Bill Text: TX HB34 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to a public school classroom safety review and referral program for students who engage in violent criminal conduct; creating a criminal offense.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 20-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-02 - Failed to receive affirmative vote in comm. [HB34 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB34-Introduced.html
  88R1285 MEW-F
 
  By: Toth H.B. No. 34
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to a public school classroom safety review and referral
  program for students who engage in violent criminal conduct;
  creating a criminal offense.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 37.088 to read as follows:
         Sec. 37.088.  CLASSROOM SAFETY REVIEW AND REFERRAL PROGRAM.
  (a) If, after an investigation is completed, the principal of a
  public primary or secondary school has reasonable grounds to
  believe that a student engaged in violent criminal conduct,
  including assaultive conduct, the principal shall:
               (1)  refer the student to the classroom safety review
  committee established under Subsection (b); or
               (2)  make a report to any school district police
  department, if applicable, or the police department of the
  municipality in which the school is located or, if the school is not
  in a municipality, the sheriff of the county in which the school is
  located.
         (b)  Before the beginning of each school year, a public
  primary or secondary school shall establish a classroom safety
  review committee that consists of five classroom teachers who are
  selected from all classroom teachers employed by the school through
  a nomination and election process, as determined by the school.
         (c)  If a student is referred to the classroom safety review
  committee under Subsection (a)(1), the committee shall review all
  electronic, written, and verbal evidence or testimony or video
  provided to the committee and interview any eyewitnesses. After
  review, the committee shall, by majority vote, refer the student
  to:
               (1)  a person designated by the school as the juvenile
  diversion administrator under Subsection (d); or
               (2)  the classroom safety referral board established
  under Subsection (e).
         (d)  A public primary or secondary school shall designate a
  person as the juvenile diversion administrator for the school. If
  the classroom safety review committee refers a student to the
  juvenile diversion administrator under Subsection (c)(1), the
  juvenile diversion administrator shall:
               (1)  require the student to perform a certain number of
  hours of community service;
               (2)  require the student to participate in tutoring; or
               (3)  make a determination that the student is not
  required to take any additional actions.
         (e)  A public primary or secondary school shall establish a
  classroom safety referral board that consists of:
               (1)  two teachers who serve on the classroom safety
  review committee;
               (2)  an assistant district attorney of the county in
  which the school is located;
               (3)  an investigator from the sheriff's office in the
  county in which the school is located; and
               (4)  a parent of a student enrolled at the school
  selected by the board of trustees of the school district.
         (f)  If the classroom safety review committee refers a
  student to the classroom safety referral board, the board shall
  review all electronic, written, and verbal evidence or testimony or
  video provided to the board and may hear new testimony from the
  student or an eyewitness of the conduct. After review, the board, by
  majority vote, shall:
               (1)  report the student's conduct to the local law
  enforcement agency; or
               (2)  refer the student to the juvenile diversion
  administrator under Subsection (d).
         (g)  Materials and information provided to or produced by the
  classroom safety review committee or the classroom safety referral
  board during a student review under this section must be maintained
  in the student's school record until the student's 24th birthday.
         (h)  A person commits an offense if the person destroys
  material or information described by Subsection (g) before the
  period of maintenance required under that subsection has expired.
  An offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
         (i)  If an educator commits an offense under Subsection (h),
  the educator may be subject to termination or suspension of the
  educator's contract.
         (j)  Any testimony provided by an educator to the classroom
  safety review committee or the classroom safety referral board
  under this section is confidential and may not be disclosed to any
  other person. 
         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.
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