Bill Text: TX HB2616 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Comm Sub


Bill Title: Relating to the discipline and behavior management of a student enrolled in a grade level below grade three at a school district or open-enrollment charter school.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-02 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB2616 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB2616-Comm_Sub.html
  85R23087 KJE-F
 
  By: Giddings, Johnson of Dallas, et al. H.B. No. 2616
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2616:
 
  By:  Allen C.S.H.B. No. 2616
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the discipline and behavior management of a student
  enrolled in a grade level below grade three at a school district or
  open-enrollment charter school.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 12.104(b), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  An open-enrollment charter school is subject to:
               (1)  a provision of this title establishing a criminal
  offense; and
               (2)  a prohibition, restriction, or requirement, as
  applicable, imposed by this title or a rule adopted under this
  title, relating to:
                     (A)  the Public Education Information Management
  System (PEIMS) to the extent necessary to monitor compliance with
  this subchapter as determined by the commissioner;
                     (B)  criminal history records under Subchapter C,
  Chapter 22;
                     (C)  reading instruments and accelerated reading
  instruction programs under Section 28.006;
                     (D)  accelerated instruction under Section
  28.0211;
                     (E)  high school graduation requirements under
  Section 28.025;
                     (F)  special education programs under Subchapter
  A, Chapter 29;
                     (G)  bilingual education under Subchapter B,
  Chapter 29;
                     (H)  prekindergarten programs under Subchapter E
  or E-1, Chapter 29;
                     (I)  extracurricular activities under Section
  33.081;
                     (J)  discipline management practices or behavior
  management techniques under Sections [Section] 37.0021, 37.0182,
  37.0183, and 37.023, including the staff development training
  required under Section 21.451(d)(4);
                     (K)  health and safety under Chapter 38;
                     (L)  public school accountability under
  Subchapters B, C, D, E, F, G, and J, Chapter 39;
                     (M)  the requirement under Section 21.006 to
  report an educator's misconduct;
                     (N)  intensive programs of instruction under
  Section 28.0213; and
                     (O)  the right of a school employee to report a
  crime, as provided by Section 37.148.
         SECTION 2.  Section 21.451(d), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (d)  The staff development:
               (1)  may include training in:
                     (A)  technology;
                     (B)  conflict resolution;
                     (C)  discipline strategies, including classroom
  management, district discipline policies, and the student code of
  conduct adopted under Section 37.001 and Chapter 37; and
                     (D)  preventing, identifying, responding to, and
  reporting incidents of bullying;
               (2)  subject to Subsection (e) and to Section 21.3541
  and rules adopted under that section, must include training that is
  evidence-based [based on scientifically based research], as
  defined by Section 8101, Every Student Succeeds Act [9101, No Child
  Left Behind Act of 2001] (20 U.S.C. Section 7801), and that:
                     (A)  relates to instruction of students with
  disabilities; and
                     (B)  is designed for educators who work primarily
  outside the area of special education; [and]
               (3)  must include suicide prevention training that must
  be provided:
                     (A)  on an annual basis, as part of a new employee
  orientation, to all new school district and open-enrollment charter
  school educators; and
                     (B)  to existing school district and
  open-enrollment charter school educators on a schedule adopted by
  the agency by rule; and
               (4)  notwithstanding Subdivision (1)(C), must include
  for educators who work with students enrolled in a grade level below
  grade three training on the positive behavior and early detection
  prevention programs under Section 37.0183.
         SECTION 3.  Section 37.001(a), Education Code, as amended by
  Chapters 487 (S.B. 1541) and 1409 (S.B. 1114), Acts of the 83rd
  Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, is reenacted and 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; or
                     (D)  a disability that substantially impairs the
  student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's
  conduct;
               (5)  state that a student enrolled in a grade level
  below grade three may not be placed in out-of-school suspension
  except as authorized by this subchapter;
               (6)  provide guidelines for setting the length of a
  term of:
                     (A)  a removal under Section 37.006; and
                     (B)  an expulsion under Section 37.007;
               (7) [(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;
               (8) [(7)]  prohibit bullying, harassment, and making
  hit lists and ensure that district employees enforce those
  prohibitions; and
               (9) [(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, including
  disciplining students enrolled in a grade level below grade three
  using behavior management techniques that comply with the minimum
  standards established under Section 37.0182 as an alternative to
  out-of-school suspension; and
                     (C)  preventing and intervening in student
  discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making
  hit lists.
         SECTION 4.  Section 37.005, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
         (c)  A student enrolled in a grade level below grade three
  may not be placed in out-of-school suspension.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Sections 37.0182, 37.0183, and 37.023 to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 37.0182.  APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
  FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS. (a) The commissioner by rule shall establish
  minimum standards for behavior management techniques that may be
  used for a student enrolled in a grade level below grade three as an
  alternative to placing the student in out-of-school suspension
  under Section 37.005. The standards must require a behavior
  management technique to be a positive behavior support that is age
  appropriate and research based.
         (b)  The agency shall develop a database of positive behavior
  support systems that satisfy the standards established under
  Subsection (a) and make the database available to each school
  district and open-enrollment charter school.
         Sec. 37.0183.  POSITIVE BEHAVIOR AND EARLY DETECTION AND
  PREVENTION PROGRAMS FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS. (a) Each school district
  shall develop and implement for students enrolled in a grade level
  below grade three a positive behavior program that:
               (1)  is age appropriate and research based;
               (2)  models positive behaviors;
               (3)  promotes a positive school climate;
               (4)  uses only behavior management techniques that
  comply with the minimum standards established under Section
  37.0182;
               (5)  does not rely on the use of out-of-school
  suspensions or placements in a disciplinary alternative education
  program as a means of managing problematic behavior; and
               (6)  includes behavior management strategies such as
  positive behavioral interventions and supports, trauma-informed
  practices, social and emotional learning, referral services, and
  restorative practices.
         (b)  Each school district shall develop and implement an
  early detection and prevention program to address the needs of
  students enrolled in a grade level below grade three who are
  experiencing behavioral or disciplinary challenges.  The program
  must be designed to provide appropriate evaluations, services, and
  supports to the student and the student's family.
         (c)  A program under Subsection (a) or (b) must include
  methods for improving in-school suspension by incorporating
  behavior management techniques that comply with the minimum
  standards established under Section 37.0182.
         (d)  In developing a program under Subsection (a) or (b), a
  school district may request assistance from a regional education
  service center.
         (e)  Each school district shall:
               (1)  submit to the agency written procedures detailing
  the implementation of each program under this section;
               (2)  make the procedures under Subdivision (1) publicly
  available; and
               (3)  train educators and other student support staff as
  necessary to implement the programs as required by this section.
         (f)  The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to
  implement this section.
         Sec. 37.023.  SANCTIONS FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS. The
  commissioner may sanction, in a manner determined appropriate by
  the commissioner, a school district or open-enrollment charter
  school that:
               (1)  permits a student enrolled in a grade level below
  grade three to be placed in out-of-school suspension unless the
  suspension is authorized by this subchapter; or
               (2)  fails to comply with a requirement under Section
  37.0183.
         SECTION 6.  This Act applies beginning with the 2018-2019
  school year.
         SECTION 7.  Not later than September 1, 2018, each school
  district and open-enrollment charter school shall submit to the
  Texas Education Agency the procedures required under Section
  37.0183, Education Code, as added by this Act.
         SECTION 8.  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, 2017.
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