, Penal Code; or
               (3)  engages in conduct specified by Section
  37.006(a)(2)(C) or (D), if the conduct is punishable as a felony.
         SECTION 4.  Sections 37.009(a) and (f), Education Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Not later than the third class day after the day on which
  a student is removed from class by the teacher under Section
  37.002(b) or (d) or by the school principal or other appropriate
  administrator under Section 37.001(a)(2) or 37.006, the campus
  behavior coordinator [principal] or other appropriate
  administrator shall schedule a conference among the campus behavior
  coordinator [principal] or other appropriate administrator, a
  parent or guardian of the student, the teacher removing the student
  from class, if any, and the student. At the conference, the student
  is entitled to written or oral notice of the reasons for the
  removal, an explanation of the basis for the removal, and an
  opportunity to respond to the reasons for the removal. The student
  may not be returned to the regular classroom pending the
  conference. Following the conference, and whether or not each
  requested person is in attendance after valid attempts to require
  the person's attendance, the campus behavior coordinator, after
  consideration of the factors under Section 37.001(a)(4),
  [principal] shall order the placement of the student for a period
  consistent with the student code of conduct.  Before ordering the
  suspension, expulsion, removal to a disciplinary alternative
  education program, or placement in a juvenile justice alternative
  education program of a student, the behavior coordinator must
  consider whether the student acted in self-defense, the intent or
  lack of intent at the time the student engaged in the conduct, the
  student's disciplinary history, and whether the student has a
  disability that substantially impairs the student's capacity to
  appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's conduct, regardless of
  whether the decision of the behavior coordinator concerns a
  mandatory or discretionary action. If school district policy
  allows a student to appeal to the board of trustees or the board's
  designee a decision of the campus behavior coordinator [principal]
  or other appropriate administrator, other than an expulsion under
  Section 37.007, the decision of the board or the board's designee is
  final and may not be appealed. If the period of the placement is
  inconsistent with the guidelines included in the student code of
  conduct under Section 37.001(a)(5), the order must give notice of
  the inconsistency. The period of the placement may not exceed one
  year unless, after a review, the district determines that[:
               [(1)]  the student is a threat to the safety of other
  students or to district employees[; or
               [(2)     extended placement is in the best interest of the
  student].
         (f)  Before a student may be expelled under Section 37.007,
  the board or the board's designee must provide the student a hearing
  at which the student is afforded appropriate due process as
  required by the federal constitution and which the student's parent
  or guardian is invited, in writing, to attend. At the hearing, the
  student is entitled to be represented by the student's parent or
  guardian or another adult who can provide guidance to the student
  and who is not an employee of the school district. If the school
  district makes a good-faith effort to inform the student and the
  student's parent or guardian of the time and place of the hearing,
  the district may hold the hearing regardless of whether the
  student, the student's parent or guardian, or another adult
  representing the student attends.  Before ordering the expulsion of
  a student, the board of trustees must consider whether the student
  acted in self-defense, the intent or lack of intent at the time the
  student engaged in the conduct, the student's disciplinary history,
  and whether the student has a disability that substantially impairs
  the student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the
  student's conduct, regardless of whether the decision of the board
  concerns a mandatory or discretionary action. If the decision to
  expel a student is made by the board's designee, the decision may be
  appealed to the board. The decision of the board may be appealed by
  trial de novo to a district court of the county in which the school
  district's central administrative office is located.
         SECTION 5.  This Act applies beginning with the 2015-2016
  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, 2015.
 
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