By: Menéndez  S.B. No. 1553
         (In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2017; March 21, 2017, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Education; May 9, 2017,
  reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
  following vote:  Yeas 11, Nays 0; May 9, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1553 By:  Uresti
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the refusal of entry to or ejection from school district
  property.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 37.001(a), Education Code, as amended by
  Chapters 487 (S.B. 1541) and 1409 (S.B. 1114), Acts of the 83rd
  Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, is reenacted and amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  The board of trustees of an independent school district
  shall, with the advice of its district-level committee established
  under Subchapter F, Chapter 11, adopt a student code of conduct for
  the district. The student code of conduct must be posted and
  prominently displayed at each school campus or made available for
  review at the office of the campus principal. In addition to
  establishing standards for student conduct, the student code of
  conduct must:
               (1)  specify the circumstances, in accordance with this
  subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom,
  campus, disciplinary alternative education program, or vehicle
  owned or operated by the district;
               (2)  specify conditions that authorize or require a
  principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student
  to a disciplinary alternative education program;
               (3)  outline conditions under which a student may be
  suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by
  Section 37.007;
               (4)  specify that consideration will be given, as a
  factor in each decision concerning suspension, removal to a
  disciplinary alternative education program, expulsion, or
  placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program,
  regardless of whether the decision concerns a mandatory or
  discretionary action, to:
                     (A)  self-defense;
                     (B)  intent or lack of intent at the time the
  student engaged in the conduct;
                     (C)  a student's disciplinary history; or
                     (D)  a disability that substantially impairs the
  student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's
  conduct;
               (5)  provide guidelines for setting the length of a
  term of:
                     (A)  a removal under Section 37.006; and
                     (B)  an expulsion under Section 37.007;
               (6)  address the notification of a student's parent or
  guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by
  the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary
  alternative education program, or expulsion;
               (7)  prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit
  lists and ensure that district employees enforce those
  prohibitions; [and]
               (8)  provide, as appropriate for students at each grade
  level, methods, including options, for:
                     (A)  managing students in the classroom, on school
  grounds, and on a vehicle owned or operated by the district;
                     (B)  disciplining students; and
                     (C)  preventing and intervening in student
  discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making
  hit lists; and
               (9)  include an explanation of the provisions regarding
  refusal of entry to or ejection from district property under
  Section 37.105, including the appeal process established under
  Section 37.105(h).
         SECTION 2.  Section 37.105, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 37.105.  UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS: REFUSAL OF ENTRY,
  EJECTION, IDENTIFICATION. (a)  A school administrator, school
  resource officer, or school district peace officer [The board of
  trustees] of a school district [or its authorized representative]
  may refuse to allow a person [without legitimate business] to enter
  on or [property under the board's control and] may eject a [any
  undesirable] person from [the] property under the district's
  control if the person refuses [on the person's refusal] to leave
  peaceably on request and:
               (1)  the person poses a substantial risk of harm to any
  person; or
               (2)  the person behaves in a manner that is
  inappropriate for a school setting and:
                     (A)  the administrator, resource officer, or
  peace officer issues a verbal warning to the person that the
  person's behavior is inappropriate and may result in the person's
  refusal of entry or ejection; and
                     (B)  the person persists in that behavior.
         (b)  Identification may be required of any person on the
  property.
         (c)  Each school district shall maintain a record of each
  verbal warning issued under Subsection (a)(2)(A), including the
  name of the person to whom the warning was issued and the date of
  issuance.
         (d)  At the time a person is refused entry to or ejected from
  a school district's property under this section, the district shall
  provide to the person written information explaining the appeal
  process established under Subsection (h).
         (e)  If a parent or guardian of a child enrolled in a school
  district is refused entry to the district's property under this
  section, the district shall accommodate the parent or guardian to
  ensure that the parent or guardian may participate in the child's
  admission, review, and dismissal committee or in the child's team
  established under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29
  U.S.C. Section 794), in accordance with federal law.
         (f)  The term of a person's refusal of entry to or ejection
  from a school district's property under this section may not exceed
  two years.
         (g)  A school district shall post on the district's Internet
  website and each district campus shall post on any Internet website
  of the campus a notice regarding the provisions of this section,
  including the appeal process established under Subsection (h).
         (h)  The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement this
  section, including rules establishing a process for a person to
  appeal to the board of trustees of the school district the decision
  under Subsection (a) to refuse the person's entry to or eject the
  person from the district's property.
         SECTION 3.  This Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018
  school year.
         SECTION 4.  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, 2017.
 
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