88R1876 MEW-D
 
  By: Allison H.B. No. 655
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the placement by a school district of a student who
  engages in habitually violent behavior.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 37.024 to read as follows:
         Sec. 37.024.  EDUCATIONAL SETTING FOR STUDENTS WHO ENGAGE IN
  HABITUALLY VIOLENT BEHAVIOR. (a) In this section, "habitually
  violent behavior" means a pattern of violent behavior, such as
  assault or behavior that results in the hospitalization of a
  student or school district staff member, that causes more than one
  incident within a grading period during a school year.
         (b)  A school district may:
               (1)  for a prescribed period determined by the
  district, place a student who engages in habitually violent
  behavior towards other students and district staff in a virtual
  setting and provide virtual instruction and instructional
  materials for remote learning to the student;
               (2)  consult with local and state law enforcement
  agencies to determine whether a student's habitually violent
  behavior poses a legitimate ongoing threat to students and district
  staff in the general education setting;
               (3)  establish certain conditions that a student or a
  student's parent or person standing in parental relation to the
  student must fulfill to allow a student placed in a virtual setting
  to return to an alternative, general, or hybrid educational
  setting, including conditions that require:
                     (A)  the student or the student's parent or person
  standing in parental relation to the student to provide evidence
  that the student has undergone a medical or mental health
  evaluation; or
                     (B)  other reasonable steps designed to help the
  district determine whether the student continues to pose a threat
  to students and district staff; and
               (4)  if a student receives special education services
  under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, or is receiving accommodations
  under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section
  794), and has been determined to pose an ongoing threat to the
  physical safety of students and district staff, require the
  student's admission, review, and dismissal committee or team
  established under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29
  U.S.C. Section 794), as applicable, to meet to determine an
  appropriate educational setting for the student, in accordance with
  Section 37.004 and federal law and regulations, to ensure the
  student receives a free appropriate public education as required
  under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C.
  Section 1400 et seq.).
         (c)  If the admission, review, and dismissal committee of a
  student who engages in habitually violent behavior determines under
  Subsection (b)(4) that the least restrictive environment for the
  student is a remote, therapeutic, or residential placement, the
  district is entitled to receive from the state reimbursement for
  past expenses and appropriate funding for future expenses for the
  provision of services to that student.
         (d)  A student placed in virtual instruction under
  Subsection (b)(1) shall be counted toward the school district's
  average daily attendance in the same manner as other district
  students.  The commissioner shall adopt rules providing for a
  method of taking attendance for students placed in virtual
  instruction under Subsection (b)(1).
         SECTION 2.  This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
  school year.
         SECTION 3.  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, 2023.