BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 156 |
By: Raymond |
Public Education |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties express concern that a student who is placed in an alternative education program due to disciplinary issues suffers disruptions in the student's education progress and achievement and exclusion from meaningful interaction with peers. C.S.H.B. 156 seeks to establish a pilot program for placement of such students in a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program to allow those students to stay on track in educational progress, while also receiving appropriate discipline and instruction.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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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.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 156 amends the Education Code to establish a pilot program for placement of high school students in Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) programs as an alternative to placement in disciplinary alternative education programs (DAEP) or juvenile justice alternative education programs (JJAEP). The bill's provisions expire September 1, 2019.
C.S.H.B. 156 limits the application of the pilot program to a student enrolled in a high school designated by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and located in a municipality that has a population of 200,000 or more, is located on an international border, and has more than 20 percent of the population 18 to 24 years of age who have not graduated from high school, according to certain U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The bill requires TEA to designate, not later than January 1, 2018, not more than two high schools located in such a municipality that offer JROTC programs to participate in the pilot program and requires the commissioner of education by rule to adopt, not later than December 1, 2017, additional criteria that promote positive student educational outcomes for TEA to use in making these designations. The bill establishes that the application of the pilot program to a student enrolled in a TEA-designated high school is not affected if, after such designation, the high school graduation rate in the municipality changes such that the municipality no longer meets the program's graduation rate requirement.
C.S.H.B. 156 authorizes a student who meets the initial eligibility requirements for the pilot program, whose parent or guardian consents to the student's placement in the program, and who is otherwise required or permitted to be placed in a DAEP or a JJAEP to instead be required to participate in a JROTC program. The bill requires such a student to continue to attend the student's regularly assigned classes but authorizes the modification of the student's schedule to the extent necessary to provide for required attendance in the program. The bill sets out the circumstances under which a student is ineligible to participate in the pilot program and sets out the information that must be specified, provided, and addressed in the student code of conduct for a public school district that includes a school designated by TEA to participate in the pilot program.
C.S.H.B. 156 applies to the pilot program the statutory provision authorizing a superintendent or the superintendent's designee to consider all available information in determining whether, for purposes of placement in a DAEP, there is a reasonable belief that a student has engaged in conduct defined as a Penal Code felony offense. The bill prescribes the procedure for a school district to provide certain notice to a student's parent or guardian, including a noncustodial parent, before a student may be required to participate in a JROTC program under the pilot program, requires a school district board of trustees or the board's designee to set a term for a student's required participation in a JROTC program under the pilot program, and sets out provisions related to the period of required participation.
C.S.H.B. 156 sets out notice requirements for a district board of trustees to inform each educator who has responsibility for, or is under the direction and supervision of an educator who has responsibility for, the instruction of a student who is required to participate in a JROTC program under the pilot program and, in the case of a student who transfers to another school district before the expiration of the period of required participation, to inform the receiving district. The bill requires the receiving district to inform each educator who will have responsibility for, or will be under the direction and supervision of an educator who will have responsibility for, the instruction of the student of the contents of the placement order. The bill sets out confidentiality requirements for each such educator and authorizes the State Board for Educator Certification to revoke or suspend the certification of an educator who intentionally violates the confidentiality requirements. The bill authorizes a receiving district to continue the JROTC program placement under the terms of the applicable order or to allow the student to attend regular classes without completing the period of required participation and authorizes the placement of a transferring student in a DAEP or a JJAEP for the remainder of the period if the school the student attends in the receiving district does not offer a JROTC program.
C.S.H.B. 156 subjects a student required to participate in a JROTC program under the pilot program to statutory provisions relating to removal from class and placement in a DAEP or a JJAEP if the student, after completion of any required JROTC program participation, engages in subsequent conduct requiring or permitting the student to be removed from class and placed in a DAEP or a JJAEP. The bill subjects statutory provisions relating to a student's removal from class by a teacher, removal from class for certain conduct, and expulsion from school for serious offenses to the bill's provisions governing the pilot program.
C.S.H.B. 156 requires the commissioner, not later than January 1, 2019, to review the pilot program and submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the presiding officer of each legislative standing committee with primary jurisdiction over primary and secondary education a written report regarding the progress made by the pilot program in improving student educational outcomes. The bill requires the pilot program to be implemented in each designated high school beginning with the spring semester of the 2017‑2018 school year. The bill requires a school district to report annually to the commissioner certain specified information for each placement in a JROTC program under the pilot program.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2017.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 156 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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