| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the authority of school districts in certain counties |
|
|
to establish alternative programs in lieu of sending students to a |
|
|
juvenile justice alternative education program. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 37.011, Education Code, is amended by |
|
|
amending subsection (a) and adding subsection (a-6) to read as |
|
|
follows: |
|
|
(a) Except as provided by subsection (a-6), the [The] |
|
|
juvenile board of a county with a population greater than 125,000 |
|
|
shall develop a juvenile justice alternative education program, |
|
|
subject to the approval of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. |
|
|
The juvenile board of a county with a population of 125,000 or less |
|
|
may develop a juvenile justice alternative education program. For |
|
|
the purposes of this subchapter, and except as provided by |
|
|
subsection (a-6), only a disciplinary alternative education |
|
|
program operated under the authority of a juvenile board of a county |
|
|
is considered a juvenile justice alternative education program. A |
|
|
juvenile justice alternative education program in a county with a |
|
|
population of 125,000 or less: |
|
|
(1) is not required to be approved by the department; |
|
|
and |
|
|
(2) is not subject to Subsection (c), (d), (f), or (g). |
|
|
(a-6) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a school district |
|
|
located in a county with a population greater than 125,000 is |
|
|
authorized to create an alternative program to retain students who |
|
|
would otherwise to be referred to a juvenile justice alternative |
|
|
education program. |
|
|
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |