Bill Text: TX HB4044 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the application of discipline to certain students with autism or another pervasive developmental disorder.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-02 - Withdrawn from schedule [HB4044 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB4044-Introduced.html
By: Cortez | H.B. No. 4044 |
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relating to the application of discipline to certain students with | ||
autism or another pervasive developmental disorder. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 37.001, Education Code, is 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) 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; | ||
(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; | ||
(7) prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit | ||
lists and ensure that district employees enforce those | ||
prohibitions; [ |
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(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; and | ||
(C) preventing and intervening in student | ||
discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making | ||
hit lists[ |
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(9) provide for the notification of parents of | ||
students with autism or another pervasive developmental disorder | ||
before beginning the disciplinary process contained in this | ||
Subchapter. | ||
(b) In this section: | ||
(1) "Bullying" has the meaning assigned by Section | ||
37.0832. | ||
(2) "Harassment" means threatening to cause harm or | ||
bodily injury to another student, engaging in sexually intimidating | ||
conduct, causing physical damage to the property of another | ||
student, subjecting another student to physical confinement or | ||
restraint, or maliciously taking any action that substantially | ||
harms another student's physical or emotional health or safety. | ||
(3) "Hit list" means a list of people targeted to be | ||
harmed, using: | ||
(A) a firearm, as defined by Section 46.01(3), | ||
Penal Code; | ||
(B) a knife, as defined by Section 46.01(7), | ||
Penal Code; or | ||
(C) any other object to be used with intent to | ||
cause bodily harm. | ||
(b-1) The methods adopted under Subsection (a)(8) must | ||
provide that a student who is enrolled in a special education | ||
program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, may not be disciplined for | ||
conduct prohibited in accordance with Subsection (a)(7) until an | ||
admission, review, and dismissal committee meeting has been held to | ||
review the conduct. | ||
(c) Once the student code of conduct is promulgated, any | ||
change or amendment must be approved by the board of trustees. | ||
(d) Each school year, a school district shall provide | ||
parents notice of and information regarding the student code of | ||
conduct. | ||
(e) Except as provided by Section 37.007(e), this | ||
subchapter does not require the student code of conduct to specify a | ||
minimum term of a removal under Section 37.006 or an expulsion under | ||
Section 37.007. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |