Bill Text: TX HB4449 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of a task force to study disciplinary practices and policies in public schools.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-11 - Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal [HB4449 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB4449-Comm_Sub.html

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88R14341 MLH-D
By: Reynolds H.B. No. 4449

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of a task force to study disciplinary
practices and policies in public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. In this Act:
(1) "Agency" means the Texas Education Agency.
(2) "Task force" means the task force established by
this Act to study disciplinary practices and policies in public
schools in this state.
SECTION 2. TASK FORCE TO STUDY SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. (a) A
task force is established under this Act to study, evaluate, and
make recommendations for policies and practices relating to student
discipline in public schools in this state.
(b) The task force shall consist of:
(1) the commissioner of education or the
commissioner's designee;
(2) the following members appointed by the
commissioner of education:
(A) two parents of students enrolled in a public
school;
(B) two administrators of a public school;
(C) two educators certified under Subchapter B,
Chapter 21, Education Code, and employed by a public school;
(D) a person who is either:
(i) a licensed clinical social worker, as
defined by Section 505.002, Occupations Code; or
(ii) a school counselor certified under
Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code;
(E) a licensed specialist in school psychology,
as defined by Section 501.002, Occupations Code;
(F) two people with expertise in school safety
and school discipline in this state;
(G) a representative from the Texas School Safety
Center; and
(H) a behavior analyst licensed under Chapter
506, Occupations Code; and
(3) one additional member appointed by the task force
to represent each additional organization, group, or agency that
the task force determines would make necessary or helpful
contributions.
(c) The commissioner of education or the commissioner's
designee shall serve as the presiding officer of the task force.
(d) The task force shall meet at the times and places that
the presiding officer determines appropriate. The task force may
meet at an education research center, as defined by Section 1.005,
Education Code.
SECTION 3. DUTIES OF THE TASK FORCE. (a) The task force
shall conduct a study to examine school discipline practices and
policies in public schools throughout this state. The study shall
include:
(1) an identification of the exclusionary and punitive
disciplinary practices and procedures used in public schools,
including:
(A) in-school suspension;
(B) out-of-school suspension;
(C) corporal punishment, as defined by Section
37.0011, Education Code;
(D) restraint, as defined by Section 37.0021,
Education Code;
(E) disciplinary alternative education programs
under Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code;
(F) juvenile justice alternative education
programs under Section 37.011, Education Code;
(G) informal disciplinary actions that result in
a student being removed from a classroom or instruction; and
(H) expulsion;
(2) an identification of the alternative disciplinary
practices and procedures that are age-appropriate and
research-based and focus on conflict resolution strategies to keep
students engaged in the classroom that are used in public schools,
including positive behavior programs under Section 37.0013,
Education Code;
(3) an analysis of the practices and procedures
identified under Subdivision (1) disaggregated based on student
demographics including:
(A) race;
(B) gender;
(C) national origin;
(D) disability status;
(E) economic status;
(F) emergent bilingual status;
(G) whether the student is homeless; and
(H) whether the student is in the conservatorship
of the state;
(4) an examination of the practices and policies
identified under Subdivisions (1) and (2) to determine:
(A) how the use of disciplinary practices varies
among independent school districts and open-enrollment charter
schools, particularly among schools of similar size and student
characteristics;
(B) the due process rights provided by schools to
students and families in school disciplinary proceedings;
(C) the challenges students and families face in
understanding and navigating school disciplinary proceedings;
(D) the impact removing a student from school or
instruction has on the student and the broader school community;
(E) the protections afforded to students with
diagnosed or undetected disabilities in disciplinary practices;
(F) the challenges students with diagnosed or
undetected disabilities face when subjected to disciplinary
practices under Subsection (a);
(G) the impacts mental and behavioral health
challenges have on student behavior;
(H) the current law and relevant regulations
permitting or requiring a school to account for a student's mental
or behavioral health when making disciplinary decisions;
(I) how frequently independent school districts
and open-enrollment charter schools implement alternative
disciplinary practices and policies identified under Subdivision
(2);
(J) the challenges independent school districts
and open-enrollment charter schools face in implementing
alternative disciplinary practices and policies identified under
Subdivision (2);
(K) the systems in place to monitor and support
school districts and open-enrollment charter schools in
implementing alternative disciplinary practices and policies
identified under Subdivision (2);
(L) the number of school districts that have
implemented:
(i) a positive behavior program under
Section 37.0013, Education Code; or
(ii) a program for graduated sanctions for
certain school offenses under Section 37.144, Education Code;
(M) for each program listed under Paragraph (L)
implemented by a school district:
(i) the method with which the program is
implemented;
(ii) the challenges that made
implementation difficult;
(iii) the systems in place to monitor and
support the program;
(iv) whether and to what extent the
implementation of the program has reduced the district's reliance
on disciplinary practices and policies identified under
Subdivision (1); and
(v) whether the programs have reduced the
incidence of behavioral complaints by students and teachers in the
district;
(N) the duties typically performed by a campus
behavior coordinator;
(O) the strategies campus behavior coordinators
use to reduce a reliance on disciplinary practices and policies
identified under Subdivision (1);
(P) the resources and training to which educators
have access regarding the disciplinary practices and policies
identified under Subdivision (2);
(Q) the resources and training educators lack
relating to disciplinary practices and policies identified under
Subdivision (2);
(R) how the COVID-19 pandemic and remote learning
impacted student behavior and school disciplinary resources;
(S) whether there are gaps in current data
collection methods relating to the disciplinary practices and
policies identified under Subdivisions (1) and (2), that if
corrected, would aid assessment of disciplinary practices;
(T) the manner and frequency of use of informal
disciplinary practices and policies in public schools, including
unreported out-of-school suspensions, early parent pick-ups,
silent lunches, exclusion from recess, time-out, as defined by
Section 37.0021, Education Code, and removal by a teacher under
Section 37.002, Education Code; and
(U) the frequency with which restraint, as
defined by Section 37.0021, Education Code, is used on students as a
disciplinary measure; and
(5) an examination of the manner in which current laws
and practices interact with and affect student discipline in this
state, including:
(A) whether Chapter 37, Education Code, provides
sufficiently clear guidance on disciplinary practices identified
under Subdivisions (1) and (2), specifically identifying
redundancies or conflicts in the law that impact implementation;
(B) the current state of disciplinary
alternative education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 37,
Education Code, and how those programs affect student outcomes;
(C) the current state of, and challenges to,
oversight and accountability for disciplinary alternative
education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code;
(D) how to reduce the frequency and lengths of
student placements in disciplinary alternative education programs
under Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code, in this state; and
(E) changes to law or policy that will better
facilitate a student's transition back to the student's regular
classroom from a disciplinary alternative education program under
Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code.
(b) Based on the results of the study conducted under this
Act, the task force shall recommend changes to current law and
regulations to improve student disciplinary practices and policies
in public schools in this state.
(c) In completing the study and recommendations under this
Act, the task force shall seek feedback from students, families,
and educators and shall include that feedback in its report.
(d) The task force may use money appropriated or otherwise
available for the purposes of completing the duties assigned to the
task force under this Act.
SECTION 4. REPORT TO LEGISLATURE. Not later than December
1, 2024, the task force shall prepare and submit to the legislature
a written report that includes the findings from the study and the
recommendations developed by the task force under this Act.
SECTION 5. EXPIRATION. The task force is abolished and this
Act expires September 1, 2025.
SECTION 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 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.