Bill Text: TX HB3879 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to corporal punishment in public schools.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-24 - Referred to Public Education [HB3879 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB3879-Introduced.html
87R8962 TSS-D | ||
By: Allen | H.B. No. 3879 |
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relating to corporal punishment in public schools. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Chapter 37, Education Code, is amended by adding | ||
Subchapter Z to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER Z. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS | ||
RELATING TO DISCIPLINE | ||
Sec. 37.901. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. (a) In this section, | ||
"corporal punishment" includes hitting, spanking, paddling, or | ||
deliberately inflicting physical pain by any means on the whole or | ||
any part of a student's body as a penalty or punishment for the | ||
student's behavior on or off campus. | ||
(b) A school district employee or a volunteer or independent | ||
contractor of a district may not administer corporal punishment or | ||
cause corporal punishment to be administered to a student. This | ||
subsection does not apply to corporal punishment administered off | ||
campus by a parent to the parent's child. | ||
(c) A school district employee or a volunteer or independent | ||
contractor of a district may use reasonable and necessary | ||
restraint, as defined by Section 37.0021. | ||
(d) Section 9.62, Penal Code, and Section 22.0511(a) of this | ||
code do not apply to an action of a school district employee or a | ||
volunteer or independent contractor of a district that violates | ||
Subsection (b). | ||
SECTION 2. Section 37.0023, Education Code, is transferred | ||
to Subchapter Z, Chapter 37, Education Code, as added by this Act, | ||
redesignated as Section 37.902, Education Code, and amended to read | ||
as follows: | ||
Sec. 37.902 [ |
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In this section, "aversive technique" means a technique or | ||
intervention that is intended to reduce the likelihood of a | ||
behavior reoccurring by intentionally inflicting on a student | ||
significant physical or emotional discomfort or pain. The term | ||
includes a technique or intervention that: | ||
(1) is designed to or likely to cause physical pain[ |
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(2) [ |
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or likely to cause physical pain through the use of electric shock | ||
or any procedure that involves the use of pressure points or joint | ||
locks; | ||
(3) involves the directed release of a noxious, toxic, | ||
or otherwise unpleasant spray, mist, or substance near the | ||
student's face; | ||
(4) denies adequate sleep, air, food, water, shelter, | ||
bedding, physical comfort, supervision, or access to a restroom | ||
facility; | ||
(5) ridicules or demeans the student in a manner that | ||
adversely affects or endangers the learning or mental health of the | ||
student or constitutes verbal abuse; | ||
(6) employs a device, material, or object that | ||
simultaneously immobilizes all four extremities, including any | ||
procedure that results in such immobilization known as prone or | ||
supine floor restraint; | ||
(7) impairs the student's breathing, including any | ||
procedure that involves: | ||
(A) applying pressure to the student's torso or | ||
neck; or | ||
(B) obstructing the student's airway, including | ||
placing an object in, on, or over the student's mouth or nose or | ||
placing a bag, cover, or mask over the student's face; | ||
(8) restricts the student's circulation; | ||
(9) secures the student to a stationary object while | ||
the student is in a sitting or standing position; | ||
(10) inhibits, reduces, or hinders the student's | ||
ability to communicate; | ||
(11) involves the use of a chemical restraint; | ||
(12) constitutes a use of timeout that precludes the | ||
student from being able to be involved in and progress | ||
appropriately in the required curriculum and, if applicable, toward | ||
the annual goals included in the student's individualized education | ||
program, including isolating the student by the use of physical | ||
barriers; or | ||
(13) except as provided by Subsection (c), deprives | ||
the student of the use of one or more of the student's senses. | ||
(b) A school district or school district employee or | ||
volunteer or an independent contractor of a school district may not | ||
apply an aversive technique, or by authorization, order, or | ||
consent, cause an aversive technique to be applied, to a student. | ||
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(13), an aversive | ||
technique described by Subsection (a)(13) may be used if the | ||
technique is executed in a manner that: | ||
(1) does not cause the student discomfort or pain; or | ||
(2) complies with the student's individualized | ||
education program or behavior intervention plan. | ||
(d) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit a | ||
teacher from removing a student from class under Section 37.002. | ||
(e) In adopting procedures under this section, the | ||
commissioner shall provide guidance to school district employees, | ||
volunteers, and independent contractors of school districts in | ||
avoiding a violation of Subsection (b). | ||
SECTION 3. Section 22.0512(c), Education Code, is amended | ||
to read as follows: | ||
(c) This section does not prohibit a school district from[ |
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disciplinary proceeding against a professional employee of the | ||
district who violates the prohibition on [ |
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SECTION 4. Section 25.007(b), Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(b) In recognition of the challenges faced by students who | ||
are homeless or in substitute care, the agency shall assist the | ||
transition of students who are homeless or in substitute care from | ||
one school to another by: | ||
(1) ensuring that school records for a student who is | ||
homeless or in substitute care are transferred to the student's new | ||
school not later than the 10th working day after the date the | ||
student begins enrollment at the school; | ||
(2) developing systems to ease transition of a student | ||
who is homeless or in substitute care during the first two weeks of | ||
enrollment at a new school; | ||
(3) developing procedures for awarding credit, | ||
including partial credit if appropriate, for course work, including | ||
electives, completed by a student who is homeless or in substitute | ||
care while enrolled at another school; | ||
(4) developing procedures to ensure that a new school | ||
relies on decisions made by the previous school regarding placement | ||
in courses or educational programs of a student who is homeless or | ||
in substitute care and places the student in comparable courses or | ||
educational programs at the new school, if those courses or | ||
programs are available; | ||
(5) promoting practices that facilitate access by a | ||
student who is homeless or in substitute care to extracurricular | ||
programs, summer programs, credit transfer services, electronic | ||
courses provided under Chapter 30A, and after-school tutoring | ||
programs at nominal or no cost; | ||
(6) establishing procedures to lessen the adverse | ||
impact of the movement of a student who is homeless or in substitute | ||
care to a new school; | ||
(7) entering into a memorandum of understanding with | ||
the Department of Family and Protective Services regarding the | ||
exchange of information as appropriate to facilitate the transition | ||
of students in substitute care from one school to another; | ||
(8) encouraging school districts and open-enrollment | ||
charter schools to provide services for a student who is homeless or | ||
in substitute care in transition when applying for admission to | ||
postsecondary study and when seeking sources of funding for | ||
postsecondary study; | ||
(9) requiring school districts, campuses, and | ||
open-enrollment charter schools to accept a referral for special | ||
education services made for a student who is homeless or in | ||
substitute care by a school previously attended by the student, and | ||
to provide comparable services to the student during the referral | ||
process or until the new school develops an individualized | ||
education program for the student; | ||
(10) requiring school districts, campuses, and | ||
open-enrollment charter schools to provide notice to the child's | ||
educational decision-maker and caseworker regarding events that | ||
may significantly impact the education of a child, including: | ||
(A) requests or referrals for an evaluation under | ||
Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794), or | ||
special education under Section 29.003; | ||
(B) admission, review, and dismissal committee | ||
meetings; | ||
(C) manifestation determination reviews required | ||
by Section 37.004(b); | ||
(D) any disciplinary actions under Chapter 37 for | ||
which parental notice is required; | ||
(E) citations issued for Class C misdemeanor | ||
offenses on school property or at school-sponsored activities; | ||
(F) reports of restraint and seclusion required | ||
by Section 37.0021; and | ||
(G) [ |
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child under Section 29.0151; | ||
(11) developing procedures for allowing a student who | ||
is homeless or in substitute care who was previously enrolled in a | ||
course required for graduation the opportunity, to the extent | ||
practicable, to complete the course, at no cost to the student, | ||
before the beginning of the next school year; | ||
(12) ensuring that a student who is homeless or in | ||
substitute care who is not likely to receive a high school diploma | ||
before the fifth school year following the student's enrollment in | ||
grade nine, as determined by the district, has the student's course | ||
credit accrual and personal graduation plan reviewed; | ||
(13) ensuring that a student in substitute care who is | ||
in grade 11 or 12 be provided information regarding tuition and fee | ||
exemptions under Section 54.366 for dual-credit or other courses | ||
provided by a public institution of higher education for which a | ||
high school student may earn joint high school and college credit; | ||
(14) designating at least one agency employee to act | ||
as a liaison officer regarding educational issues related to | ||
students in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and | ||
Protective Services; and | ||
(15) providing other assistance as identified by the | ||
agency. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 37.0011, Education Code, is repealed. | ||
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022 | ||
school year. | ||
SECTION 7. 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, 2021. |