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.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 20)
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 | |
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| 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. | ||
