88R3367 JTZ-F

By: Cunningham H.B. No. 2952

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to procedures for the suspension, expulsion, or placement in a disciplinary alternative education program or juvenile justice alternative education program of a public school student enrolled in a school district.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 37.009, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), (a-4), and (a-5) 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 or other appropriate administrator shall schedule a conference among the campus behavior coordinator or other appropriate administrator, a parent or guardian of the student or another adult representing the student who is not an employee of the school district, the teacher removing the student from class, if any, and the student. 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 conference, the district may hold the conference regardless of whether the student, the student's parent or guardian, or another adult representing the student attends. 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, all evidence to be considered in making a determination under this subsection, subject to Subsection (a-2), 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), shall order the placement of the student for a period consistent with the student code of conduct. In determining the student's placement, the campus behavior coordinator must make a good-faith effort to corroborate and assess the validity of the evidence considered and may not consider oral statements that are not reduced to writing or recorded. 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 or other appropriate administrator, other than an expulsion under Section 37.007 or except as provided by Subsection (b), 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 the student is a threat to the safety of other students or to district employees.

(a-1) For purposes of this section, "evidence" means any tangible material, including written statements, audio or visual recordings, or information obtained from social media.

(a-2) Evidence provided to a student, the student's parent or guardian, or another adult representing the student under Subsection (a) must be:

(1) for handwritten statements, provided in a typed format; and

(2) redacted as necessary to ensure that information provided by another student does not reveal the student's identity, unless the district determines the identifying information is necessary for the conference under that subsection.

(a-3) A school district shall maintain the original copy of any evidence provided in a typed format or redacted under Subsection (a-2) until the determination under Subsection (a) is final, including any appeals to the commissioner or a district court in Travis County under Section 7.057.

(a-4) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to implement and enforce Subsections (a), (a-2), and (a-3).

(a-5) A student may not be placed in a disciplinary alternative education program for the student's first disciplinary violation for a school year or for a period longer than three days unless the student engaged in:

(1) conduct for which the student is required or permitted to be placed in a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.0051, 37.0052, 37.006, 37.007, 37.0081, or 37.019 or Subchapter I;

(2) conduct that constitutes an offense under Subchapter E, other than Section 37.123, or Subchapter F;

(3) bullying, as defined by Section 37.0832;

(4) harassment, as defined by Section 37.001; or

(5) making a hit list, as defined by Section 37.001.

(b) If a student's placement in a disciplinary alternative education program is to extend beyond seven [60] days or the end of the next grading period, whichever is earlier, the board or the board's designee must provide the student a hearing at which the student is afforded due process in the same manner a student is afforded due process in a hearing under Subsection (f) and to which the [a] student's parent or guardian is invited, in writing, to attend. At the proceeding, 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 [notice of and an opportunity to participate in a proceeding before the board of trustees of the school district or the board's designee, as provided by policy of the board of trustees of the district]. Before placing a student in a disciplinary alternative education program, the board or the board's designee must consider the circumstances surrounding the student's conduct and the student's disciplinary history. If the [Any] decision to place the student in a disciplinary alternative education program [of the board or the board's designee] under this subsection is made by the board's designee, the decision [final and] may [not] 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 district's central administrative office is located.

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.