89R15145 RDR-F

By: Allen H.B. No. 4651

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the period for which a public school student may be placed in a disciplinary alternative education program or expelled.

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

SECTION 1. Section 37.001(a), Education Code, is 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;

(D) a disability that substantially impairs the student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's conduct;

(E) a student's status in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services; or

(F) a student's status as a student who is homeless;

(5) provide guidelines for setting the length of a term of:

(A) a removal under Section 37.006, which may not exceed 30 days; and

(B) an expulsion under Section 37.007, which may not exceed 60 days;

(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;

(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. Sections 37.009(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (h), Education Code, are amended 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, the teacher removing the student from class, if any, and the student. 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, 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. 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, the decision of the board or the board's designee is final and may not be appealed. The [If the] period of the placement must be consistent [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.]

(b) If a student's placement in a disciplinary alternative education program is to extend beyond 10 [60] days or the end of the next grading period, whichever is earlier, a student's parent or guardian is entitled to 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. Any decision of the board or the board's designee under this subsection is final and may not be appealed.

(c) Before it may place [a student] in a disciplinary alternative education program or expel a student for a reason for which placement in a disciplinary alternative education program or expulsion is permissive [a period that extends beyond the end of the school year], the board or the board's designee must determine that[:

[(1)] the student's presence in the regular classroom program or at the student's regular campus presents a danger of physical harm to the student or to another individual[; or

[(2) the student has engaged in serious or persistent misbehavior that violates the district's student code of conduct].

(d) The board or the board's designee shall set a term for a student's placement in a disciplinary alternative education program that is consistent[. 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:

[(1) the student is a threat to the safety of other students or to district employees; or

[(2) extended placement is in the best interest of the student.]

(e) A student placed in a disciplinary alternative education program or expelled shall be provided a review of the student's status, including a review of the student's academic status, by the board's designee at intervals not to exceed 10 [120] days. In the case of a high school student, the board's designee, with the student's parent or guardian, shall review the student's progress towards meeting high school graduation requirements and shall establish a specific graduation plan for the student. The district is not required under this subsection to provide a course in the district's disciplinary alternative education program except as required by Section 37.008(l). At the review, the student or the student's parent or guardian must be given the opportunity to present arguments for the student's return to the regular classroom or campus. The student may not be returned to the classroom of the teacher who removed the student without that teacher's consent. The teacher may not be coerced to consent.

(h) The board or the board's designee shall set a term for a student's expulsion that is consistent [If the period of an expulsion 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 an expulsion may not exceed one year unless, after a review, the district determines that:

[(1) the student is a threat to the safety of other students or to district employees; or

[(2) extended placement is in the best interest of the student.] After a school district notifies the parents or guardians of a student that the student has been expelled, the parent or guardian shall provide adequate supervision of the student during the period of expulsion.

SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026 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, 2025.