Bill Text: TX SB1553 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to certain requirements imposed on a sex offender who enters the premises of a school and to the refusal of entry to or ejection from school district property.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)

Status: (Passed) 2017-06-15 - See remarks for effective date [SB1553 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-SB1553-Introduced.html

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85R12954 KJE-D
By: Menéndez S.B. No. 1553

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the refusal of entry to or ejection from school district
property.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.001(a), Education Code, as amended by
Chapters 487 (S.B. 1541) and 1409 (S.B. 1114), Acts of the 83rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, is reenacted and 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; [and]
(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; and
(9) include an explanation of the provisions regarding
refusal of entry to or ejection from district property under
Section 37.105, including the appeal process established under
Section 37.105(g).
SECTION 2. Section 37.105, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.105. UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS: REFUSAL OF ENTRY,
EJECTION, IDENTIFICATION. (a) Subject to Subsection (c), the
[The] board of trustees of a school district or its authorized
representative may refuse to allow a person without legitimate
business to enter on property under the board's control and may
eject any undesirable person from the property on the person's
refusal to leave peaceably on request.
(b) Identification may be required of any person on the
property.
(c) A parent of a child enrolled in a school district may not
be refused entry to or ejected from the district's property unless:
(1) the parent poses a substantial risk of harm to any
person; or
(2) the parent behaves in a manner that is
inappropriate for a school setting and:
(A) the district issues written notice to the
parent that the parent's behavior is inappropriate and may result
in the parent's refusal of entry or ejection; and
(B) the parent persists in that behavior.
(d) A school district shall accommodate a parent refused
entry to district property under this section to the greatest
extent practicable to ensure that the parent may participate in the
admission, review, and dismissal committee of the parent's child.
(e) The term of a parent's refusal of entry to or ejection
from a school district's property under this section may not exceed
two years.
(f) Each school district shall post at the office of each
campus principal in the district a notice regarding the provisions
of this section, including the appeal process established under
Subsection (g).
(g) The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement this
section, including rules establishing a process for a parent to:
(1) appeal to the board of trustees of the school
district the decision of the authorized representative of the
district to refuse a parent's entry to or eject a parent from a
school district's property; and
(2) if applicable, appeal to the agency the decision
of the board of trustees under Subdivision (1).
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018
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, 2017.