Bill Text: TX HB3549 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to requiring a school district or open-enrollment charter school to report data regarding certain disciplinary or law enforcement actions taken against students.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2025-03-24 - Referred to Public Education [HB3549 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-HB3549-Introduced.html

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89R15940 KJE-F
By: Ward Johnson H.B. No. 3549

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requiring a school district or open-enrollment charter
school to report data regarding certain disciplinary or law
enforcement actions taken against students.
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. REPORT TO AGENCY ON CERTAIN DISCIPLINARY OR
LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Citation" means a ticket issued to a student for a
Class C misdemeanor by a school district peace officer or other
peace officer acting under a memorandum of understanding described
by Subsection (g).
(2) "Conducted energy weapon" means a device that is
intended, designed, made, or adapted to inflict pain on,
immobilize, or incapacitate a person by delivering electrical
energy into the person's body through direct contact or through one
or more projectiles.
(3) "OC spray" means any aerosol-propelled
debilitation device that is composed of a lachrymatory chemical
compound that irritates the eyes to cause tears, pain, or temporary
blindness. The term includes pepper spray, capsicum spray, OC gas,
and oleoresin capsicum.
(4) "Restraint" means the use of physical force or a
mechanical device to significantly restrict the free movement of
all or a portion of a student's body. The term includes the use of:
(A) a baton or a similar club;
(B) OC spray; and
(C) a conducted energy weapon.
(b) Not later than the 60th day after the last day of classes
for the school year, the superintendent of a school district shall
electronically submit to the agency a report that contains
incident-based data describing the total number of the following
incidents occurring during the preceding school year, organized by
campus:
(1) restraints administered to a student;
(2) complaints filed against a student under Section
37.145; and
(3) the following incidents occurring on school
property that result from a district employee's request for
intervention by a law enforcement agency, district peace officer,
or school resource officer:
(A) citations issued to a student; and
(B) arrests made of a student.
(c) The incident-based data submitted under this section
must include:
(1) as applicable, information identifying:
(A) the age of the student;
(B) the gender of the student;
(C) the race or ethnicity of the student;
(D) whether the student is eligible for special
education services under Section 29.003;
(E) whether the student is an emergent bilingual
student, as defined by Section 29.052;
(F) whether the student is in the conservatorship
of the Department of Family and Protective Services;
(G) whether the student is homeless, as defined
by 42 U.S.C. Section 11302;
(H) the nature of the offense;
(I) whether the offense occurred during regular
school hours;
(J) whether the offense occurred on school
property or off school property while the student was attending a
school-sponsored or school-related activity;
(K) the type of restraint administered to the
student;
(L) the offense for which a complaint was filed
against the student or for which the student was issued a citation
or was arrested; and
(M) the campus at which the student was enrolled
at the time of the incident; and
(2) for each campus for which an incident described by
Subsection (b) is reported, a comparison of the demographics of
students who were the subject of such an incident to the
demographics of the campus's student body, disaggregated by each
student group described by Subdivision (1)(A), (B), (C), (D), (E),
(F), or (G).
(d) The data collected for a report required under this
section does not constitute prima facie evidence of racial
profiling.
(e) A report required under this section may not include
information that identifies the peace officer who issued a
citation. The identity of the peace officer is confidential and not
subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.
(f) A report required under this section may not include
personally identifiable student information and must comply with
the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C.
Section 1232g).
(g) A school district that enters into a memorandum of
understanding with a local law enforcement agency for the provision
of a regular police presence on campus shall designate in the
memorandum of understanding which entity will be responsible for
collecting the data described by Subsection (b).
(h) The agency shall collect the reports required under this
section, compile the data, and make the data available to the
public. The data must be disaggregated by school district to the
extent possible while protecting the confidentiality of student
information in accordance with Subsection (f).
(i) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
implement this section, including rules requiring the reporting of
incident-based data using existing Public Education Information
Management System (PEIMS) codes for the reporting of incidents
described by Subsection (b).
SECTION 2. 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;
(2) the provisions in Chapter 554, Government Code;
and
(3) 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, except class size limits for prekindergarten
classes imposed under Section 25.112, which do not apply;
(I) extracurricular activities under Section
33.081;
(J) discipline management practices or behavior
management techniques under Section 37.0021;
(K) health and safety under Chapter 38;
(L) the provisions of Subchapter A, Chapter 39;
(M) public school accountability and special
investigations under Subchapters A, B, C, D, F, G, and J, Chapter
39, and Chapter 39A;
(N) the requirement under Section 21.006 to
report an educator's misconduct;
(O) intensive programs of instruction under
Section 28.0213;
(P) the right of a school employee to report a
crime, as provided by Section 37.148;
(Q) bullying prevention policies and procedures
under Section 37.0832;
(R) the right of a school under Section 37.0052
to place a student who has engaged in certain bullying behavior in a
disciplinary alternative education program or to expel the student;
(S) the right under Section 37.0151 to report to
local law enforcement certain conduct constituting assault or
harassment;
(T) a parent's right to information regarding the
provision of assistance for learning difficulties to the parent's
child as provided by Sections 26.004(b)(11) and 26.0081(c) and (d);
(U) establishment of residency under Section
25.001;
(V) school safety requirements under Sections
37.0814, 37.108, 37.1081, 37.1082, 37.1083, 37.1084, 37.1085,
37.1086, 37.109, 37.113, 37.114, 37.1141, 37.115, 37.207, and
37.2071 and Subchapter J, Chapter 37;
(W) the early childhood literacy and mathematics
proficiency plans under Section 11.185;
(X) the college, career, and military readiness
plans under Section 11.186; [and]
(Y) parental options to retain a student under
Section 28.02124; and
(Z) the reporting of information regarding
certain disciplinary or law enforcement actions under Section
37.088.
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.