| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the duties of a public school counselor regarding |
|
|
student discipline. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 33.006, Education Code, is amended by |
|
|
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (d) to read as |
|
|
follows: |
|
|
(b) In addition to a school counselor's responsibility |
|
|
under Subsection (a), the school counselor shall: |
|
|
(1) participate in planning, implementing, and |
|
|
evaluating a comprehensive developmental guidance program to serve |
|
|
all students and to address the special needs of students: |
|
|
(A) who are at risk of dropping out of school, |
|
|
becoming substance abusers, participating in gang activity, or |
|
|
committing suicide; |
|
|
(B) who are in need of modified instructional |
|
|
strategies; or |
|
|
(C) who are gifted and talented, with emphasis on |
|
|
identifying and serving gifted and talented students who are |
|
|
educationally disadvantaged; |
|
|
(2) consult with a student's parent or guardian and |
|
|
make referrals as appropriate in consultation with the student's |
|
|
parent or guardian; |
|
|
(3) consult with school staff, parents, and other |
|
|
community members to help them increase the effectiveness of |
|
|
student education and promote student success; |
|
|
(4) coordinate people and resources in the school, |
|
|
home, and community; |
|
|
(5) with the assistance of school staff, interpret |
|
|
standardized test results and other assessment data that help a |
|
|
student make educational and career plans; |
|
|
(6) deliver classroom guidance activities or serve as |
|
|
a consultant to teachers conducting lessons based on the school's |
|
|
guidance curriculum; [and] |
|
|
(7) serve as an impartial, nonreporting resource for |
|
|
interpersonal conflicts and discord involving two or more students, |
|
|
including accusations of bullying under Section 37.0832; |
|
|
(8) serve on a placement review committee under |
|
|
Section 37.003; |
|
|
(9) assist with a student placed into a disciplinary |
|
|
alternative education program as provided by Section 37.008; and |
|
|
(10) serve on a committee to review a student's |
|
|
placement in an alternative education program under Section 37.306. |
|
|
(d) A school counselor may not be required to assume a |
|
|
disciplinary role at a school, or to otherwise be assigned a duty |
|
|
involving student discipline that is inconsistent with the |
|
|
counselor's primary responsibility under Subsection (a) and |
|
|
additional responsibilities under this section. This subsection |
|
|
does not prohibit a school counselor from serving on: |
|
|
(1) a placement review committee under Section 37.003; |
|
|
or |
|
|
(2) a committee to review a student's placement in an |
|
|
alternative education program under Section 37.306. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 37.008, Education Code, is amended by |
|
|
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-2) to read as |
|
|
follows: |
|
|
(a) Each school district shall provide a disciplinary |
|
|
alternative education program that: |
|
|
(1) is provided in a setting other than a student's |
|
|
regular classroom; |
|
|
(2) is located on or off of a regular school campus; |
|
|
(3) provides for the students who are assigned to the |
|
|
disciplinary alternative education program to be separated from |
|
|
students who are not assigned to the program; |
|
|
(4) focuses on English language arts, mathematics, |
|
|
science, history, and self-discipline; |
|
|
(5) provides for students' educational and behavioral |
|
|
needs; |
|
|
(6) provides supervision and counseling from a school |
|
|
counselor employed by the district; and |
|
|
(7) employs only teachers who meet all certification |
|
|
requirements established under Subchapter B, Chapter 21. |
|
|
(a-2) The minimum standards adopted by the agency under |
|
|
Subsection (a-1) must require a school district to consult with the |
|
|
district's school counselor in developing a plan for a student's |
|
|
transition from a disciplinary alternative education program to a |
|
|
regular campus. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020 |
|
|
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, 2019. |